1 hr 8 min
Mark Nepo: Drinking from the River of Light (Episode 209) Productive Flourishing
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- Self-Improvement
Mark Nepo returns to the show as today’s guest to talk about his new book, Drinking From the River of Light: The Life of Expression. Charlie and Mark talk about why it’s so important that we express ourselves, the tensions we live in as we seek to express ourselves as creative people, how we are more likely to be Renaissance souls, and what thrashing inner work is really telling us. Both Mark and Charlie share some of their creative process, to hopefully inspire your own.
Key Takeaways:
[0:05] - Charlie’s new book, Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done will be released on September 24th, 2019. Productivity is how we become our best selves in the world. The book covers tools, practices, and mindsets that will help you finish the stuff your soul is yearning to do. There are contributions from Charlie’s friends, colleagues, and teachers.
[5:30] - The inspiration for Mark’s new book actually came from a workshop he created. The book explores the deeper need that we all have to develop a personal form of expression. He likens it to the heart needing to breathe. There is an inhalation, and our exhalation is some sort of creative expression that can be any passion project.
[8:15] - Mark had the outline of the workshop around while finishing up some other books, and began to combine this outline with the stories and materials he had from other artists and teachers. The key to getting everything together was listening to the material, rather than imposing his will upon it. This compliments Elizabeth Gilbert’s thoughts on how ideas find people, and if they are ready for the idea, it sticks around. If not, ideas move on to something else.
[13:05] - Mark shares how his experience with cancer in his 30’s changed his understanding of art and expression. Everyone has their own wisdom, but we often create from a space of what we need to learn.
[15:50] - Mark and Charlie talk about the dichotomies of success and failure in creative work, and how it compares to other environments, like sports. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in our creative expression, expecting to be able to hit it every time. Unless we open up to those vulnerabilities, there’s no growing.
[18:58] - The spiritual life, the philosophical life, and the creative life are all about sitting in tension with two contradictory truths at the same time. We can’t be stuck in the mindset of hit or miss while creating our work, but when we’re finished, this is often the first thing we evaluate. We need to have dreams, goals, and ambitions; we need these things to get us to what we can’t even foresee.
[24:05] - A theme for Mark and Charlie is that as they create, they are being created. The tension lies in not knowing what will manifest until it manifests, even if we think we know. Charlie would write down anything that came up, in case it was blocking something else that needed to come out. Mark talks about some of his own creative process, and how research on a topic can lead to the creation of a whole new book or story.
[28:45] - We often discover material rather invent it. This requires us to surrender some control and open ourselves up to allow that discovery. Virtue is our tendency toward unity, and the creative process is about discovering the connections that are always present even when we are unaware of it. The reward for this is that we then become one and can achieve unity.
[34:45] - In his new book, Mark utilizes poetry as a tool for expression. For him, poetry is the unexpected utterance of the soul, rather than a manipulation of words. Everyone can be a poet; discover your own vibrant link to the truth of what it is to be here.
[38:23] - Mark talks about poet/artist William Blake, and the connection between his poems and his visual art. Expression can come to us in many ways, and some artists’ most important work can be classified as an unexpected medium from what we usually think.
[40:55] - Everybody has the same starting p
Mark Nepo returns to the show as today’s guest to talk about his new book, Drinking From the River of Light: The Life of Expression. Charlie and Mark talk about why it’s so important that we express ourselves, the tensions we live in as we seek to express ourselves as creative people, how we are more likely to be Renaissance souls, and what thrashing inner work is really telling us. Both Mark and Charlie share some of their creative process, to hopefully inspire your own.
Key Takeaways:
[0:05] - Charlie’s new book, Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done will be released on September 24th, 2019. Productivity is how we become our best selves in the world. The book covers tools, practices, and mindsets that will help you finish the stuff your soul is yearning to do. There are contributions from Charlie’s friends, colleagues, and teachers.
[5:30] - The inspiration for Mark’s new book actually came from a workshop he created. The book explores the deeper need that we all have to develop a personal form of expression. He likens it to the heart needing to breathe. There is an inhalation, and our exhalation is some sort of creative expression that can be any passion project.
[8:15] - Mark had the outline of the workshop around while finishing up some other books, and began to combine this outline with the stories and materials he had from other artists and teachers. The key to getting everything together was listening to the material, rather than imposing his will upon it. This compliments Elizabeth Gilbert’s thoughts on how ideas find people, and if they are ready for the idea, it sticks around. If not, ideas move on to something else.
[13:05] - Mark shares how his experience with cancer in his 30’s changed his understanding of art and expression. Everyone has their own wisdom, but we often create from a space of what we need to learn.
[15:50] - Mark and Charlie talk about the dichotomies of success and failure in creative work, and how it compares to other environments, like sports. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in our creative expression, expecting to be able to hit it every time. Unless we open up to those vulnerabilities, there’s no growing.
[18:58] - The spiritual life, the philosophical life, and the creative life are all about sitting in tension with two contradictory truths at the same time. We can’t be stuck in the mindset of hit or miss while creating our work, but when we’re finished, this is often the first thing we evaluate. We need to have dreams, goals, and ambitions; we need these things to get us to what we can’t even foresee.
[24:05] - A theme for Mark and Charlie is that as they create, they are being created. The tension lies in not knowing what will manifest until it manifests, even if we think we know. Charlie would write down anything that came up, in case it was blocking something else that needed to come out. Mark talks about some of his own creative process, and how research on a topic can lead to the creation of a whole new book or story.
[28:45] - We often discover material rather invent it. This requires us to surrender some control and open ourselves up to allow that discovery. Virtue is our tendency toward unity, and the creative process is about discovering the connections that are always present even when we are unaware of it. The reward for this is that we then become one and can achieve unity.
[34:45] - In his new book, Mark utilizes poetry as a tool for expression. For him, poetry is the unexpected utterance of the soul, rather than a manipulation of words. Everyone can be a poet; discover your own vibrant link to the truth of what it is to be here.
[38:23] - Mark talks about poet/artist William Blake, and the connection between his poems and his visual art. Expression can come to us in many ways, and some artists’ most important work can be classified as an unexpected medium from what we usually think.
[40:55] - Everybody has the same starting p
1 hr 8 min