Dec

For the New Year: Creative Inspiration from Emily Bear

by Meredith Mullins on December 27, 2012

piano keyboard, symbolizing creative inspiration from music

Looking for Inspiration, Not Resolutions

I stopped making New Year’s resolutions years ago. They were becoming less-than-meaningful clichés and always had relatively short lives. From a few days to a few weeks, they stayed in focus only until some project or practical necessity pushed them aside. (And, by the way, when you resolve to limit yourself to only one croissant a day in Paris, you are doomed to failure.)

However, even though I stopped the ceremonious list writing every New Year’s Eve, I didn’t stop searching for creative inspiration. Metaphoric lamplight in hand, like Diogenes looking for an honest man, I am always seeking ideas to fuel my own creative expression and make life better . . . for a new year or for a new day.

The Inspiring Emily Bear

This week, the inspiration came in the pure and smiling form of Emily Bear. She is a pianist and composer who says she can’t live without music. When she plays, the music comes from deep inside her, full of strength and light.

She started playing piano at age 2, began composing at age 3, and made her debut at Carnegie Hall at age 9. She’s now 11. Although her parents try not to use the “p” word in their house (“prodigy”), she is gifted, in an extraordinary way. To her, creative expression is part of her natural rhythm. She just loves music.

If video does not display, watch it here.

A love of music. Oh, I see. It is that simple.

Now, Emily is 11, with White House invitations, five CDs (with some of the proceeds going to children’s charities), and concert appearances around the world. All of that is inspiring.

A Reminder of True Values

Three particular things stood out to me for my own “unwritten” resolutions:

When Emily is asked (at age 6) where the music comes from, she says, “It just comes out of me.” “From where?” she is asked. “I don’t know. Probably my heart.”

When her mother is asked what she would like for Emily’s future, she says she just wants her to be happy. To have good values and to be a good adult.

When Emily thinks about her goals, she says simply that she wants to inspire people and to have people sing her songs and orchestras play her music.

There is much wisdom in these statements, and it led to my OIC moment: In a year when the voice of the child has been in the news—sadly, often muffled or extinguished—it is nice to be reminded of true values.

Leonard Bernstein also reminds us of the power of music, particularly apropos for 2012:

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

For Emily and all of us, let’s listen to the music and follow our hearts.

VIA WGN-TV

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The World's Music

Dec

Life Lessons in Holiday Spirit

by Meredith Mullins on December 20, 2012

Life lessons on holiday spirit with the Galeries Lafayette Christmas tree

Galeries Lafayette Holiday Tree
© Meredith Mullins

Top 10 Quotes for the Holidays

It is hard to celebrate the holidays when so much seems to be going wrong. Flags are at half mast, politicians are acting their shoe size not their age, hurricane victims are still displaced, and missiles are flying over the Middle East, claiming the lives of innocents who just want to get on with their lives. The tragedy of Newtown, the fiscal cliff, hurricane devastation, and all out warfare in several countries have dimmed the sparkling lights.

But it is precisely these tumultuous events that make it important to revisit the spirit of the holidays and make life-affirming feelings a permanent part of our values.

Learning life lessons about holiday spirit with child staring in wonder at holiday window.

The Magic of Holiday Windows
© Meredith Mullins

As Agnes Pharo said, “What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”

We know this to be true, but the OIC Moment comes with not letting these feelings slip away after the tree comes down or the menorah goes dark.

Here are my favorite top ten holiday quotes to remind us of what is important and how we might learn life lessons from tumult as well as strength of spirit.

1. Christmas! Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart. (Washington Irving)

2. I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year long. (Charles Dickens)

3. My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? (Bob Hope)

4. He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. (Roy L. Smith)

5. May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind. (Hanukkah Blessing)

The Lights of Hanukkuh
© Thinkstock

6. Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more. (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas)

7. To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year. (E.B. White)

8. Next to a circus, there ain’t nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit. (Kin Hubbard)

9. Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.” (Eric Sevareid)

10. And wild and sweet, the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

And a bonus from Dave Barry:

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it “Christmas” and went to church; the Jews called it “Hanukkah” and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hanukkah!” or (to the atheists) “Look out for the wall!”

We look forward to your favorite holiday quote or words of wisdom in the Comments section below.

