I've been thinking about this artist's motto recently. I, like most of us, gave up drawing and making visual art in my childhood. American schools dampened, then extinguished this creative outlet for all but the few.
Looking back at Natalie Goldberg's book, Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World, I remember her comments about relearning to paint and how it felt to sketch familiar objects. She took on frequently drawing her father, which generated conversations between the two that probably never would have occurred had it not been for these sessions.
Using our imaginations and trying on new ideas means never being afraid of changing the way we do something--anything, really. It doesn't mean that there's no fear involved, but if the fear paralyzes us from even venturing out of the mundane and routine, then we limit the way we live. That applies to everything from tweaking our favorite recipe to taking a different route on our walk. Do those things seem easy when compared to trying new things in writing. drawing, creating music?
How much risk can we take to coax the creative spirit? Are we ready to 'fail early and fail often' in order to venture down a new path?
Do we hear 'leap and the net will appear*' and think: oh, that doesn't apply to me?
[* American naturalist John Burroughs]
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