CLAIMING FACE in Life – The Making of the Book, Part 1

Posted on April 13th, 2010 by Maya Christina

We have the very first book in hand now. As I hold it I can feel the heft of its 236 pages. The cover is slick and vibrant. It looks and feels like “fresh book.” But it also feels like it has existed forever. I have done a lot of books in my time, but nothing like this. This book is my life. I can sense how it has grown in me ever since I was a child. It feels like me. As personal as it is, it could not have been created this way without partnering with Matthew for it. I think it’s an honest estimation to say that we are each wildly creative in separate, but fabulously complimentary ways. One of Matthew’s many strengths is his attention to great detail and clarity. He has architecture in his blood. I love structure, but often find that dismantling is more my focus. I need a lot of freedom.

Coupled with our individual style we both also engage with creativity differently. I see it as a powerful force I was born with that serves as my teacher. I also see that in everyone else. Matthew’s relationship with creativity is very strong, but as we started the book, it seemed more like something he took for granted. I don’t think he recognized it for what it was. As we embarked on the project, we often talked about how creating the book was providing us with an opportunity to deepen our own relationship with creativity and how now, not just me, but both of us were living the philosophy. There is always something to learn in life and we were in the thick of it. Working on the book changed us, and as we changed, the book changed. What vision I had of the book at the beginning is so buried in layers of shifts and changes and evolutions that the original thought feels like a tiny seed from which this book grew.

I know for me, the book was a challenge to seriously slow down and become more present in order to articulate what I’ve learned from creativity. So often my experiences live within me without need to speak them. They are large feelings and colors and shapes that are relevant to me alone. My awareness of all the paths taken, the process and the purpose can go unspoken. It just is. Matthew would read text that I wrote and say that he sort of understood what I was saying about creativity because he lived with me. I needed to be clearer and clearer to find more words for the process and purpose that made sense to people who didn’t know me. I was accustomed to sharing this information primarily through lectures. But to be honest, I don’t prepare much for lectures. I just open up to whatever it is I need to share for that experience. (I do that with the kids too.) Then I start talking about what I think and what I’ve learned about creativity and reflection. When I am talking and being in the moment with people, my thoughts naturally organize and adjust to the experience. I just have to trust the flow. It’s a bit weird not knowing what I’m going to say, but I actually think I come across easier and more fluid in person than on paper. Slowing down to keep words in my mouth and in my mind to write down felt like radically changing my mode of transportation. It was like swapping a speedboat for a bicycle. Matthew was a constant help encouraging me to just start writing and not think about it. I’m doing that right now.

For Matthew, he had little experience with the design program he used for layout or with the process of designing and publishing a book. It was a huge learning curve. Over and over he would make an excited sound and then show me what amazing new thing he had just figured out. I basically know how he did it, but I do not know how he did it so fast and so well. It was all beyond me. I felt like everything in the house was growing: me, Matthew, the book. The book grew to what we had initially envisioned and then it just kept going. There were weeks when all we could do was laugh and watch as the book grew and grew. We figured when it hit its right size it would stop. We let go of our early deadlines of publication and gave it a few more months to settle in. After awhile as much as I finally wanted to be done, it was hard to let go. I realized each of us had something different to let go of. I was fixated on the philosophy. The more I would work with it the more I would want to share. Matthew was focused on structure and clarity. The more he learned the craft of it, the more ideas he had about design and presentation.

Making the book changed us, in part because it was about CLAIMING FACE. The philosophy served as an immediate support for the process as we simultaneously tried to articulate it and make it accessible for others. There were many times when we had to remind ourselves that we were in it, living it out! When I began this post, I had all these experiences to share of CLAIMING FACE in action, but I realized there were too many. So during the course of writing this, I realized I want to do a short series (I see everything’s still growing!). In this series I’ll share about some of the behind-the-scenes stories and how creating the book taught us more about the philosophy in the book.

I have been telling stories about creativity for a very long time. I remember in my 20’s I had a small jewelry line called Fearless Art. I used to put my philosophy about creativity on the backs of the jewelry cards with my cheeky motto “It’s not just jewelry, it’s a way of life.” That was my first, sneaky foray into sharing my philosophy. Ha! Now it’s grown up to be a big book! This is why I love creativity. Anything is possible. I wonder what will happen next?