Welcome to my Bloutcher(TM)!

Huh?

French philosopher Voltaire bloutchering at his desk in the 1700s.

So I looked up the following in Websters:

* Blog—personal journal with reflections
* Newsletter—small publication containing news of interest to a special group. If you’re reading this you’re special!
* Journal—a record of experiences, ideas, reflections kept regularly for private use.
* Sketchbook—a book of or for sketches. I’m assuming sketches can be verbal as well as visual.

So naturally I came up with the idea of a bl[og][j]ou[rnal][ske]tch[book][newslett]er. Bloutcher(TM). (Rhymes with voucher.) An all in one deal.


My idea is to combine personal reflections, news of interest (announcements, among other things,) ideas and experiences, and sketches both visual and verbal.

Why do I want to do this?

* I’m bored? Nope
* I’m self important? God, I hope nope
* I have something to say? That’s not for me to say
* Can’t help myself? Maybe
* To provoke? Probably
* I’ve never bloutchered before? You betcha
* To live my Creative Mantra? Definitely

(My Creative Mantra: Create, Integrate, Make a Difference)


It’s all about creating possibilities. For myself and others. Pushing the edge. Turning things upside down. Etc.

So what can you expect?

* News and announcements
* Commentary and reflections
* Provocative ideas
* Regular irregularity—that means not every day. Probably not even every week. But you’ll know I’m here.


Possible Bloutcher(TM) Content—At least, some of it.

* Creativity
* Transitions & Life Change
* Art and Life
* The Art of Life
* The Life of Art
* Leadership
* Innovation
* Aging Positively


In this bloutcher(TM)

* Announcements
* First Entry: Love, Hate and Truth

Announcements:

Becoming a Life Change Artist; 7 Creative Skills to Reinvent Yourself at Any Stage of Life will be released by the Penguin Group/Avery on August 3rd. To order an advanced copy go to www.fredmandell.com

I will be doing an author's talk at the Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA on August 10th at 7 p.m.

I am working on a creativity tool with Donna Krone called "Unlocking Your Creative Mantra." Should be ready by late August/early September.

My first entry:

Love, Hate and Truth

I have a love-hate relationship with Picasso. I love the way he constantly experimented with and reinvented his art. I hate his overbearing egotism. I love the incredibly human and sensitive figures from his classical period. I hate his personal streaks of meanness. I love his spirit of artistic playfulness and his willingness to take risks. I hate his sexual deceits and conceits. I love his quote-ability. He is probably the most quotable artist in history.

Picasso claimed that “Art is a lie that helps us to realize the truth.” Now it’s always dangerous to interpret what someone means but I think Picasso is speaking to the dynamic that a painting of something is not the same as the original something. For instance, a painting of a bouquet of flowers is not the original bouquet. In that sense the painting is a lie and the original bouquet is the truth. But he is also getting at the fact that the painting comes to be its own truth. It stands on its own two feet independent of the original subject. In some sense you can argue that Van Gogh’s famous painting of sunflowers is more sublime than the original sunflowers themselves. A painting helps us realize a new truth.


Last week I learned that Picasso was talking about life as well as art.

This was brought home to me while speaking to a woman who had been on a remarkable journey of growth and healing. She had been abused since childhood, fell into addictive behavior and ultimately straightened herself out and became a highly productive citizen. But she had recently (now in her mid forties) found herself stuck. In the midst of our conversation she suddenly said, “You know, who I am is not who I am.”

We both fell quiet at these words, silently acknowledging their apparent contradiction. How can you not be who you are? And then I realized she was not so much contradicting herself as she was speaking Picasso-ese. I haltingly offered: “Could you be saying who you are today does not represent who you are underneath—there’s another less visible you trying to come out. You want to create a new visible truth about yourself.” “Yes,” she said, “but sometimes I think it’s just too difficult to figure out how to do that.”

Since that conversation I have wondered how many of us arrive at a point where we realize we are living a representation of ourselves that is no longer who we really are. We have become what Picasso calls “a lie”—we are no longer aligned with what truly matters to us. The good news is that we can “realize” a new truth. That’s one of the things I love about Picasso. His art is an affirmation of new possibilities in life as it is in art. It may not be easy. But it’s true.

Check out the Events tab on my website (www.fredmandell.com) to see some of the events I will be speaking at. Let me know if you would like to attend any of them.

Oh, yes. Since this is my first bloutcher(TM) I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to others you think might find it interesting.