| OH! ZONE! LAYER By Debbie Ellison The ozone layer of the atmosphere is a pollutant at ground level, but the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere is vital to life on earth, protecting us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Oh! Oh! You’re In the Zone In the same way, the “Oh! Zone!” layer of the “create”mosphere is vital to Creative Life on Earth, protecting it from the harmful ultra-vile nays of those who put us creative folks down, squelching our creativity. The more creative we are, the more “they” say we’re “way out there,” or “we’re not normal” (thank you!). You are a creative artist. You know what it’s like to be “in the zone,” when you are so at one with what you are creating, nothing else exists in that moment but you and your canvas, your sample board, the idea or technique you are creating, and you are in the throes of the ultimate creative “high.” It is called many things - being in the “flow state,” in “the zone,” the “AHA! moment,” but whatever you call it, it’s the ultimate state of creativity – the state every artist lives to dwell in. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in The Flow Experience says, “Flow denotes the wholistic sensation present when we act with total involvement. It is the state in which action follows upon action according to an internal logic which seems to need no conscious intervention on our part. We experience it as a unified flowing from one moment to the next, in which we feel in control of our actions, and in which there is little distinction between self and environment: between stimulus and response, or between past, present, and future.” Naysayers (the “Fateful Dead”) will try to pull you out when they think you are sinking into the zone. They are stuck in the Status Quo (and the Status No!). Creativity is about breaking out of the way things are or have always been, and doing old things in new ways. It’s saying “yes” in a world screaming “NO!” Electrical sparks and ultraviolet light can cause ordinary oxygen to form ozone. Electrical sparks, creative flashes of lightning ideas, can cause ordinary states of unconsciousness to rise to the upper stratosphere of human potential and innovative ecstasy to form the Oh! Zone! Layer (that state of consciousness in which a person is floating in the WOWS!) At normal temperatures and pressures, ozone is a gas. Oh! Zone!, too, is a gas! And what a GAS it is! The Oh! Zone! Layer is part of the “create”mosphere. It can be experienced by anyone, but is often invisible to the “weak of art.” When in the Oh! Zone! Layer, one may experience one’s head in the clouds, but feet on the ground, heart pounding, soul soaring, lightning striking, and an overwhelming drive to excel. When you are in the zone, you are so in tune with it, you’re not even consciously aware you are in it. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains it this way: “The moment awareness is split so as to perceive the activity from “outside,” the flow is interrupted.” It is like driving a car. You are aware you are driving, but on autopilot. If you stop to think about the mechanics of how you are driving or what makes the car go, you can no longer drive; you may have an accident.
You know you’re in the Oh! Zone! Layer, when:
“I gaze at the canvas as my hand reaches for a brush and toward a color that pleases me. The painting begins. Color appears on the canvas. Squinting. Stretching. Splashing. Staring. I feel amazement. As an image is born it’s as though I am actually standing behind myself watching someone else bring a canvas to life. I haven’t planned it. Suddenly it’s there.” (Peter Max} Remember, the “naysayers” are all around.
Their job is to spread negative energy, to quash your dreams and stifle
your creativity. They live to keep you down, to make you an outcast. They
will keep you out of the zone, if you let them. DREAM QUASHERS Say they nay? I say, Hey… Listen not to those who “no” like old age snatches youth. Beware, I say Will try to conform you… ___________________________________________________________ Debbie Ellison is a freelance writer and editor in Atlanta and teaches writing and creativity seminars. Contact her at DebbieEllisonInk@yahoo.com. Susie Goldenberg owns Paintin' the Town, Faux, a faux finishing showroom and Atlanta’s premier school for decorative finishes. She has been a professional decorative artist for 13 years and teaches classes at her school and from coast to coast. Contact her at Susie@PaintinTheTown.com. ___________________________________________________________ This article may be shared with
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