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#33 Duende: The Fire of Inspiration 

 August 14, 2022

By  Leslie

Duende: The Fire of Inspiration! Are you intrigued? Let’s go!

I found a book by accident that set my soul on fire. It’s called Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination by Phil Cousineau. Since I’m not the poet Phil is, I’ll quote him directly:

“Reader, beware. There are at least two kinds of inspiration. The first lift your spirit, as spiritual and sunsets do. It makes you feel good, which isn’t bad. But the second lifts your spirit and then flings you like a flaming arrow, full of passion and resolve to set the world on fire. This is the Duende, the dark son in the gypsy soul, the black light that enflames the canvas, the spark that enlarges the heart. This is the blood surge that can be detected in Federico Lorca’s poems, Edvard Munch’s paintings, and the dances of Martha Gram. And it’s combustible.”

Wow! I want some. Seedbops do that to me. When they arrive, I’m inflamed. I start musing, thinking, what can I do with this?

I’ve been involved in the anti-nuclear weapon faith-based movement most of my life. I had just returned from London and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s (the people that brought you the peace sign) 50th birthday convocation. Out of nowhere, a fully formed vision of a handmade paper 3-dimensional piece entered my brain. The top would be men in suits dumping dollar signs into large chutes. At the other end, nuclear weapons came out and rained down on the ground. The ground was littered with smoking skeletons. After constructing it, I sent it to a show where it became the photo for the posters and mailers advertising the show.

I think that pieces started with the flame of “Duende, the dark son in the gypsy soul, the black light that enflames the canvas, the spark that enlarges the heart.” Cousineau says, “The creative journey is a search for the deeply real.”

“Your imagination holds news of eternity. Inspiration comes and goes; creativity is the result of practice. There is a gold thread from your soul to your real work. … Give us something the world has never seen before: you.”

That idea didn’t really come from nowhere. I just wasn’t aware my right brain had been percolating, inspired by the convocation fertilizing the soil of my long experience and exposure to the economics and effects of nuclear weapons. It was a commentary on a topic many had commented on, but it came from my unique perspective and understanding.

When I created it, I didn’t care what other people thought. I didn’t want to change it so that it would be saleable or fit someone’s interior décor. I wanted to take that message and make it visual.

But that’s the thing. Without the spice of your own authentic, inimitable self in the mix, it won’t be great.

”All great works, those infused with the soul of the artist, feel haunting because they seem to look back at you. They provide you with asking yourself questions you’ve been avoiding. That’s the beauty of reverie. It allows your mind to meander until the truth outs. It emboldens you to do the work you didn’t know you’d been dreaming about – or had been assiduously avoiding. Reveries are the first fire that must be stoked.”

How do you stoke your fire so that enflamed seedbops can send you into greatness? Here are some things you can do:

1. Collect images and things, and research anything that sends sparks through you. Indulge your curiosities and passions, and devote time to them. Keep inspirational material organized so you can pull it out. See post #29 Keep Your Inspirations – Collect What Inspires You and Keep It Safe

2. Read. Read stuff that interests you but don’t confine yourself to things you agree with. I’ve read a lot of books and articles just because I wanted to figure out what other people see and think differently than I do.

3. Go to places that interest you, or you know nothing about. If you don’t have money to travel, pick places close to home. One of my favorite ways to find exciting places is to google something like “places of interest” coupled with the location and the word “weird.” There are whole websites devoted to cataloging weird and wonderful places. Try https://unusualplaces.org/ Find those places that intrigue and make you see things you haven’t see before.

What inspires you? What enflames your soul?
Photo by Nathan Lindahl on Unsplash
All quotes from Phil Cousineau’s Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination

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