An essential portion of any artist’s labor is not creation so much as invocation. Part of the work cannot be made, it must be received; and we cannot have this gift except, perhaps, by supplication, by courting, by creating within ourselves that ‘begging bowl’ to which the gift is drawn.

Lewis Hyde

Categorized in : Artist Essentials Creating

The gift moves towards the empty place. As it turns in its circle it turns towards him who has been empty-handed the longest, and if someone appears elsewhere whose need is greater it leaves its old channel and moves toward him. Our generosity may leave us empty, but our emptiness then pulls gently at the whole until the thing in motion returns to replenish us. Social nature abhors a vacuum.

generosity circles moving

Unlike the sale of a commodity, the giving of a gift tends to establish a relationship between the parties involved. When gifts circulate within a group, their commerce leaves a series of interconnected relationships in its wake, and a kind of decentralized cohesiveness emerges.

groups party giving

What is it about a work of art, even when it is bought and sold in the market, that makes us distinguish it from . . . pure commodities? A work of art is a gift, not a commodity. . . works of art exist simultaneously in two “economies”, a market economy and a gift economy. Only one of these is essential, however: a work of art can survive without the market, but where there is no gift, there is no art.

essentials two art

Art does not organize parties, nor is it the servant or colleague of power. Rather, the work of art becomes a political force simply through the faithful representation of the spirit. It is a political act to create an image of the self or of the collective.

political self art

A gift that cannot be given away ceases to be a gift. The spirit of a gift is kept alive by its constant donation.

donation alive spirit

An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so muc... by Lewis Hyde

An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation

creation essentials artist

Irony has only emergency use. Carried over time it is the voice of the trapped who have come to enjoy their cage.

emergencies voice use

But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.

creative civilization people

When we are moved by art we are grateful that the artist lived, grateful that he labored in the service of his gifts.

grateful artist art

To be a great teacher, you can't simply be looking at how to earn your income. And with a priest or spiritual leader - there's another relationship that makes those lives what they are. And in each of these cases you'll find elements of gift exchange thriving, and you'll also find a tension around it.

leader spiritual teacher

Better to operate with detachment, then; better to have a way but infuse it with a little humor; best, to have no way at all but to have instead the wit constantly to make one's way anew from the materials at hand.

littles hands way

An anaesthetic is a poet-killer. by Lewis Hyde

An anaesthetic is a poet-killer.

killers poet

The passage into mystery always refreshes. If, when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor satisfies. We are lightened when our gifts rise from pools we cannot fathom. Then we know they are not a solitary egotism and they are inexhaustible.

mystery faces looks

We are each born into a situation-a particular body (its race, sex, health...), a set of ancestors, a community, a nation-and born into the stories told of each of these.

community race sex

The gift finds the man attractive who stands with an empty bowl h... by Lewis Hyde

The gift finds the man attractive who stands with an empty bowl he does not own.

empty doe men

We are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be move... by Lewis Hyde

We are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be moved.

moved degrees alive

I think of a myth as a story that helps you explain all the different pieces of your life. In that broad sense, there is no way to live without mythology.

different stories thinking

Uncovering secrets is apocalyptic in the simple sense (the Greek root means ‘an uncovering’). In this case, it lifts the shame covers. It allows articulation to enter where silence once ruled.

simple roots mean

We forgive when we give up attachment to our wounds. by Lewis Hyde

We forgive when we give up attachment to our wounds.

forgiving giving-up attachment

True citizens are not the audience of their government, nor its c... by Lewis Hyde

True citizens are not the audience of their government, nor its consumers; they are its makers.

citizens government makers