This is post #3 in the Invisible Woman Series.
The next night I had another dream. This one in response to the question: How can I invoke my artistic muse?
You see I had watched Elizabeth Gilbert’s brilliant TED talk:
Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love and in this talk she makes a case for believing that our creative genius comes from outside of ourselves instead of having all the pressure of being a creative genius on our own heads.
Anyway, if you have 20 minutes do watch it, it’s possibly life-changing. Actually, if you click on the link to TED, the transcript is in the right hand box so you can read it instead of watching it.
Back to my dream.
I am in a car dealership. Terrorists rush in and take a group of hostages. I am there, but somehow not part of the group of hostages. I am the means by which these hostages might be freed. My very straight-laced Dutch co-worker pal from my past is there, possibly he works at the car dealership. My task to free the hostages: make a film. The right film. A good film. But no other parameters than that. My pal Darren the Dutchman is conscripted in service to aid me in this task. In his customary good-natured way, he’s going with the flow. And then somehow, I know that I need Wendell (Who is Wendell?). Wendell is the genius. He is going to tell me what to do. He will bring the genius to the film. And somehow the idea of Wendell morphs into this stereotypical gay. Think Gok Kwan or Mario Cantone (oh Google it, I can’t do everything for you). Wendell never shows up to save the day. And the situation instead of becoming more dire becomes increasingly silly. Clearly, no matter how long the film is delayed the hostages are not going to be killed. They are probably free to go if they would just get up and leave. Darren and I become giggly and slightly hysterical saying things like “Yes, when WENDELL gets here he’ll save the day.” ”Oh, of course, WENDELL will know what to do.” – always saying his name with the right breathy awe-inspired reverence.
And then I wake up both filmless and Wendell-less.
So, this dream seems to be telling me a few things:
1) Lighten up. It’s art, not a hostage taking. No one is going to die if you don’t make the right piece of art. This reminds me of something Hiro Boga said in the Follow the Yellow Brick Road teleclass. “Silliness is an important spiritual quality.”
2) Start before Wendell shows up. Don’t wait for Wendell.
3) Maybe Wendell doesn’t exist. Or maybe he’s not as much of a genius as I’ve come to believe he is.
4) Maybe I put too much faith in the knowledge of others. I too have to know what I know. It’s like I have forced ignorance on myself. I don’t know how to do that. Someone has to teach me.
Any other thoughts? I don’t know that I’ve fully plumbed the full meaning of this one.
Other wanderers said...