Right Before Our Eyes

In “Right Before Our Eyes,” the chap­ter explores the com­mon phe­nom­e­non artists face: stag­na­tion or a cre­ative block. The text empha­sizes that this block is not a ces­sa­tion of cre­ativ­i­ty, for cre­ativ­i­ty’s flow is inces­sant and always present. Rather, it sug­gests that artists might be choos­ing, whether con­scious­ly or uncon­scious­ly, to dis­con­nect from this ever-avail­able stream of gen­er­a­tive ener­gy. It pro­pos­es an intrigu­ing per­spec­tive on artis­tic blocks, view­ing them not as bar­ri­ers but as cre­ations them­selves, borne out of a deci­sion to not engage with the cre­ative process.

The chap­ter encour­ages artists to adopt a stance of sur­ren­der to over­come these blocks, advo­cat­ing for a release of ana­lyt­i­cal think­ing to allow cre­ativ­i­ty to flow more freely. It sug­gests that in moments of sur­ren­der, one may find the solu­tions or inspi­ra­tions they seek have been appar­ent all along, man­i­fest­ing through new ideas, objects in the envi­ron­ment, or inten­si­fied bod­i­ly sen­sa­tions. This approach is aimed at fos­ter­ing cre­ation in the present and cir­cum­vent­ing the paral­y­sis that antic­i­pa­tion of the future can induce.

Fur­ther­more, the text urges artists not to fall into the trap of all-or-noth­ing think­ing, which can lead to pre­ma­ture­ly aban­don­ing projects. It high­lights a com­mon mis­step where artists, upon notic­ing a flaw, con­sid­er dis­card­ing their entire work instead of focus­ing on its strengths. The chap­ter argues for a bal­anced view that acknowl­edges both strengths and weak­ness­es, sug­gest­ing that rec­og­niz­ing and address­ing flaws can trans­form good work into some­thing mag­nif­i­cent, rather than aban­don­ing it over per­ceived imper­fec­tions.

Con­clu­sive­ly, the chap­ter posits that cre­ativ­i­ty is a con­stant, gen­tly urg­ing artists to unlock their per­cep­tion and engage with this end­less sup­ply of cre­ative ener­gy. By refram­ing how artists view blocks and empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of per­spec­tive and open­ness, it offers guid­ance on nav­i­gat­ing the chal­lenges of the cre­ative process and reit­er­at­ing the poten­cy of present-moment aware­ness in artis­tic expres­sion.