We were lucky to catch up with Timothy Boggs recently and have shared our conversation below.
Timothy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
This is a complicated question for me to answer. I’ve worked on a number of meaningful projects and feel humbled and grateful for the opportunities I have been gifted. But determining the most meaningful is like choosing which child you prefer. So let me list a few of my projects and why they are meaningful to me.
As a Sound-Supervisor and sound editor for movies and television shows, I contributed to some classic projects – “Bend it Like Beckham,” “Lost Highway,” “The Bucket List,” “The Sopranos”, “Breaking Bad,” “Fargo,” “Queen Sugar” and many others. Both “The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad” consistently rank in the top five television shows of all time, and I loved the challenges and the acclaim each of these beloved series brought to me. Being the last person to work with James Gandolfini performing Tony Soprano (directing his ADR looping on the final episode) as Jim said goodbye to that life changing character was a great honor and privilege.
As far as the most fun I’ve had working on a movie/television project, there are three contestants – “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” and “Legion.” The first two shows were early in my sound career and took 6-7 years to complete as I worked on every episode of those series. They were a blast. So creative. Those two series helped me grow creatively as well as technically which influenced the rest of my 30+ year career. If Herc & Xena was my training ground, Noah Hawley’s “Legion” was my thesis. I put everything I’ve learned over the years in sound, including my vocal work (demonic/monster vocalizations and vocal effects) into that three season masterpiece. Tremendous fun.
The most unexpected project whose meaningfulness to me has grown over the years is the movie I directed back in 1986 – “Blood Lake,” a “No-Budget” Shot-on-Video horror movie that I initially perceived as a dismal failure. But over the years, “Blood Lake” has garnered a large cult following, culminating with a World Premiere screening at the 2018 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas where they celebrated its long awaited DVD release. Crazy! Sow’s ear to silk purse… and it only took 30 something years! Blood Lake has been written about in books and articles and is credited with influencing a number of young filmmakers. I am grateful and humbled by that honor.
Then there are my art projects. I’ve been an Artist since high-school and received a BFA in Art at the University of Oklahoma in 1980. Though my focus later transitioned to writing, filmmaking and sound, I never let go of the visual artist in me. In the spring of 2010 I had my first solo art show at the James Gray Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California titled “Organic Abstractions” that featured 26 of my best works. My first three sales were by the actor/comedian and artist Jim Carey. My digital paintings, a combination of photography, computer processing and digital painting techniques have been described as colorful abstracts on reality, hypnotic, and even psychedelic. I call the works “Contemplative Art.” You can check them out yourself at ZenArtistLA.com.
But the project that has given me the most pleasure the past ten years has been songwriting and the creation of music. A literal “dream come true.” In high school I dreamed of being a singer and musician. My heroes were all rock stars, as was my musician older brother Larry, and I wanted to feel that energy of singing songs I had written. The problem was, I couldn’t sing very well and didn’t stick with an instrument long enough to become competent or confident playing them. When my artistic side blossomed, I abandoned my apparent musical fantasy and focused more on the visual arts and later movie making. Then one evening in 2023, after my second solo art show in Los Angeles, I was drinking a martini… maybe two… and began to reflect on the successes of my life. I had already had a successful sound career in Hollywood, and now two major art shows, and the little voice in my head that has guided me all my life said to me in a congratulatory tone –
“You done good kid… so what’s next?” I thought for a moment and answered – “I always wanted to be a musician and singer/songwriter.” The voice then asked – “What’s stopping you?”
I laughed and quickly responded – “Because I don’t play an instrument and can’t sing worth shit!”
The voice mused and asked again – “So what’s stopping you?”
I thought long and hard, contemplating the question more seriously, then uttered –
“Me.”
That evening I began to write and visualize a path forward as a songwriter, singer and musician. I remembered that everything I had ever done in my life, every new challenge I had previously faced didn’t come easy. It took diligent work and focus and dedication to accomplishing the task. And more times than not, I succeeded. I realized in that moment that I could be a singer and songwriter and musician if I worked hard enough, if I believed in myself, and just didn’t give up. My inner self guided me to an understanding that I needed to be patient with myself, to learn what I needed to learn, and realize that I didn’t need to know every step to get where I wanted to be… only the next step… then the one after that, and so on. I knew that my helpers, teachers, musicians and forces of the unknown would reveal themselves in time as I needed them – when I was ready. So, I went to work, and now 11 years later I am happier than I probably have ever been. I’m writing, playing, singing and recording songs and music that fill my soul in ways I had never experienced before – only dreamed.
