in the spring, as part of a blog book tour, i posted a number of articles on eric maisel’s ten zen seconds. it’s a book that i come back to over and over again. below are summaries of a few more interviews with him – go check them out, especially if you’re an artist:
shifting gears
eric maisel and washington artist anne marchand discussed how ten zen seconds can help visual artists find the right balance between creative work/play and the more mundane tasks of “making a living, shifting gears and managing the highs and lows of the creative cycle.”
passionate meaning-making
alyson b. stanfield, whose newsletter focuses on action and is entitled art marketing action, was curious how ten zen seconds could help avoid art career overwhelm. rather than discouraging action, eric maisel notes: “there is actually more to be done in life, not less, including the boring things, but in a context of passionate meaning-making.”
connections
on day 10, eric stopped at janet grace riehl’s blog, riehl life: village wisdom for the 21st century, where they chatted about fostering and maintaining connection–both horizontally and vertically:
- connecting vertically by going within and deepening our connection with ourselves and our work;
- connecting horizontally by shifting more seamlessly between tasks and creative disciplines;
- allowing our variety of work to nourish and sustain us;
- connecting with others in interpersonal relationships by bringing our calmer selves to the interaction (starting with the parent-child bond);
- changing belief structures so that connections between and across cultures can be closer and more harmonious.
artists and the law of attraction
eric maisel dropped by trista hill’s blog to discuss how ten zen seconds can help an artist navigate the choppy waters of living a creative life. topics that were addressed were
- creating amidst chaos
- building a supportive community
- seeking appropriate validation
- applying the concepts to the currently popular “law of attraction” / the secret
being an artist parent
eric visited spit-up on my shoulder, melanie bowden’s blog for new moms. melanie and eric discussed how each of the 12 incantations from ten zen seconds can help parents stay centered and less stressed while dealing with all of the tasks parenting brings.
staying focused
lastly, in eric maisel’s book tour: focus for artists here at this blog, eric and i talked about how ten zen seconds can help artists stay focused and on task. dr. maisel suggests how to make good decisions about what thoughts we want to entertain, saying that a creative person needs to complete projects in order to feel successful. getting a hold on our thoughts is extremely important – it’s a responsibility that is not to be shirked.
even if high distractibility seems innate, this is “not a prison sentence”, and it can be changed just like addictions can be left behind. continuing with that theme, dr. maisel also announces a book he is working on with dr. susan raeburn, an addictions specialist, called creative recovery, that outlines how combining breathing-and-thinking practices of the sort described in ten zen seconds with traditional recovery practices, like 12-step programs or their secular equivalent, add up to a more complete recovery program.
isabella mori
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