THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Sherri Mandell: He had to create the world. So really, God is the master of creativity. And in Judaism we say that God is still active in creating the world. He’s still partnering. So anytime that we’re creative, we’re really partnering with something divine.
Speaker 2: It’s The Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the Inspiration Place podcast, an art World insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Today’s guest is an award winning writer who has contributed to numerous magazines and journals, including USA today, The Times of Israel, Hadassah Magazine, and The Jerusalem Post. She’s the author of several books, including a spiritual memoir, The Blessing of a Broken Heart, which won a National Jewish Book Award in 2004. She holds a master’s degree in creative writing and studied Kabbalah with teachers in Jerusalem for over 20 years. She and her husband have directed the Koby Mandell Foundation in Israel, whose flagship program is Camp Koby, a therapeutic sleepaway camp for bereaved children. And she makes her home in Israel. Please welcome to the Inspiration Place, Sherri Mandel.
Sherri Mandell: Thank you.
Miriam Schulman: All right. Sherri. So nice to meet you. I’m Miriam Schulman I’m an artist, and I have the podcast The Inspiration Place, which I’ve had now for seven years, and I’ve been a full time artist for over 20 years.
Sherri Mandell: And you show me something. And do you have something in your house?
Miriam Schulman: Sure. Let me. I mean, I do, but I have to run. I don’t want to run and get it off the walls, but I can show you my art online.
Sherri Mandell: Where’d you find my book.
Miriam Schulman: Pomerantz?
Sherri Mandell: Oh, so you were in Israel?
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. My son lives. There. He is. Yeah. So I went from I the first time I went to Israel, I was age 50, and. But now we go, like twice a year. So I will show you. I’m showing my art. So this painting is my boy who is now married and has his own little baby. But this one kind of started it all when I painted my son in his Batman costume.
Sherri Mandell: Oh, wow.
Miriam Schulman: And I built a portrait business around that. And then I came out with, there’s my cat. Oh, that’s my old cat. And there’s my daughter. So that’s my work.
Sherri Mandell: That’s beautiful.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. So in the past seven years, I’ve been focusing mostly on. Well, it shifted over the last seven years, It shifted from my own art practice to helping other artists. Especially since the pandemic, I’ve really leaned in hard to helping other artists. And the reason I invited you today is because of your book, The Kabbalah of Writing a mystical practices for Inspiration and Creativity. And I wanted to have a conversation about Kabbalah, about creativity. And you have some beautiful practices. I think they’re more for helping writers unlock creativity, but I think the same concepts could be used for my audience. And my audience isn’t just visual artists anyway. So we have a lot of people who listen to the show who are writers or they’re entrepreneurs, and they just need more creativity in their life. So that’s the conversation I wanted to have with you today.
Sherri Mandell: Sounds great. Right. I’m excited too.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. So I prepared some questions. But what do you think is the best place to start? Now that I’ve told you a little bit about my audience and the conversation that we want to have today. Do you want to just give like, maybe like the elevator pitch of what Kabbalah is for people who are completely unfamiliar? Would that be a good place to start?
Sherri Mandell: Well, first of all, Kabbalah is really complicated. So it’s very hard to put it into an elevator pitch. But there’s ten sefirot that are kind of elemental in Kabbalah. And those ten sefirot are a little bit easier to summarize because they’re the way. Here’s what I want to say. God, what does God do most of the time? Or he’s creative, right? He had to create the world. So really, God is the master of creativity. And in Judaism we say that God is still active in creating the world like he he’s still partnering. So anytime that we’re creative, we’re really partnering with something divine. And I know a lot of artists, there are people who really find their inspiration and they work from that inspiration. And then there are people who have to outline or sketch or design before they get to work. So those two processes really have to do with the Sphero. The Sphero means channels, and it’s the way that God or, you know, even if you don’t believe in God, the way the divine channels or the power above channels energy into this world. And there are two main channels. One has to do with giving and kindness, and that channel is one that’s very open. And in fact you can sort of describe it like a river, because if it’s not contained in the right way, it can be a flood or even a tsunami.
Miriam Schulman: So a lot of artists I work with struggle with that because they have so many ideas. It can be overwhelming to them, right? They don’t know how to like keep it, keep it contained.
Sherri Mandell: Right. So that’s that’s kindness. But gevurah, which is discipline and limits and holding back that needs to go in partnership with kindness.
Miriam Schulman: And so like setting boundaries.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. Setting boundaries and knowing focusing knowing what belongs and what doesn’t belong after a certain degree you after a certain time you have to start with hazard, right? Usually most people have to start with this kind of outpouring or overflow.
