Having one of those ahhhhhhhhh-yikes-wow moments reading Kathy Jourdain’s post There’s a Reason It’s Called “The Art of…”, talking about the art of hosting and harvesting conversations that matter.
Most of us don’t just sit down at a piano and have beautiful music come out unless we are some sort of musical prodigy. Nor would we expect that. We would expect, if we were inspired enough, to learn the foundations and know that after we learn the foundation then we have the opportunity to become more and more intricate with the music, the style, the mix of technique.
Some never move into artistry from being a technician and, for sure, not everyone must. However, there is a quality we can observe, hear or sense, that lets us know when we are listening to music from a good technician and when we are listening to music from an artist. It comes from the heart, from the soul.
And something clicked for me; last night I wrote that I still felt in the midst of my transformation to my hosting journey, and I think it has something to do with what Kathy has described. I’m still in technician land, not yet fully moving into the artistry space. Dabble for sure. Pop in and out. But not totally “relaxing in the technique and living in the art”. Still on my journey, readying to continue on my path. A sense of relief when I read Kathy’s words “And it can take years of intentional practice for this to happen.”
And onto the yikes moment, when I read this at the very end:
Where and how does your soul call you into your hosting artistry and what are the subtleties you notice – in others, in yourself – as you tip over? What muse inspires you to deeper places in your being and invites you to bring more of who you are to what you do? What journey do you need to embark on to host for a deeper place?
This has a similiar vibe to a meditation invitation from a teacher, wondering what was uniquely mine beneath my flowing wrap. My unique contribution to this hosting work. Not a technical skill, I can say now, but what is that muse that invites me to bring more of who I am to what I do? And how does my soul call me into my hosting artisty – that which is uniquely mine?
Big questions to sit in the soup with.
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One reply on “From Technician to Artist”
Dear Amanda,
I cannot tell you how deeply moved I am by your post drawing my own writing (which was inspired by a conversation with Jerry Nagel – his line “relaxing in the technique, living in the art”). When I read your reflections I know that we have connected not just through the words on the page but through the beauty of soul journey that shows up through deepening in to The Art… of what we do, of how we live our lives and of who we are. Thank you. From the heart, Kathy