Transcendent art isn’t just for the masters. You can do it, too! But how?
First, you have to remember the true purpose of the arts, which not just self-expression–it’s *illumination*. The purpose of art is to bring audiences into connection with Something Bigger. This begins by being in touch with Something Bigger, yourself.
Next, you need your whole life to support the creation of transcendent art. This you can do through the “Seven Elements of Soulforce Arts.” These Seven Elements are as follows:
- Effortlessness & Embodiment
- Soulfulness
- Healing the Self
- Holistic Values Development
- Soulforce Mastery
- Aligned Livelihood
- Healing the World
Each of these work in synergy to help you as an artist feel better, create better, and create a positive transformation in your audiences. When you engage these Seven Elements, you’ll feel inspired knowing that you are doing what you love (making music of art) in service of Something Bigger than yourself. This is the essence of the Soulforce Arts Approach.
The book I mention: “Serpent in the Sky” by John Anthony West
I read from my upcoming book in this video. Read the full excerpt below.
Be among the first to know about my upcoming book “Soulforce Arts: The Vital Role of Musicians & Other Artists in a World That’s Lost Its Mind” by signing up for my mailing list at JosephArnold.com.
Joseph Arnold
Violinist, Alexander Technique Teacher, Director of the Soulforce Arts Institute
Seven Elements of the Soulforce Arts Approach
There are seven unique elements to the Soulforce Arts Approach, each of which works in harmony with the others to suffuse your creative life with the transformative power of Soulforce. Combined, the Seven Elements of the Soulforce Arts Approach constitute what artistry looks like when done from a higher perspective. They also include the specific values, practices, and processes that can lead you into this higher perspective.
The Seven Elements are designed to address the many challenges caused by the worldview of separation in your life as a musician or other artist. They do this by first taking into account the fact that your art is connected to every aspect of your life, and so they are concerned not just with what happens in the art studio or up on stage, but in your health and livelihood, as well. In addition, the Seven Elements help you reconnect with Soul so that you can heal the damage done by the mind of separation as it has shown up in your life.
All of the Seven Elements work in synergy with the others; each one affects all the others so that when one is particularly strong or weak, all the others are strengthened or weakened. And while the Seven Elements are best developed more or less synchronously, your early engagement with the Soulforce Arts Approach will be best supported by generally following the sequence outlined below. The Seven Elements are as follows:
1) Effortlessness & Embodiment
The gateway to your aliveness is the release of excess muscular tension in your body during the creative act. This is also key for relieving common injuries, aches, and pains. In this book you will find many practices from the Alexander Technique for this purpose.
2) Soulfulness
Soulfulness is the degree of connection with your aliveness that you bring to your creative endeavors. It is the antidote to the hollowness, objectification, and mechanical approach created by separation-thinking. Playing from the Heart, a central practice of this book, is about cultivating soulfulness.
3) Healing the Self
If your art and your influence on the world around you are both reflections of your quality of life, then healing yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually must be of central importance to your life as an artist. Much of this book will help you in this process, including the Mind-Body Interludes and Chapter 7 – Wellness for Artists.
4) Holistic Values Development
So many personal, artistic, and collective problems simply come from having too narrow a perspective. But by expanding your consciousness to include a wider array of perspectives and phenomena, you can discover new ways of addressing hitherto intractable problems. This book is written from this holistic place, which is described in detail in my chapter on Spiral Dynamics.
5) Soulforce Mastery
Traditional approaches to mastery which focus solely on technical achievements fail to capture the aliveness gained by effortlessness and the depth of authentic soulfulness. Soulforce Mastery states that all three (technique, effortlessness, and soulfulness) are necessary to the expression of Soulforce in the creative act.
6) Aligned Livelihood
For those of you who earn money from your art, coming to terms with the seeming dichotomy between your income and your integrity is a vital part both of moving beyond being a “starving artist” and of the kind of transformation your art will have.
7) Healing the World
Finally, the Soulforce Arts Approach offers a tangible pathway to healing many of humanity’s myriad crises by pointing out their shared root cause (the Story of Separation), and applying its antidote (interbeing) to every aspect of your artistic life.