That dream is now real, and I am grateful.
Finally, and most importantly – truly my greatest project and the one that means more to me than all of my other projects combined is the raising of my two sons, Sam and Aaron. Being their dad, guiding them toward adulthood, then letting go and watching them become the great young men they are now – that is more important and meaningful to me than anything else I’ve ever done. No matter how much recognition I get for my works, no matter their influence on people and the world moving forward in time, none of it would be worth it if my kids suffered or if I was negligent and failed in their upbringing. I’m so proud of my sons. They taught me so much and are the reason I am the person I am today.
Again – forever grateful.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Who am I? Aren’t we all asking ourselves the same question? What is this reality thing? Why do I exist? You know, all the big deep questions inside of us. Those questions that are seldom spoken out loud, but always dwell in the depths of our consciousness.
Well if you haven’t, I’ve done enough wondering for the both of us. I think about stories. Not just fictional ones, but about how each one of us has a unique story. Our life. Very few get told or are remembered as eternity continues inexorably, mostly without notice. Most lives are forgotten. Only a rare few have left their mark on history. But I believe we have entered into an age where our lives are so completely recorded and measured, soon anyone around a smart phone will have much of their history captured. All of that data – those numbers and words and photos and videos. All those texts we send. Everything that is recorded, even our precise location on the planet and every movement we make. All of it captured and stored, forever enshrined.
The future will remember us. How do we want to be remembered?
So to contribute to this bank of historical memory, I will now share a little more about myself. And I encourage anyone reading this to try to do the same. Record your life. Tell your story. Make it mean something.
Here’s some of mine.
I was born on Halloween night, 1958 in a place I affectionately call the “smallest city in the world” – Bartlesville, Oklahoma. At the time, “B’ville” was home to Phillips Petroleum Company where my father worked for over 40 years. Though the city had roughly 28,000 residents, because of Phillips there was a miniature big-city downtown including Frank Loyd Wright’s only skyscraper – The Price Tower. I grew up safe and carefree in a young suburbia with few fences or boundaries. I loved to explore, especially out in the wilds of Osage Hills State Park where I first fell in love with nature, especially the live oak trees and incredible rock formations found along Sand Creek. I was the kid who would lay on the grass staring up at cloud formations while they billowed, morphed and transformed as they grew. I engaged my budding imagination to discover faces, animals and peculiar designs in those fluffy cumulous clouds. I loved to daydream, creating fantastical stories and strange images in my curious mind, and contemplate the world around me. That was the beginning of my artistic journey, though it took many years before I realized my truth.
In the fall of 1972, my father’s work at Phillips took my parents and I to London, England, leaving my two older brothers, Larry and Steve behind. London transformed me. It was my early teens, and London was a vibrant center for art, music, culture and style. I loved it. With my bus/tube pass, I could explore the city without restriction. Luckily I was responsible for my age, and my parents allowed me the freedom to roam the city alone or with friends, as long as I didn’t stay out too late and was respectful of their parental concerns. And for the most part I did… except when I didn’t. As a teen in a huge city, I was exposed to all sorts of curious wonders – especially drugs. Pot, hashish and LSD introduced me to my inner worlds, transforming my mind in incalculable ways. I was never a daily user, but enough over those adolescent years to expand my way of thinking and open doors and perceptions inside myself. I became a very deep thinker, pondering the universe and searching for answers to all of the “hows?” and “whys?” that nagged my insatiable mind. It was the beginning of my spiritual awakening that I continue to explore to this moment.
