The first Heron Dance creativity video and the role of reverie and imagination in a creative life.

Creativity as a way of life.

This post will give you a complete understanding of what a paid subscription will include, starting in a couple of days. This is the last Creativity as a Way of Life post before this Sustack requires a paid subscription to access most of its content.

Creativity as a Way of Life explores the inner work underlying creative work with a particular focus the use of journaling in combination with meditation to probe deep, to explore the images and ideas right on the edges of your conscious understanding.

Future posts will revolve largely around a video, such as the one just above. Because this is the first, and I wanted to give potential subscribers a compete understanding of the various subjects that will be explored, it is about twice as long as future videos are likely to be, on average.

The written content and a work of art will continue to be an important part of this Substack. You can view this week’s post here.

Paid subscriptions will include all of the written content, the audio and the video. And, in about a month, subscribers will also receive a PDF, Using An Art Journal to Probe Deep — Tools and Techniques for Keeping a Journal. The techniques explored in that book will complement the subjects explored in this Substack. Much of the month of October will be spent reviewing these tools, at which point I plan to move on to emphasize other content such as excerpts from the journals of other creatives.

By way of example, this week’s post includes:

• Perspectives on imagination and reverie from Van Gogh, Jung, Anthony Storr (Solitude, A Return To The Self), John Fowles, (The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman), Wallace Stevens and Denise Shekerjian (Uncommon Genius). View this week’s post here.

• An audio recording (such as the one above) of me reading and discussing the post so that you can listen to it in the car or while doing other things.

• A video of me painting and discussing the post such as in the video above.

Visit here for more on cost, or to sign up. Basically, it is $5 a month. On October 1 you will be able to sign up here on Substack.

All current subscribers will be added to the new Substack subscribers list as outlined here.

. . .

A free subscription will include the following:

• A painting.

• An email summarizing the post. For instance, this week’s post would be summarized this way:

  • Perspectives on imagination and reverie from Van Gogh, Jung, Anthony Storr (Solitude, A Return To The Self), John Fowles, (The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman), Wallace Stevens and Denise Shekerjian (Uncommon Genius).

...imagination, we have it because we don't have enough without it.
     - Wallace Stevens.

Without imagination, humanity is pretty unremarkable.

A creative person is one who enjoys, above all else, the company of his own mind.
      - Denise Shekerjian, Uncommon Genius

Visit here to sign up. The cost is $5 a month. If you’d like to receive but can’t afford $5 a month, just email Rod (rod@herondance.org) and we’ll add you.

In a couple of days (Tuesday, October 1) you will be able to sign up on Substack.

All current subscribers will be transferred over and added to the new Substack subscribers list as outlined here.

. . .