Miriam Schulman: Because we just want to make sure that everyone understands. Hesed is kindness, and we will be sure to put that on the screen for everybody.
Sherri Mandell: Right. So kindness, it has no boundaries unless you join it with discipline. So we start off creatively with most people. I mean, some people do start with an idea and then they outline and then they fill it in, even conceptualizing before I’ve composed it. So for me, it comes like, you know, I can talk about in writing. It comes after the first or second draft, where and sometimes it doesn’t come for a year. This idea of what is this? What is what’s the design here? Because really what we’re looking for is patterns. It’s like, what’s the pattern here that I didn’t know about? You know, that is revealed to me. And I think that in a way we’re always looking for revelation as artists, because if we’re just saying what we already know, then what’s, you know, there’s no surprise and it’s not that interesting for us. So. Or for the reader or for the viewer. So I think anytime that we find, like the light in the darkness or the confusion because like kindness, I think it’s easier to think of it as an outpouring, that kind of outpouring. Like you were saying, lots of people have lots of ideas, but some people are able to contain those ideas and control them and find a way to navigate with them.
Sherri Mandell: And after you have that, the gevurah, which is a kind of, I want to say, ownership, but limiting it, then the third sphere is, is a kind of balance or harmony. And I think it’s called tiferet, but it’s it’s also beauty. And I think that’s when when you have the balance between that outpouring and then that control, then you find harmony. And I always love it. Like when like for example, you see a great dancer or a great figure skater and people say, that looks so simple. Like, I could do that. Well, no, you couldn’t, you couldn’t. Because just because something is simple, it means that often it has a grace and a beauty that was achieved with a struggle. So the outpouring and the discipline, they’re always confronting each other in a way they’re always I don’t know if I want to say they’re confronting each other, they’re in a dialog. And the more animated that dialog is, I think the more interesting the art becomes.
Miriam Schulman: As creative entrepreneurs are always balancing that creative overflow with the discipline to contain it into something meaningful. Now you can have all the creative ideas in the world, all those beautiful concepts pouring out of you. But if you can’t articulate what your art means, if you can’t find the words to express your why, then you’re missing that crucial container that helps people understand and connect with your work. I’m Miriam Schulman. I’m the author of Artpreneur and the host of The Inspiration Place podcast. I’ve been a professional artist for over 25 years, and I’ve helped many artists also get over that six figure mark in their business. And here’s what I’ve learned. I see this all the time with artists and the ones that I coach. They’ll show me their stunning paintings, their sculptures, their fiber art, whatever it is. But when I ask them to tell me about it, they freeze up. They say things like, I don’t know. I don’t know how to talk about my art, or I just paint what looks good, or I just paint or create what brings me joy. But here’s the thing your collectors, they need more than just the visual.
Miriam Schulman: They need the story. They need to understand not just what you created, but why it matters and most importantly, why it should matter to them. That’s exactly why I created the Artpreneur messaging vault. In less than 60 minutes, we’ll work together to uncover the stories, the values, the truths that you can use everywhere your website, your email, your social media. Even when galleries ask you to describe your work or you need an artist statement. Because when you can balance that creative overflow with clear, compelling language, that’s when the magic happens. That’s when people don’t just see your art, they feel it. They get it, and they want to buy it. Ready to find your artistic voice? Let’s work together. Go to SchulmanArt.com. Okay, so we talked about the outpouring without having the discipline is a problem. But I also want to address it from the opposite side, because I know that there’s a lot of artists who then get stuck in it because they and they can’t release. So that would be the opposite, where the discipline overtakes it. Or do you feel that something else?
Sherri Mandell: I’m not sure, because I think with art sometimes, I mean, sometimes you can have pure Deborah, like you can have pure discipline and it’s beautiful. You know, it doesn’t always have to be balanced. It depends on the grace. You know, it depends on on how it’s done. Because, I mean, I don’t want to bring this example, but like a military, you know, they, they have they have discipline like, and that’s what they need. So I think people need different things in different parts of their lives.
Miriam Schulman: Well, let’s talk about, because I know one of your exercises and I, which I’ve actually underlined here. So these are different aspects as I see now. Like you have your headings on the top will. So you have a writing exercise about doubts and vulnerability and self-doubt is is something that plagues artists on all levels. I know myself I’ve, I’ve had this problem. So when I wrote my book Artpreneur like I had a lot of chutzpah. I thought, oh, I’m going to write a book. I’m going to get an agent. I’m going to get a traditionally published boom, boom, boom. It all happened just as I said it would. And then right after I got the contract, immediately it was like, oh, they made a mistake. I have no idea what I’m doing. I should just get back my deposit now. And this concept that you talk about in in your book, The Kabbalah of Writing, where you talk about self-doubt, it’s about the idea of doing it anyway and being faithful to it. So could you talk more about that? Like what aspects come into play there and overcoming those kinds of self-doubts?
