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Do it Tomorrow
“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”— Anonymous We all know something about procrastination. Most of us have probably practiced it quite successfully. Tomorrow is remarkable. Tomorrow I can exercise, clean the garage, organize the photographs, and finally deal with whatever is in that drawer. Tomorrow appears to have considerably more time and energy than today. We put off unpleasant things for understandable reasons. We may be tired, overwhelmed, afraid of failin

Pam Givens
Aug 282 min read


The Golden Cage
Perfection begins to offer protection.
If I do not make a mistake, perhaps I will not look inadequate.If I stay with what I already know how to do, I am less likely to fail.
If I keep working on it, I do not have to decide it is finished. I do not have to let anyone see it.
The protection can feel reassuring.
It can also become a cage.

Pam Givens
Aug 253 min read


Continuing to Say Yes
If we live long enough, there comes a point when loss is no longer an occasional event in our lives. We lose people we love. We leave homes that once held our memories. Careers end, and dreams change shape. Our beloved animals depart. Sometimes we grieve the person we once were, or the future we imagined but never lived. Some losses arrive early; others come later. There is no predictable order. What changes, if we live long enough, is not grief itself, but our relationship t

Pam Givens
Aug 72 min read


The Seasons of Being Seen
I've been wondering what happens to us if we continue making art over a lifetime.

Pam Givens
Jul 292 min read


When the Work Stops Obeying
Even in spontaneity, there is direction, a memory, a question, a mood, some sense of what the work might become. Without that, the making may never begin.

Pam Givens
Jul 212 min read


The Language of Material
Anyone who has spent time around artists has probably heard the phrase: “Materials have a language.”
It’s the kind of statement that sounds meaningful, but can also feel vague.

Pam Givens
May 262 min read


The Distance Between Vision and Making
There is a moment at the beginning of any creative work that feels almost… innocent. The idea arrives whole. Clear enough. Compelling enough. We can see it. And because we can see it, we assume, quietly, almost without noticing, that we can make it. Later, something changes. Not all at once. But gradually, as the work begins to take form. The distance between what we imagined and what we are able to make becomes more visible. And often… quietly devastating. Because there come

Pam Givens
May 73 min read


When Creativity Goes Quiet
I came across a quote recently that stopped me.
Not because it was new, but because it felt true in a way I couldn’t quite avoid.
I found myself recognizing something in it.
I’m wondering if you might too.

Pam Givens
Apr 122 min read


The Point Is Contact
We can analyze, reflect, journal, talk things through, and still feel restless, disconnected, or oddly untouched by our own insights.

Pam Givens
Feb 242 min read
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