The mothering of art…

I felt so fortunate this morning to glance at my calendar and see that today I had booked a Spotlight Session with my beautifully wise friend Tanya Geisler.* During our time together we found ourselves following the red threads of art, artistry, free and full self-expression, and unapologetic creativity, as Tanya patiently, lovingly, brilliantly, helped me to shine a light onto all the places where I’ve been hiding in the wings rather than stepping into my starring role. Deeply revealing. Deeply delicious.

One of these threads led us to the role and responsibility of the parent who nurtures and fosters a child from infancy through to adulthood, and the role and responsibility of the artist who nurtures and fosters their art from inspiration through to publication, exhibition etc. Which then reminded us both of the wonderful section in Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet ‘On Children’. Do you know it?

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Children.”
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

This is a poem that I have turned to frequently as a parent – both as a new parent and as a parent of grown children now readying to fly the coop. But today’s conversation with Tanya made me wonder what it would be like to take that poem and replace the word “children” with “art”. How would the meaning change? What would it reveal? Shall we try it and see?

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, “Speak to us of Art.”
And he said:
Your Art is not your Art.
It is the offspring of Life’s longing for itself.
It comes through you but not from you,
And though it is with you, yet it belongs not to you.
You may give it your love but not your thoughts.
For it has its own thoughts.
You may house its body but not its soul,
For its soul dwells in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like it, but seek not to make it like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your Art as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Interesting, right? I’ve obviously changed some of the grammar too so that it reads properly. But other than that and few other minor amendments, all I’ve changed is the word “children” to “Art”.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this opens up so many possibilities for me… not least concerning the relationship between motherhood and art, our responsibility as parents, our responsibility as artists, and how best we can tend to that which chooses to be born through us and out into life – whether that’s a child or a poem, a photograph, a painting, a story, a song, a dance, a building, a website, or even a handknitted jumper for an as-yet-unknown recipient.

As I continue to lean into my Year of Conscious Crafting, these are the kinds of questions that I want to ask, especially of my relationship to my Art and all the ways it lives through me (but not from me). But first, it starts with the questions. Always the questions…

* To have your own brilliant conversation with Tanya – which I wholeheartedly recommend you do – book a Spotlight Session. Truly a deliciously rich beginning to the year, but will deliver juicy nourishment at any time.