Creating a Fabulous Career in the Arts

An Interview with Artist, Writer & Coach Cynthia Morris

By Molly Anderson-Childers

(con't from page 2)

Q: Your Journey Blessings and Creative Fortunes are such an ingenious idea — portable inspiration! How did you come to create these beautiful little messages? What is my Creative Fortune for today?

A: Thanks — I think they’re fun, I had the idea for creative fortunes early last year and immediately made up a bunch of packets. But when I showed them to people, I got limp feedback, which was discouraging. So I just included them as a bonus when people bought my book.

The Journey Blessings were part of the whole Journey Juju inspiration. I thought it would be cool for travelers to spread good juju by leaving these places. A packet is included when you buy a shrine. I’m giving them to people I meet as my business card.

Both of these are fun ways to play with inspiration and creativity, and I have to say that they have also worked to boost my spirits when I need a boost.

Your Creative Fortune for the day: Your imagination is like money in the bank.

Q: The Travel Shrines you have created are a beautiful way to combine spiritual and creative work. Could you explain how to make one, for our readers who may want to try this project?

A: I want to encourage others to make shrines for travel and life. Some great shrines could be devoted to: writers, artists, test taking (filled with A's and gold stars!), gardening…basically you can make a shrine for any endeavor that can use some good juju.

You can use any kind of box — a matchbox, a small tin, anything that is portable and small. Then think about what is important to you when you travel and fill the box with your special talismans. I glued a map on the matchboxes first, then affixed other images that evoke distant lands. You can put a magic number on the shrine, sign it, stamp it…the possibilities are endless.

There’s a post on my Journey Juju blog that explains how to make your Shrine more personal. It offers a fun way to play with your travel shrine.

Q: What inspired you to create Travel Shrines?

A: One day last year I was over at my good friend Carl’s and I saw a shrine that I had made for his birthday. It had a match in it, a candle, and a couple of other fun things. I loved it! (It’s such a rare and awesome thing when you love something that you create!)

Having seen that, when I got the idea to move abroad, I thought of the shrines and the whole thing mushroomed from there. I plan to make shrines from the road, bigger shrines that embody the essence of a place and my relationship with it at that moment in time.

Twenty percent of the proceeds from the Shrines were lent to Dorothy Siaw, a woman in Ghana who is participating in the www.Kiva.org microlending program. It was great to see some good juju go to someone in need.

Q: Can you discuss the spiritual or sacred aspect of creative work in your life?

A: This is difficult for me. I find discussing the sacred is difficult — how do you put the ineffable into words? I guess the only thing I can say is that when I am creating, I am in touch with something outside myself. It’s a relief to relinquish control, planning, and thinking in service of creating. It’s soothing. It’s a gift. Ideas come. I implement them. It’s this essence of creating that I want for everyone. I think it’s available to us all, this timeless creative space, and it frustrates me when we prefer to struggle and fight it.

I’m constantly asking myself why I want to create. I don’t think I need to do this. I think creating is a primal urge, a birthright for all of us. I get lost when I try to think about it too much! So I’ll leave it at that. Except to say that Frederick Franck’s book, Art As a Way really resonated with me as a great way to think about art as a spiritual practice.

Q: Your book, Create Your Writer’s Life: A Guide to Writing with Joy and Ease, seems different than other resources and books about writing that I have seen. I love the fact that you offer insight into what it takes to commit to the life of a writer, as well as to create a writing practice that is sustainable, workable, and uniquely designed to suit the individual’s needs. Can you discuss some of the reasons you decided to write this book?

A: Thank you for noticing that it is different than other books on how to write. I agree, which is why I wanted to write it. I am a trained and certified coach; I use a specific set of skills and tools when working with my clients. I found that using these tools was a very effective way to get writers on track.

Common wisdom says one must write a book to become known, and I wanted to have a way to share what I kept telling clients. Now I can just direct clients to certain chapters for homework. I feel that this book helps people to personalize their writing practice and go beyond the notion that there is one right way to do it.

Continue to Cynthia Morris interview page 4 »