I’m not that tough; I’m not that smart. I need life telling me who I am, showing me my mind constantly. I wouldn’t see it in a cave. Richard Gere
Caves are a wonderful thing…
If you are a bear…If it is winter…
A cave provides solitude and silence, shelter from the storms outside, and even a place to give birth and nurture young. If you are a bear…or a writer…or some other type of creative.
Caves, actually, are essential for creative protection and gestation. When we are in the throes of writing or painting or designing, or when we need to connect with our Muses to hear the whispers of inspiration and possibilities, caves are essential .
But caves are meant to be used in cycles and seasons. As you see in this tarot card, the Ace of Pentacles (The Druidcraft Tarot by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrations by Will Worthington), when winter is over and the new cubs have been nurtured long enough to get about on their own, then mama bear emerges…with her cubs. Like the Ace of Pentacles, the bears’ emergence from the cave embodies a readiness to manifest in the world, to engage the world with hunger and curiosity.
Our creations have to emerge into the world too, in order to manifest in the world and be fully engaged. And like your creative work, you too must emerge from the dark of the cave in order to claim the full dimension of who you are as a creative. You need to engage with the world with hunger and curiosity.
Oh, you can read and research, watch movies on your TV, and email and do social media from the confines of your cave, but for real nourishment, to get your creative metabolism working again, you must leave the safe confines of your cave for the bigger world outside.
- Attend workshops or conferences both regional and national that are present topics in your field or of interest to you.
- Check out networking events in your area. With the advent of the internet, we tend to forget about making connections and developing community locally.
- Visit out local museums, theaters, concerts and special events. While we may access to some of these things online or on TV, there is nothing quite as inspiring as sitting in a theater hearing an artist sing his or her heart out, feeling the resonance of that song and its reverberations through the audience. That is a magic you just can’t get sitting on a sofa in your cave.
- Travel for the sheer joy and adventure of it. Travel as far and wide as you can, nourishing yourself on new sights and sounds and tastes.
- Take time to be with family and friends, even if they don’t get what you do or why. Their slices of life can add perspective and understanding and even commitment to your own.
I often talk about the importance of having your sacred creative space, of designing it to support you, of retreating to it often to do your work.
But as magical as you make your studio or office, as creative as you can be there, I do not advise hiding out or remaining there forever. Get out of the cave, away from your den, and roam.
Hibernation has a season. And so does being in the world.
Aren’t you hungry for what the world has to offer? Aren’t you curious what lies waiting for you beyond the threshold?
Isn’t it time to leave the cave?