Sherri Mandell: First of all, I think self-doubt is is fine. You know, there’s no so many people doubt themselves that it’s part of us. You know, that doubt. It doesn’t mean that we’re imposters because of that ourselves.
Miriam Schulman: So it’s okay to have self-doubt say more of that.
Sherri Mandell: I think we should. I think we should always doubt ourselves. I mean, not always, but that’s being vulnerable. That’s saying I don’t know. And like uncertainty in this world. We don’t know anything really. We don’t even know why we’re alive. What happened before we were born? What happens after? Like, there’s so much Uncertainty and mystery. I think doubt could also be aligned with mystery. And then when you align it with mystery and vulnerability, it’s not so powerful, I think. I think people give too much power to their doubts. And that voice inside that says, you can’t do this because it doesn’t have to control us. It’s just it’s just one voice. But there are there are so many other voices. And that’s what one of the sefirot, one of the channels is will is Ratson. It’s will. It’s also will power. But the will power comes from love. It doesn’t come from, you know, like going on a diet and saying, I’m never eating any more carbs, which, I don’t know. Maybe you can do it.
Miriam Schulman: I can’t know, I’m lucky. My husband likes me a little bit. Zoftig. I lost a little weight this summer and he says, no more, please. I, you know, if anything, gained a few pounds back. So I’m like, pass the brownies.
Sherri Mandell: Right. So like Will is a matter of loving something. And I think for people who are creative, it also has to do with loving ourselves because we need to express ourselves. There’s something within us that requires expression. And like also, I think it has to do also with the wiring in our brains. You know, people always say to me, when do you write? How do you write? And it’s like writing for me is a way of calming myself down because my brain goes into a place that has some kind of waves that that work better for me than being in the world. So it’s not just like to produce something, it’s also that that act and that action is very important to me and I and.
Miriam Schulman: A lot of artists, visual artists I work with share that. And I even saw like a, you know, you see an Instagram memes that the opposite of depression is expression. Yeah. So it’s that same concept that a lot of artists I work with, they find that they it’s not that they want to create if they have to, they have to because it’s their nervous system needs to.
Sherri Mandell: Right, right. I when I studied in college, I was studying poetry with Artie Ammons, and he won a Pulitzer Prize in poetry. And I was talking to him. And I said to him, you know, it must be so amazing to win this prize. And he looked at me and he said, you know, and he meant it. And it has stuck with me my whole life, he said. You know, the prizes are great, but that’s not what I do it for. I do it for the act of writing that that writing is its own reward. And I feel like that with, you know, with artists too. Like, yes, they should be able to sell their work and they should be able to everybody should be able to display their work and sell their work and make money. But if even if you don’t or you do it in a smaller way, if you can find a way to have and especially now, like with Instagram and Facebook, every everybody can have some kind of audience. So that act of expression can also be an act of giving.
Miriam Schulman: Beautiful. Okay. So we’ve talked about three aspects I think so far. Will kindness discipline share another one? Sherry.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah, well, then there was harmony.
Miriam Schulman: Harmony. So? So this harmony I know that. Go in pairs. Yes. Yeah.
Sherri Mandell: Uh, and then the central there’s a central line going through. So Harmony is on the central line. But gevurah limits, I think it’s linked up to Netzach and Netzach. In Hebrew it means winning, but Netzach is endurance. It’s really being able to hold on and keep going. And my kids, like, I started writing children’s books when they were little, you know, and they’re way grown up now. And it took maybe ten years ago. I started publishing children’s books And my son. He was so impressed with me because he said, you have so much persistence. I mean, it took me 25 years to get a children’s book published, but it was always something I wanted to do and it was something I didn’t give up on. Like, there’s certain things you just don’t give up on them because they’re important. They’re part of you. They’re part of your soul. You know, a lot of this is like your soul needs to express this. So it’s like a holding on that no matter what, you will hold on to this thing and can treasure it. And there’s an element of devotion.
Miriam Schulman: Also say more about that.
Sherri Mandell: I think devotion is a little bit antiquated in today’s world. When things are like so fast and everything moves so quickly and everybody has a quick opinion. But devotion is really saying, I am with this for the good and the bad. You know, it’s like, I’m just going to hold on to this. And it also has a level of holiness to it, because it’s something that you might not let other people interrupt you. Like you might have a work schedule, a writing schedule, a painting schedule, and that time becomes sacred. Like, tell.
Miriam Schulman: Us about your rituals around writing. Do you have rituals around your writing practice to mark that many?