My first two years in London were spent in beautiful St. John’s Wood, just three blocks from Abby Road Studios and almost across the street from Paul McCartney. We lived directly across from the McCartney’s southern neighbor – the Astors. They lived in mansions and we lived in a flat. We always knew when the McCartneys were arriving home from somewhere. The horn on their bright red Lamborghini would unlock the large green gate in front of their rainbow colored home. The honk would send my mother and I scampering to our small kitchen window, both of us trying to get a good angle on our celebrity neighbors. It was exciting and fun to witness them – Linda taking their kids and dogs, including their famous sheepdog Martha (My Dear), out for a walk, and the time Paul said “Hello” to me as we passed each other on the sidewalk. But I knew better than to be a nuisance. I respected their privacy and enjoyed those special moments when they happened.
My best friend in London, Rick Russell, was a fellow Bartian. Our fathers worked together and for the first two years we lived only a couple of blocks apart in St. John’s Wood, so it was easy to hang with each other. Rick was a year older than me and had an enormous influence on my adolescent life. He introduced me to some great rock music (Hendrix, The Stones, Pink Floyd among many), and the drugs. But most importantly, he introduced me to Art. Rick was a talented artist. His mom was a professional artist and encouraged her children to draw and paint, where as mine rarely did. I grew up believing I had no artistic abilities whatsoever. My junior year in high school at The American School in London I took a ceramics class with Rick. Though my early creative works were very rudimentary, I fell in love with clay and the manipulation of it. Soon my organic style began to develop. Those earlier explorations of clouds, trees and rock formations as a child influenced the art I was creating. As I look back at the art I have made over the past several decades, I can trace my fundamental style to those early days in Bear Van Wyck’s ceramics class.
Before moving to London, I had a beautiful tenor singing voice. I sang in the school choir and to songs I’d hear on the radio or my older brothers records. I adored singing. I loved how it made me feel inside. But as my child body grew into adolescence, my voice changed. It didn’t just break, it shattered. Heartbreaking. You see, more than anything during my teen years, music ruled my life. I’d listen to bands like Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, Led Zeppelin and Gong – music that would take me on imaginative sonic journeys. I’d close my eyes and visualize images the music created in my mind. And I’d dream. I wanted to do that. I wanted to create music and sing words that were beautiful, mysterious and fun. I wanted to know what it was like to belt out those melodies and lyrics; ones I had written myself and feel that deep emotional power erupting out of my body – my soul. Lacking a decent singing voice, I had to let go of that dream… for a time. Life it seems had a roundabout plan.
London exposed me to many different cultures, people and ideas. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel through parts of Europe and Africa, absorbing as much of these incredible experiences as I could. And when I returned home to the U.S. in the summer of ’76 to begin my collegiate studies at The University of Oklahoma, I was a much different person than the young naive kid from 4 years before. Though I floundered my freshman year (too much partying and not enough self discipline), I rediscovered my creative calling during my sophomore year when I switched my major from Engineering to Art. What’s interesting, the reason I first mistakenly majored in Engineering was I had told a freshman academic advisor I wanted to major in “Sound Engineering” and evidently the man only heard the last part. Ironically, I eventually found my way back to sound and made a 30+ year career in the field. But I don’t regret the switch. I’m an Artist first. Sound and all my other creative pursuits flow from there.
Art School introduced me to a world I had long craved. I was immersed in a creative environment surrounded by very imaginative people. And I thrived. My confidence grew and my works were appreciated by other artists I respected. And as much as I loved art and creating artistic works, the desire to sing in a band persisted. But alas, my voice still didn’t cooperate. My older brother Larry, already a very accomplished guitarist in Oklahoma, asked me if I’d like to mix sound for his band at a local club. I jumped at the chance. One evening he taught me how to use the mixer board. That night was the seed to my future, but again, it would be years before that tree would bear fruit.
During my Junior year at OU, I became interested in filmmaking and began making short art videos. These early experiments in non-narrative film (video art for art’s sake, not Hollywood style storytelling) led me into a new direction and possible career choice. I realized it would be difficult making a living being a pure visual artist and that in order to have a decent lifestyle (I wasn’t keen on being a “starving artist”), I’d need to find creative work that was potentially more secure and profitable. So I turned my focus to video and film hoping to find work making commercials or maybe even feature films. I had a very good eye and years of experience in photography, so becoming a videographer came natural to me. I teamed up with friends who had similar interests and we collaborated on narrative projects but with a more visually artistic flair. One of these friends, John Schulte, became my primary collaborator. We both loved art films and shared the same taste in music, and after graduating from OU worked together at a small educational software company called Dorsett Educational System where we created rudimentary computer based teaching lessons. It sure wasn’t Pixar, but it was a start.
