Rainmaker's Prayers hosts Eric Maisel and the Van Gogh Blues
I am honored to have the man and book that inspired me to compile
Rainmaker's Prayers. Eric Maisel PhD, creativity guru is here visiting us and discussing his newly released book: The Van Gogh Blues, the creative person's path through depression.
Shinan: In the face of global warming/global cooling, The Van Gogh Blues
inspired me to compile an anthology entitled “Rainmaker’s Prayers,
Align with Global Harmony.” How do I encourage clients and contributors
to find and create meaning in their life?
Eric: By helping them make the paradigm shift from finding meaning to
making meaning. There is no meaning to find; it is not lost. There is only
meaning to make; meaning is a choice. Once people really understand
this distinction, they realize that they know enough already to make these
choices and they can begin to stand behind their own meaning
decisions.
Shinan: With climate change and the extinction of thousands of species, many
people feel hopeless and helpless. How do you encourage people to find
meaning among the uncertainty and confusion of environmental
upheavals?
Eric: By reminding them that they have a life to lead and they can lead it
authentically or inauthentically. They are not in charge of the
universe—no one is. They are in charge of only and precisely their own
life. They can make their life a thing of moral beauty by their choices or
they can watch more television. Until the world actually ends, we have
the obligation to take charge of our life and aim it in the direction
of our choosing; that is what “making ethics” means.
Shinan: Some data says that major corporations control the media, i.e.
television, newspapers and magazine, and that the American population is
spoon-fed and numbed by “corporate propaganda.” How can we create
meaning in an inauthentic world?
Eric: Only with great difficulty—but life is difficulty. There never was
a guarantee that life would be easy. You think through what would
amount to right action in this kind of environment—where you can make the
most difference or any difference—and then you step in that
direction, recognizing that you can’t alter the world’s configuration, All
you can do is make yourself proud by your own efforts. You heroically
try; that’s it, period.
Shinan: Often, the endless details of this multi-level project bog me down.
How do we bring meaning to minutiae?
Eric: Great question. By reminding ourselves that meaningless-feeling
things serve our meaning aims and ends. The best way is to do something
meaningful for at least the first hour or two of one’s day—the actual
writing, the actual painting—and then, having built up some meaning
capital, turn to the “meaningless things” that nevertheless support
our meaning efforts. By reminding ourselves that we do not have to make
meaning every single minute and that meaningless-feeling things are a
necessary part of meaning-making, we manage to deal with the minutiae.
For more interview questions and dialog with Eric,
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