Rebekah Younger is a multidisciplinary artist with over thirty years of experience as a professional creative entrepreneur, designer and teacher. Her work has been exhibited in museums in the San Francisco, CA, and Boston MA, areas, as well as featured in magazines like Ornament, Fiberarts, Threads and The Crafts Report. Younger is trained as a Shambhala Art teacher. This program, based on the teachings of Ch?gyam Trungpa Rinpoche (and teacher for such creatives as Allen Ginsberg, Alice Walker and Meredith Monk), explores the creative process as a meditative practice and a means to wake oneself up to things as they are. In this training, art is viewed as a practice to cultivate an awakened mind and genuine expression beyond aggression. Younger completed an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, with a focus on contemplative art, Buddhism and photography/video/installation. She lives in the San Francisco East Bay where she teaches photography, creating and meditation.
"Be, Awake, Create by Rebekah Younger is a must-read for anyone
interested in developing their own creative potential of seeing and
experiencing the magic of our ordinary world. Younger leads us on a
symbiotic, hands-on journey of self-discovery through exercises
enriching and developing our own creativity. Through activities of
presenting the potential of our sensory experiences, new
possibilities and insights arise. A guided source book journaling
us to the essence of creative thought."
--Michael Doucet, PhD, Louisiana musician, composer, National
Heritage Fellowship recipient, and Grammy Award winner--Michael
Doucet, PhD
"Be, Awake, Create invites the reader to do just that, offering a
tremendous wealth of activities that bring fresh perspectives to
the creative process. Writing in a most accessible, engaging style,
Rebekah Younger charts a meaningful journey, sharing her perceptive
insights while gently guiding the reader to be fully present and
discover the heart of their artistic vision. Wise, provocative, and
playful, I highly recommend this book to all those interested in
exploring and deepening their awareness of and creative response to
the worlds in which we live."
--Ruth Wallen, MFA, artist, professor in the MFA interdisciplinary
arts program at Goddard College, and shastri in the Shambhala
Buddhist tradition--Ruth Wallen, MFA
"Be, Awake, Create is The Artist's Way for the twenty-first
century, a gentle and thorough guide to next steps on the journey.
For the artist who longs to land in the work more deeply, for the
contemplative whose creativity yearns to bloom, Younger's book
offers a beautifully designed combination of mindful and creative
practices which embrace playfulness as well as discipline.
Accessible enough for beginners, the book could also be used as a
template for depthful learning at the meeting place of presence and
artistic process, and a springboard for those powerful
transformations toward which all art beckons us. I'm excited to
begin!"
--Nancy Coleman, PhD, clinical psychologist and writer, facilitator
of Wide Open Writing, and international writing and yoga
teacher--Nancy Coleman, PhD
"Be, Awake, Create is a useful and profound introduction to the
dharma art teachings. It offers a revelation of insight, teachings,
and experiential activities. The exercises are contemplative,
creative, and life transforming. This is a book about making
palpable the compassion and potency of creative presence to heal
our hearts and transform the world."
--Laura Simms, world-renowned storyteller, global educator,
worldwide performer, and author of Our Secret Territory--Laura
Simms
"Be, Awake, Create is full of inspiring exercises and motivating
quotations. Once you pick it up, you can't put it down; and when
you do put it down, you just want to rush off and do something
creative! This is a unique book, which expands the boundaries of
art and reveals the vital importance of being creative. It will be
an indispensable resource of ideas and exercises for anyone
interested in exploring the vast potential hidden within their
being."
--Seyed Alavi, MFA, artist--Seyed Alavi, MFA
"Be, Awake, Create is sure to become a classic, for no other book
presents meditation and mindfulness as the complete ground from
which to access our creativity, while leading us through the whole
experiential path. Whether a seasoned or new artist or meditator,
this interactive practice journal will bring the magic of creating
out of everyday life. With simplicity, lucidity, and wisdom,
Younger reveals how being present naturally leads to the
reawakening of not only our awareness and creativity, but also our
true humanity--a view so needed in our world today. She is to be
thanked for heralding the way!"
--Patricia Donegan, MA, poet, translator, professor emeritus of
creative writing, Fulbright scholar, meditation teacher, author of
Haiku Mind, and coauthor (with Yoshie Ishibashi) of Love
Haiku--Patricia Donegan, MA
"Based on the popular meditation practice of mindfulness, Be,
Awake, Create offers exercises and advice that introduce us to the
wider view of 'wakefulness, ' where we learn to stop rushing past
our lives and instead open to a timeless moment that unleashes our
natural, creative brilliance. Rebekah's voice is wise; her advice,
practical; her insights, profound."
--Michael Carroll, chief operating officer of Global Coaching
Alliance; author of Awake at Work, The Mindful Leader, Fearless at
Work, and Mindful Leadership Training; and authorized teacher in
the Kagyu-Nyingma lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism--Michael
Carroll
"Rebekah Younger has composed an elegant, accessible, and profound
collection of practices, insights, and personal stories for those
who are curious about contemplating and creating. She deftly
manifests how the very act of creating can honor our
interdependence with the world. I am deeply inspired by her own
vulnerability, decades of experience, and innovative suggestions.
Younger says, 'When you are committed to your vision and awake to
reality, everything else is workable.' I will pick up this book
again and again, in order to return to this truth."
--Miriam Hall, coauthor of Heart of Photography, and contemplative
arts instructor--Miriam Hall
"The creative process and meditation are inherently contemplative,
but they are not the same. The creative process is about
discovering one's inspiration and then manifesting it. Meditation
is about developing mindfulness and awareness in order to discover
your own mind. Rebekah Younger's workbook, Be, Awake, Create,
through a series of exercises and the sharing of Younger's personal
journey, fuses the creative process with the benefits of
meditation."
--Steven Saitzyk, international director of Shambhala Art, adjunct
professor of humanities and sciences at the world-renowned
ArtCenter College of Design, and author of Place Your Thoughts Here
and Art Hardware--Steven Saitzyk
"This book is filled with enough wisdom and joy and encouragement
to fuel an extended creative journey. Rebekah draws on her
experience as a teacher, fabric artist, photographer, and Buddhist
practitioner to produce language and activities that are
inspirational and accessible. (I especially appreciated the links
to audio instructions.) She reminds us that we constantly create
through our choices and actions, and that a journey begun in
stillness, conducted with attention, and enacted with compassion is
of benefit to self and to others."
--Laura Peck, MPH, MTC, coach and consultant to leaders committed
to creating a more just and compassionate world though their word,
deeds, and presence--Laura Peck, MPH, MTC
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