I had so many dreams back then, but nothing was ever clear – the direction I should go. Most of it was just finding something that worked and holding on till a better one came along. You know – Life.
From there it was the predictable set of happenings in a young man’s journey. I met a woman at work, we got married, raised a couple of boys and tried to survive the best we could. My dreams now included her dreams. We wanted to write screenplays and make movies. It was an exciting dream, but one we had no idea how to realize, nor the resources to help.
In 1986, while working as a salesman at and an audio/video equipment company in Oklahoma City, I met a young man who was inquiring about gear he might need to shoot the horror movie he was writing and planned to star it. Doug Barry and I hit it off and I became the director of that movie, “Blood Lake.” Directing “Blood Lake” was one of the most important accomplishments of my life, because of the timing. The making of it was the springboard I needed to eventually move to L.A..
In the fall of 1990, my wife Shan, our two young boys Sam and Aaron, and our collie-shepherd Kelly, loaded up our black Chrysler Cordoba and made our way to and a life in Southern California. Once we made the decision to move, all the paths to California began to open up for us. We didn’t have a lot but we had enough to get us started. Shan was quickly hired at The American Film Institute as the Assistant to the Director, which introduced her to people and opportunities in the film industry. I did what I could, bouncing from one video gig to another. I worked as a P.A. on a couple of feature films, and for a while I shot the horse races at Santa Anita. But mostly I shot and edited wedding videos. Six years before I had briefly moved out to Los Angeles and lived with John Schulte. We made another short film called “Ashes” and worked for a Mom and Pop wedding video company, Mattern Video. Two months of living apart from Shan and Sam made me homesick and I returned to Oklahoma and married them. Now I was back working for Howard Mattern, only now it was just a “Pop” shop. That went on for about 15 months when just as our financial security was beginning to collapse, I has hired to edit sound for movies and TV shows. The projects I first worked on at Sound Tracks were very rudimentary, but a very good training ground for me because there were no major pressures. No strict deadlines. No airdate you had to hit. But after a year, the company had some financial difficulties and I saw sound editors hired after me getting laid off. I knew my number would arrive soon enough so I trained myself to do as many different skills as I could learn. The Monday after I was laid off in the late winter of 1993 I was hired by Digital Sound and Picture as a sound editor. I had prepared myself well and was able to easily tackle any task they threw at me.
I grew exponentially at DSP. We were a family. A sometimes semi-disfuncional one, but a family of great colleagues and creative talents. It was an exciting period for me as I began supervising ADR on prominent television shows and cable movies. I worked with dozens of famous actors and directors. I had fun and I learned a lot and the job was pretty secure. I made decent money, at least compared to what I had made anywhere previous, and I had the freedom to still remain a good dad and husband. I wasn’t consumed by the work and it didn’t consume me. I was comfortable. But the further I invested myself in sound, the more my other dreams seemed to fade. After a few years, the bright and exciting future I had envisioned for myself had become hazy and distant. I remember just not feeling right. Frustration. A sense of being unmoored and set adrift. Something was missing. Something fundamental.
Art.
I had stopped making art for myself. I spent years striving to be successful by working on other people’s dreams and had forgotten my own. So I bought some clay and went back to the fundamentals. FUNdamentals. It felt good to be back playing in the mud, moving the clay around to see what magic would emerge. The creativity I generated in the clay influenced the other parts of my life. I was happier and my problem solving skills at work improved. I began writing again, though mostly reworking drafts on screenplays Shan and I had written together. But I was happy again, even though I may have lost a little of the hunger I once had when I was younger. I stopped being in such a hurry, relaxed and simply learned to enjoy the process.
Unfortunately my wife didn’t. Shan was incredibly driven and had certain expectations and decided she wanted to go out on her own. So she left… ten days prior to our 20th wedding anniversary.
It hurt. A lot.
Don’t want to touch on that just now. Too long of a tangent to add to this telling. Let’s just say I survived. I’ve learned a lot. I changed myself and I like who I’ve become. And yes, it still hurts sometimes. It’s not her leaving that hurts. It’s the knowledge and acceptance that the person you loved and trusted most in the world no longer loves or trusts you.