Learning a life lesson about holiday spirit with Santa and children.

All I want for Christmas . . .
© Meredith Mullins

Happy holidays! May your hearts be full and the hope for peace not just a distant dream.

Quotes courtesy of Brainy Quote, All Great Quotes, and Goodreads

Inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

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Life Lessons/Quotes of Note

Dec

The Creative Process of Blind Photographers

by Meredith Mullins on December 13, 2012

Sea limpet, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently

Intensified Seeing: A Sea Limpet
© Bruce Hall. All Rights Reserved.

Seeing Differently: Artistry From Within

Seeing is about much more than sight.

Can we sense sound without the ability to hear? Can we taste without eating? Can we feel without touching? Can we see without sight?

The answer—a definitive yes—requires unleashing the power of our senses, especially in the creative process.

The Power of the Senses

According to Scientific American, there is evidence to suggest that, if we live without one sense, “the brain rewires itself to boost the remaining senses.”

That is exactly the process of the many sight-impaired photographers who are working today—artists who use sound, touch, memory, and other sensations to “compose” their images and sense the timing of their subjects.

These artists believe that the image comes from within, not from the “outside.” And they prove that, often, a blind person can have a very clear vision.

Fortune teller, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

Blind Photographers as Visionaries

From among the many (see the Blind Photographers Guild and several Flickr sites for the range of the community), two contemporary photographers, Bruce Hall and Pete Eckert, have proven themselves to be exceptional visionaries.

Their creative process and their images provide a transformative OIC Moment—seeing is about much more than sight.

Child playing in pool, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

Bruce Hall: Intensified Seeing

As a child with limited vision, Bruce Hall changed his life one day when he looked through a telescope and saw something he had never been able to see before: a star.

This startling moment led to an obsession with cameras, lenses, magnifiers, large computer screens, and other optical devices. These tools all assist him in his vision— “intensified seeing,” as he calls it.

“I think all photographers take pictures in order to see,” he says. “But for me it’s a necessity. It’s beyond being in love with cameras. I can’t see without a camera.”

Hall describes his creative process: “First I see an impression. I take what I think I see, later I can see what I saw. I have certain aims, guesses, impressions, but the photographs are always a surprise.”

His current love is underwater work, where he can use his macro lens to get close to the beauty of the deep—both plant and animal life. He also is working on a project with his autistic twin sons.

Light-painted figure, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

Pete Eckert: A Visual Person

For Pete Eckert, the story was different. He was sighted and then lost his sight as the result of a degenerative eye disease. He had time to prepare for the inevitable and explored ways he could pursue his artistic interests. He chose photography.

Now, he is accompanied by his guide dog, Uzu, and searches for moments through his other senses . . . and memory.

“I see each shot very clearly. You have to hear where the movement is and react intuitively. I’m a very visual person. I just can’t see.”

In his creative process, Eckert uses a slow shutter speed and “light painting.” When he senses the subject’s position and movement, he adds moving light—aiming flashlights, lasers, lighters, and candles toward the subject.

Once Eckert has processed the images, he involves a sighted person to help him select the images that will become large prints for galleries. “I slip photos under the door from the world of the blind to be viewed in the light of the sighted,” he says. “Talking with people in galleries builds a bridge between my mind’s eye and their vision of my work.”

His advice for aspiring photographers who are having trouble with subject selection or composition: “If you can’t see, it’s because your vision is getting in the way.”

Portrait of Stephanie, a motorcycle rider, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

The Creative Process: Outside In and Inside Out

These experiences just confirm what we have always known. The creative process is a rich experience that is fed by exploration within and without.

The work of Bruce Hall and Pete Eckert is imaginative and experimental, and very definitely comes from within. And, yes, they do also happen to be sight-impaired. However, both want their art to be seen for itself, not because it’s made by a blind person.

Thank you, Bruce and Pete, for the inspiration.

Stay tuned for our February 2013 photography competition “Blind Sight.” You’ll be asked to close your eyes or blindfold yourself and make a photograph using the power of your imagination and your other senses.

UPDATE: The OIC Moments “Blind Sight” Photography Contest has been concluded and you can view the winners, as well as download the free ebook created from contest entries, here: