Robert Gale Ongley

Month: November 2021

  • HOW TO NOURISH YOUR ARTISTIC PASSIONS

    You just want to do your art. You may be a writer, a musician, a potter or creator in any of the fine arts. A strong urge from within is calling you to bring forth a masterpiece or just some evidence of your genuine talent. Yet, you have another life calling, urging you to pay the bills or feed the children or buy a car or all of the above. You do what you have to do as the urge within wanes from lack of attention. Only problem is, it keeps surfacing. It’s like a seed that needs nourishment to sprout and grow. It could eventually wither and die, remembered in times of nostalgic reflection as to what might have been. But no, that’s now how it has to be! There’s still hope, no matter how mired you might be in a life of practical delusion. There must be many ways to stimulate and enliven your artistic passions, but here are some I would consider vital steps toward making your own creative passions grow.

    Visualize

    If you’re not active currently in your art of choice, start watering the seed by thought. Imagine what it would be like to be painting or dancing or acting in the theater–whatever your passion. Visualize yourself actually doing it, how good that would feel. See your product with as much clarity as you can muster. Allow excitement to arise and fill you with joyous anticipation. For some, that may amount to something like a feeling of accomplishment.

    Let’s say you’ve been somewhat active, but you’re not receiving the payoff you would like. Perhaps you’re not satisfied with what you’ve been able to create. Maybe the Muse hasn’t inspired the kind of objet d’art of which you know you’re capable. Well, visualization can help you, too. It’s all about imagination. Be specific in what you want to achieve or manifest in your work. Let the details blossom in your mind and let your feelings about it all develop.

    Schedule Creative Time

    It’s vital to work on your art regularly, every day if possible. If you don’t get down to business on this dream of yours when you promise to, you’ll find it easier and easier to let it slip out of your life. I would be willing to wager almost anyone reading this is in that situation now or has been at some time in the past. So, put this self-nourishing activity on your daily calendar, virtually or otherwise and acknowledge it’s firmly in your life. If you can only carve out 15 minutes per day, so be it. You can produce an amazing amount of work in 15 minutes per day, particularly when comparing it to zero minutes per day every day.

    Follow Through

    It’s one thing to say or think you’re going to do something and another to actually do it. It may seem unnecessary to include this step, but no it’s not. Make good on that promise. Do what you intend to do, especially considering you’re striving to do something you love, to express who you are, to make the world a more wonderful place. Take it from someone who knows. Following through makes you feel better about yourself. Failing to do what you committed to do makes you feel worse about yourself. It’s as simple as that. So, place your body in the exact spot at the exact time as you scheduled and start weaving or photographing or whatever it is you visualize yourself doing.

    Set Goals

    This may be the least likable of my suggestions, but if you have a distaste for such structured activity in the world of the arts, I plead with you to get over it. Goals, short and long range, provide direction and a measuring stick for your accomplishments. When you set an intention to simply work on your art for a certain amount of time per day, you set a standard you would rather meet than miss and if you take yourself seriously, you’ll do your best to live up to it. When you say you’ll write two blog posts per month and it’s the night of November 30th, you’ll feel a strong inclination to get that second one done before midnight. Thus, you produce. You make works of art and your life is just that much better than before when you merely longed to be an artist.

    Take Satisfaction

    When you complete a project, allow yourself to enjoy it. You brought an idea into physical existence. Pretty lofty stuff, right? It won’t be perfect, but it will be your own unique expression. That’s enough right there. You can improve on it and maybe uplift others with your art at some point. Try to find the sweet spot between egotistical self-aggrandizement and a humble wish to bring inspiration to others. Your artistic passion is a gift you have been granted. Nourish it and we will all be better for the sustenance you furnish the world.

  • THE VIBRATION OF CREATIVITY (PART TWO)

    Bridging from Part One of this article in which I discussed how vibration is part of the fabric of this universe and how we are all vibrating mentally as we create our reality, I want to concentrate now on how we can use this vital, fundamental data in our creative lives.

    How Emotional Levels Relate to Various Types of Art

    A piece of art is not the medium through which it is created. For example, a canvas and paint do not represent the painting. The frequency at which they vibrate is concurrent with their physical makeup. The colors will have varying frequencies, but paint and canvas themselves emit vibrations that are found in similar goop and fabric.

    The design and images in the painting communicate to the person viewing them. I think a picture of deep space with its galaxies and nebula conveys a higher frequency than a depiction of a dead, bloody body. The sculptor who assembles unrelated pieces of unappealing junk will create in the onlooker a vibration level that may rise to anxiety while they who create a meditating Buddha or a blessing Jesus may inspire emotional reactions of love and joy. Angry songs resonate most with a person at a similar emotional level.

    The effects you wish to create through your art on the people who internalize your creations in one way or another can be manifested by your own rate of brain wave frequency. This is your starting point. If you wish to instill fear, you have to come from that place within yourself to at least some degree. Creating a feel-good film will involve presenting images and situations that show us scenes of higher vibrational content. Oh, it’s good to enhance it more by putting the viewer through scenes of lower vibrating drama that resolves into times of happiness or fulfillment. That’s part of effective art, but the point is art’s effect originates in the creator’s state of mind or being.

    How Reaching Higher Vibrational States Can Elevate Creativity

    There’s a line of thought which would have us believe pain and misery are necessary for the artist to create good art. I am of the opinion that quality art can be created in spite of pain and misery. I know there are examples out there of people who produced masterpiece work from a place of deep unhappiness. I also accept the value of difficult experiences in making artistic work have depth and richness. However, being stuck in these experiences or living chronically in lower emotions makes it tougher to bring a creation to completion.

    It’s takes little imagination to fathom how an apathetic person would be stifled from starting, continuing or finishing a creative project. It can happen, but how much easier it is for an artist working from a state of joy to give birth to a project. The energy level would be higher, the ability to embrace all the pitfalls encountered would be in place and the mind would be open to a wider range of ideas as well as solutions. Those who are ranging in the 50 Hz vibrational level of apathy might be compared to someone walking through molasses whereas the joyful being could be seen as skipping like a stone over a calm lake at 540 Hz.

    Techniques

    In the article I did on binaural beats, I illustrated how they can be used for mental and physical benefit. To refresh, binaural beats are a phenomenon occurring when a person listens on headphones (usually) to a repeating tone in one ear and another tone in the other ear. They are of different frequencies and when heard cause the brain to emit waves at the frequency that is the difference between the two. Vibrating at the new frequency provides a pleasant experience for the listener, who can potentially raise their own frequency to a higher level on a permanent basis.

    Meditation is known to raise our brain wave frequency. Many people the world over can attest to the improvement of their mental/emotional state resulting from practicing meditation.

    Create. Yes, just the mere act of creating the art of your choice can bring you to a higher vibration rate. Accomplishing just about anything toward completion of a project is bound to produce dopamine in your brain naturally.

    There are so many ways to stimulate your vibrational output! To name a handful, one word at a time, here are some ideas. Nature, friendship, music, gratitude, visualization, affirmation, journal, exercise and routines.

    Vibrate

    Try to get in touch with the vibration of the universe and your own frequency. Feel it and love it. Happiness and more awaits.