The separation and divorce from Shan forced me to be a singular mind again. No longer we. Only me, creatively speaking. I still had the love of my boys and the rest of my family and friends, but I no longer had that person I could share everything with. So of course, where do I turn when I’m down and confused? Art… and meditation.
I threw myself into my digital paintings, creating an abundance of beautiful and introspective images that I call “Contemplative Art.” And I began meditating on a more frequent basis. It helped me sleep and kept me sane. It’s a practice I began at 16 while I was still living in London. On a summer trip home in August of ’75 while visiting my brother Larry and his bride Roben in Oklahoma City, I met my spiritual teacher, Audle Allison. Audle married my brother and sister at a group ceremony in a banquet hall at the downtown OKC YMCA. Since my acid trip on my 15th birthday when ended up in the Emergency Room at St. George’s Hospital, I’ve been searching for truth. Truth in all things. Audle Allison was the first real live human being that told me anything about the inner realms of life that made real sense to me. I embraced his teachings and theories about life and put them into practice. Audle taught Kriya Yoga as well as other very beautiful and powerful forms of energetic meditation. I found peace and wisdom through his lectures and lessons. So in my darkest times, those teachings are my solid foundation to protect and heal me and help me see life with better clarity and understanding..
During my dark times of pain, confusion and anger, my inner guides talk to me. Not voices, but in thought. Life had decided it was time for Shan and I to take different courses. There was no going back. I had to navigate my future with a brand new map.
And I could go anywhere.
I chose to stay in my area and bought a small house in a shady area of Tujunga where Aaron and our two dogs, Kira and Piggy could live. I live there still.
I would move in other ways. I pulled myself out of an emotional gutter and concentrated on my sound work, contributing to many acclaimed movies and TV shows. I loved being a sound supervisor and basically conducting the sound for a show. I became good at it, but it did not complete me. I spent my free time exploring and creating digital media. Blending my photography with my painting and computer skills has been very rewarding to me creatively. I can express so much of myself in these works. It’s satisfying.
And yet, It still wasn’t enough.
In the spring of 2013, after an accomplished career in sound, multiple awards and Emmy nominations, and two successful L.A. Art shows, I began to ponder my next feat of creativity. Those guiding voices came to me again, this time asking what more I wanted. Funny, it wasn’t fortune or fame. No, it was like my Rosebud. When I was a teenager I wanted to write and sing rock n roll. And I still did. The only one stopping me was me. So I began. First writing little funny blues ditties. Then I picked up the guitar and later piano, and became a songwriter. I have been a closet singer most of my life. Though the closet usually turned out to be my car. I sang and sang and sang anytime I was alone. So when I began to take it seriously by singing my own songs, my true voice (voices?) emerged. It still takes hard work and practice, but I am now living my dream. I’m recording songs singing words and melodies I have written. There is no greater feeling.
My brother Larry and I have collaborated on songs for over ten years. Our band Karmic Jesters explores elements of Rock, Country, and Blues while adding our own unique flavorings. I love writing songs and singing them. And recently I’ve found a new challenge – taking another persons music and writing lyrics to fit them. I’m now collaborating with my friend and fellow sound editor Matt Temple. Matt is insanely talented musically, and he loves my lyrics and my different voices. We’re having fun collaborating and hope to have some cool tunes out soon. The music is 180 degrees from Karmic Jesters. Matt has a darker and edgier tone than what I’ve written previously, but it allows me to dig deeper, drawing upon my Halloween/Scorpio roots. I want these songs to be immersive, transporting the listener to another realm on a journey filled with beauty and mystery. Music to listen to with the lights out, eyes closed and headphones on.
My latest adventure is teaching meditation. After years of practice I decided it was time to pass it on to anyone who wanted to learn. I do it for free. What was freely given to me I must be passed on freely. It is the Way of this practice. To live honestly, humbly, gratefully and with generosity and showing kindness to one another. Acceptance. The idea that we reap what we sow – Karma. The more we give, the more we receive. I’ve seen it work in my own life. I hope what I share will help others experience it in theirs.
