I know you said, "more on that later" at the end, but I'm very interested in seeing you describe the practice you've found, and how it works for you.
As a creative guy myself, I've found that my emotions are deeply tied to wherever the rest comes from -- the art, the writing, the sense of wonder. If my emotional state is disturbed, often by external circumstances, my ability to produce the kind of work I do gets flatlined. I have found myself out of commission far too many times in the past year or so as I've battled depression, layers of familial betrayal, wrestling with childhood abuse and my own consequent abusive behaviors towards my wife and kids, the loss of my faith (and tied to it, my career), and so on.
I recognize the need for self-mastery in this area, but I'm not really even sure where to start. And I think there's some fear that if I lock that stuff up, that the creativity will wind up locked in there with it.
I know you said, "more on that later" at the end, but I'm very interested in seeing you describe the practice you've found, and how it works for you.
As a creative guy myself, I've found that my emotions are deeply tied to wherever the rest comes from -- the art, the writing, the sense of wonder. If my emotional state is disturbed, often by external circumstances, my ability to produce the kind of work I do gets flatlined. I have found myself out of commission far too many times in the past year or so as I've battled depression, layers of familial betrayal, wrestling with childhood abuse and my own consequent abusive behaviors towards my wife and kids, the loss of my faith (and tied to it, my career), and so on.
I recognize the need for self-mastery in this area, but I'm not really even sure where to start. And I think there's some fear that if I lock that stuff up, that the creativity will wind up locked in there with it.