Adopting a Beginner’s Mind
“…beginner’s mind—one of the most difficult states of being to dwell in for an artist, precisely because it involves letting go of what our experiences have taught us. Beginner’s mind is starting from a pure childlike place of not knowing. Living in the moment with as few fixed beliefs as possible.”
Rick Rubin in The Creative Act: A Way of Being
After breaking my right wrist (I’m right handed) two weeks ago during a fall, I’ve had time on my hands to think and to lament. Why did I not pay heed to the “slippery slope” we are always warned about? Why did I thrust out my dominant hand to break the fall? I’m told it will be six or more weeks before I can begin using my right hand to paint or lift anything. It has meant canceling participation in several shows and putting other art-related endeavors on hold. I am, temporarily, “unimanual,” or “single-handed.”
I’ve learned that around one percent of the world’s population is ambidextrous. This means they don’t rely solely on right handedness or left handedness; they can use either hand equally well. And you don’t have to be born ambidextrous; you can develop the skill through practice! Today, I’m adopting Rick Rubin’s “beginner’s mind”—starting from a “place of not knowing”—and heading to my studio to begin my experiment with left handedness. To paraphrase Rubin, “…it may be necessary to create with hands that have never been trained….preconceived ideas and accepted conventions limit what’s possible.”
Some famous artists who made such experimentation work for them include French impressionist Degas, who was originally right handed but became ambidextrous as an adaptation to health limitations; Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter Michelangelo, who primarily used his left hand but is believed to have used both hands in his creations; and right-handed Picasso, one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists, who purportedly used his left hand in some works.
No doubt, these renowned artists would have agreed with Rubin: “The impossible only becomes accessible when experience has not taught us limits.” Today, I’m a lefty.