Life is a magical journey, full of ups and downs and abrupt turns to paths unforeseen or planned for. We mostly ride the storms, grabbing on to whatever solid structure we can keep hold of, moving wherever the winds of change propel us. I believe it is important to build solid foundations within ourselves. To nurture those qualities we can be secure in – love, kindness, empathy, generosity, faithfulness, responsibility and being truthful. Finding a path and being devoted to that path, but understanding that sometimes we need to take side excursions in life in order to become wiser and stronger. Being happy is a choice. A simple smile is the golden key to happiness – yours and others. When we can live in harmony with our world and those around us, and find ways to share a smile, the whole world becomes a little bit happier. In these times, we can sure use more of it. So smile generously!
I haven’t found all the answers to those great questions I alluded to earlier, but I’m still searching. But I’ve found enough to bring me comfort and to keep me moving forward, head up, wherever my journey takes me. Through the expression of art, music, writing and teaching, I continue to live in a creative flow that keeps me happy and optimistic about the journeys ahead. Living in this divine flow will continue to guide me. I truly hope you find it too.
Best of fortune for you and yours.
Peace.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I think what drives me as a creative person, as an Artist, is the quest to explore our amazing world and all its hidden mysteries. To search for beauty inside the mundane. To search for truth where there is confusion. To find a clearer path amidst all of life’s obstacles that are tossed in our way. I want to understand the reasons why we are here in this moment in time and place, ponder where we are headed, and try to discover better ways to navigate this mortal existence toward something more ideal, as opposed to just aimlessly meandering through life’s river of chaos like a boat without oars. I want to evolve – consciously and with purpose, and to use my creative abilities to find new ways of doing things and to be able to communicate what I discover to the world in a fun, joyous and entertaining way.
My creative life and my philosophy are deeply entwined. I believe that all life is a struggle between order and chaos. Everything evolves from simplicity (order) toward chaos. Too much of either will overwhelm life so a balance must be maintained for life to thrive. Our habit selves are a good example. An overabundance of order, like doing the same repetitive task again and again, can be detrimental to both our physical bodies and our psyche. Too much chaotic behavior is, well, insane.
The same can be said for artistic beauty. Take music for example. Too much order such as a repeated note played over and over is monotonous and boring. Too much musical chaos can be confusing and irritating. When a composer finds the right balance between the two, exquisite pieces of music are created. When order and chaos work together, beauty is created. So balance in all things seems to be the best course of action.
And that is my goal – to find those wonderful balances in my artistic endeavors that create unique and wonderful pieces of music and art.
Back in my Art School days at the University of Oklahoma, I found a common theme in my work. It was something I had actually begun in my high school art classes at The American School in London but only realized it toward the end of my senior year in college. I called the concept “Initial Control.” It’s the idea of setting a work of art into motion – initiating it – then, for the most part, letting go and allowing the natural elements of the medium create the direction and details of the artistic piece. Some pieces were very free flowing like dropping watercolors on a canvas and then blowing the blobs of colors to move the streams in different directions. I found I had some control over the image, but mostly the streams of color would move in odd directions and create images I had no real control over. I noticed the same occurrence in much of my organic clay sculptures – the details of the lines in the clay moving and forming on their own as I pushed or pulled on the clay. I could initiate the events but I wasn’t in complete control over them. Realizing this made me ponder other elements in my life that I had the ability to initiate but was not in control of. Most things in my life, it turned out.
When I started to mix photography and digital media together I found the same process that served me so well in my earlier years was still true. Taking a photograph, scanning it into the computer (before digital cameras), then using the tools I had to manipulate the photo, I learned to abstract the image in unusual ways. Again, I could initiate the abstraction, loosely guiding the severity of the abstraction, but I had no control over all the minute details within the abstraction. I could do more abstraction or less, change colors, saturation and hue, but the image was for the most part evolving in ways I wasn’t in full control of. I made decisions on the changes I was making, but not every detail of those changes.
A lot like life.
