The Practice of Art (image)

The National Book Award committee recognized what many readers have known for years. Ursula Le Guin rocks as a top notch writer. A national treasure and visionary, she writes with an original and forceful imagination. She cares about creative freedom and knows how culturally important it is. In her National Book Award acceptance speech, she defends the rights of writers to earn their fair share from profit greedy publishers.

“We need writers who know the difference between the production of a market commodity and the practice of an art….The name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom.” Le Guin

Important that writers make a living. Important, too, that we celebrate artistic freedom as priceless.

Creative expression unshackled from market forces is the difference between liberating potent, natural flows of being and limiting breath into an eventual malaise. A dynamic and sustainable culture rests on such freedoms.

The practice of art emphasizes the value of the process which supplies numerous benefits:

  • We establish a rich, vitalizing relationship with self.
  • We get to play and develop skills and understanding along the way.
  • We express what genuinely matters which gives rise to meaning and purpose.
  • We perform as both boss and hired-hand and can, if wanted, disrupt the roles on a whim or for a higher purpose.
  • We heal wounds and balance yin with yang.
  • We engage deep listening which refines senses and connects us with what’s close at hand and far away.
  • We participate in the light and dark of beauty.
  • We tap into biological and planetary rhythms.
  • We experience the elasticity of time and our own pliability.
  • We cultivate potential and raise the bar for humanity.

Dazzle yourself with possibilities; the world contains infinite options. Claim your universe and make living your business.

Don’t Miss Out! Writing From the Body retreat and class in April.

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