Fortunately, I have a network of friends who seem to love me–warts and all–and over the past two months, they have warned me: “You are are trying to do too much, FOCUS!”

You see, two months ago, I began the process of opening my new arts space — Jacki Kellum Studios a 26 South Main in Water Valley, Mississippi. Because of my tendency toward perfectionism, I have made the process much more laborious than it needed to be.

I decided that I would teach art lessons, and deciding what I would teach was my first leap down the rabbit hole:

As though I didn’t have enough experience to teach art, I began the chase to add to my repertoire.  My wheels started spinning, and when that happens, it is almost impossible for me to brake my own rush, which is often a race toward a crash. Bllogging helps me slow things down.

I am almost 76 now, and as I look back across the string of events that have been woven together to create my life, I wish that I could see a clear chain of well-considered decisions that were based on sound, unflawed reasoning. Unfortunately, however, my impulsiveness has a tendecy to enter the equation.

Because impusiveness is the stepsister of intuition. I cannot reject it entirely. My intuition is the source of my best art and writing. My intuition is part of my spirituality. In my best art and writing, I feel that my intuition is God’s interacting with my making of art.

Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam is a testament to the power of God which is so very strong that it was not necessary for the fingers of Adam and God to touch. The power of God was strong enough to reach across the gap between the fingers of God and man.

Annie Dillard has told us that the good stuff lies in the gaps:

Go up into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift and vanish too. Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock-more than a maple- a universe. This is how you spend this afternoon, and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon. Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”
― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Intuition lies in the gaps. Because it is a type of formless stuff that is almost hiding in the gaps, it is hard to define, but I’ll make a stab at it. Intuition is a driving force that is buried somewhere within an individual, and when a creator allows it to do so, intuition can help the artist make decisions as he creates. This internal force works for all types of artists–be they painters, writers, or songwriters.

David Foster wrote the song “The Prayer.” In the following video, He talks about how his intuition wrote that incredible song:

Rather than digging deep when I blog, blogging is a more simple type of writing that I can do to allow some of the air out of my mental balloon.

Blogging is a way to empty the too-full cup:

Create to Be More Creative – A Zen-Like Thought about the Importance of Getting Things Out

When I don’t blog, the wires in my brain get tangled, and that is also a manifestation of being overwhelmed.

Becoming Overwhelmed Is Poisonous

I like what Jeff Foster says about becoming overwhelmed:

“Oh, sweet little boy, beloved little girl, you are so overwhelmed by life sometimes, I know, by the enormity of it all, by the vastness of the possibilities, by the myriad of perspectives available to you. You feel so pressed down sometimes, by all the unresolved questions, by all the information you are supposed to process and hold, by the urgency of things. You are overcome by powerful emotions, trying to make it all “work out” somehow, trying to get everything done “on time,” trying to resolve things so fast, even trying not to try at all.
You are exhausted, sweet one, exhausted from all the trying and the not trying, and you are struggling to trust life again. It’s all too much for the poor organism, isn’t it? You are exhausted; you long to rest. And that is not a failing of yours, not a horrible mistake, but something wonderful to embrace!”
― Jeff Foster, The Way of Rest: Finding The Courage to Hold Everything in Love