We make decisions in our lives, aim for a goal or destination, guide our steps along the way, but we cannot control every aspect of the journey. We must eventually learn to let go and enjoy all of the unexpected delights on the journey. In my art, music and other creative endeavors, that is what I strive to do. My desire is to create artistic works that take the observer on a mysterious journey. Where they end up is up to them. I can only initiate the journey. I have no control over the outcome.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the opportunity to create something out of nothing. It’s sort of like playing God. Where once there was nothing, now there is something – in whatever form that might be. The act of creation may start as an inspiration, an idea, then by putting energy into action, I utilize my talents and abilities to take some formless sense of that idea out of the unformed ether and manifest it into the physical realm. It’s a joyous, and yes, sometimes frustrating process, but when completed and the idea is physically “real” it is a rapturous feeling that I haven’t found anywhere else. Better than drugs!
This ability to manifest something from nothing makes me feel closer to the Divine Creator (who or whatever that is). So for me, it’s a very spiritual act. I don’t believe in “God” in the traditional religious sense, but I do believe in “more” – that there is something beyond ourselves and this mortal existence. Through the act of creation I feel this unexplainable creative energy – The Flow – and as long as I can stay in the Flow in a humble, grateful and curious way, I can continue to receive it’s creative blessings. And man have I been blessed. So blessed.
This creative process often begins in my most quiet moments – just before sleep or when waking. Sometimes in a dream. Ideas have come to me when bathing or showering when I’m very feeling relaxed and my mind drifts into a sort of netherworld. Even more often they come while meditating, a practice I began when I was 16 years old. The trick for me is to act immediately upon the inspiration when it reveals itself. To capture the idea while it is still fresh. To me, these ideas are gifts from the Gods and it is our responsibility to treat them with respect. Not every idea will manifest. I might not be the person the idea was intended for, or it may only be a clue towards some other idea that will come later.
For a long time I have pondered the creative process and why I have been blessed with so much of it. Once, in deep meditation, I asked the Divine Spirit “Why? Why me? Why am I so blessed with more creative ideas than many I know?” The answer came quickly and succinctly.
“Because you listen… and then you act.”
That is the secret to attaining and maintaining the creative flow. When inspiration is gifted to you, listen and act. Put the idea into motion.
I believe there are creative forces in the universe that govern what creative ideas are distributed to the world and when. As we humans evolve as a species, we are gifted with these ideas and inspiration as we become ready for them. Think of it as ripe fruit falling from trees (though to me it is more like rain falling from the heavens). Ripe ideas rain down on the world when there is a need for the species to grow in a certain direction. These ideas flow to all of us, however, it is only the fertile minds that will fully receive these gifts. And of those minds, only the ones who have developed the ability and talent to make a particular idea come to fruition, and consciously put their physical energy into making the idea real are able to fully receive the full blessing of these divine gifts. So as Artists, Inventors, Writers and Deep Thinkers, it is our responsibility to recognize this flow of divine gifts, develop our ability to manifest them, draw to us the people we need in order to complete process, and put our energy into making these ideas come to fruition. There are countless examples through the ages of different inventors living continents apart coming up with the same idea at the same time. This theory possibly explains why.
So once we attain this ability to discover this flow and tap into its divine resources, how do we maintain it? Simple. Stay humble and grateful. I’ve found more than anything, self-centered ego is the destroyer of creativity. The Divine Creator tends to reward those who are grateful for these gifts and who take little credit for them. They are the ones who recognize that the idea for the creation didn’t come from them, but came through them. Most of have seen people thanking “God” or “Jesus” or some other perceived deity after some personal or team accomplishment. These names are just different labels for this Creative Flow. Personally, I don’t know what the source of this creative flow is. Not truly. And I don’t need to. I only need to recognize its magnificent existence, humble myself to its beauty and love, and be supremely grateful for all the wonderful gifts and lessons I am given.
I am truly grateful. Thank you for allowing this humble artist to express himself and these notions. I hope it can be of some service to all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zenartistla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenartistla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timothy.boggs.3
- Other: ZenArtistLA.com – My Art website containing much of my “Contemplative Art.”
KarmicJesters.com – Band Website (Please explore our music and humorous musings.)
CYmeditaion.com – (Cleansing Yoga Meditation) – Website for my meditation practice and philosophical ponderings.
“At birth, we are given a treasure of moments to last our lifetime. It is up to us how we spend them.”
Image Credits
All images created by Timothy Boggs and can be found on his website ZenArtistLA.com