Sherri Mandell: Not that many. First of all, I have to I have to have a cup of tea. I have to start with a cup of tea, and then I just have to be in. I have a room, but it’s actually the playroom. And it’s also the safe room because I live in Israel, so it’s where we huddle when there are missiles from Iran. And I tried to devote my mornings like, I mean, sometimes I don’t, but I usually say, you know, no mornings like my friends know not to call me in the morning because I need those hours to write or to work on a project if I’m working on a project. But lately I have always been working on a project, so I just know that I need that. So I’ll even like with exercise, which I also need. Usually I’ll do my exercise later in the day because I know those those hours are precious. I think it’s like determining what’s precious to you. And also as a mother, you know, there were so many years I couldn’t do that. So many years, like Years and years and years that it just wasn’t possible. So now that it’s possible, it’s like it’s it’s wonderful.
Miriam Schulman: So that’s my how how early in the morning are you writing.
Sherri Mandell: Like 10:00?
Miriam Schulman: Okay.
Sherri Mandell: I’m not up. And Adam at all? No. Or, you know, if I, if I have something I’m working on, I’ll. I might work all day, but usually I don’t. And if I skip a day, it’s fine. I’m not, like, nervous about it because it’s sort of like a lover, you know, you’re going to go back to it. It’s not like. It’s not like you’re going to slam the door and say it’s it’s part of you. You need it. You want it, you love it. I think that’s when things change. When it’s.
Miriam Schulman: Hey, creatives, self-doubt does not disqualify you as an artist or a creative entrepreneur. It’s actually part of being vulnerable, which you need to create good art. And of course it’s part of being human. Every successful artist I know has faced that voice that says, you can’t do this, or who are you to call yourself an artist? But the difference between those who stay stuck is not the absence of self-doubt. It’s having the will and the words to move forward anyway. Hey there, I’m Miriam Schulman. I’m author of Artpreneur and I’m host of The Inspiration Place podcast, and I’ve been a professional artist for over 25 years, and I’ve helped many artists get over the six figure mark. And here’s what I’ve discovered with the artists that I work with. They’ll create these incredible pieces, but when it comes time to share them with the world, often they freeze. They’ll think, what if people don’t get it? Or what if I sound pretentious? Or what if I don’t sound professional enough? Like am I too much or not enough? So they either don’t put themselves out there at all or I see this. Much more commonly.
Miriam Schulman: They use safe, generic language that does not capture the magic of what they’ve created. But here’s the truth your doubt does not disqualify you. Your uncertainty does not make you an imposter. What matters is that you have something within you that requires expression. And you know what? The world needs to hear about it in your voice, not some watered down version. That’s why I created the Artpreneur intensive messaging session Plus Vault. We’ll work together to find the authentic language that honors both of your vulnerability and your strengths. You’ll discover how to talk about your art from a place of love. Love for your work, love for yourself rather than fear. Because when your words come from that place of authentic expression. That’s when people truly connect. That’s when your art stops being invisible. Ready to find your voice? Go to SchulmanArt.com. That’s SchulmanArt.com. I heard Julia Cameron describe creativity as a lover. Also, she says, if you’re not in the mood, you just get started. It’s kind of like sex. If you’re not in the mood, just start and then you’ll. You’ll be in the mood. So. Right. Like, once you.
Sherri Mandell: Sit down, just.
Miriam Schulman: Sit down. Get your pen, get your paints, get your clay, whatever it is. Right.
Sherri Mandell: You just have to get there like that’s. I also like with cleaning up, I always somebody told me this years ago, just pick up ten things, you know. So that has helped me so much in not that my house is neat, but just put away ten things and then if you don’t want to, you don’t have you don’t have to keep going. But chances are you will. So also with writing, like just sit, write one sentence. When I teach writing, we’ll do like an eight minute writing exercise. It doesn’t have to be so demanding.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, so since this is the Inspiration Place podcast, let’s talk about inspiration next.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. Okay, great. Well, in Judaism we talk about hashgacha pratit, which is like divine supervision. And I think with inspiration it’s also something you can look for it, but you can’t look too hard. And then I always find that it’s when I’m not looking. You know, a lot of people say this, that that’s when you find it, when you’re driving or when you’re in the shower. Or like, you have to leave that empty space to have things resonate or to, like, rebound. There has to be some rebound from the outer world, you know? And then that’s what I’m always waiting for. I think that’s like the glowy, the revelation that we’re always waiting for. And it’s not really magic. It’s like opening yourself to looking for that direction. And then then you see it or you don’t, but it’s there. And even if it’s not there, you keep going. Like you can’t depend on inspiration. Inspiration is not going to get you very far.
Miriam Schulman: I love that you. I want to just say that again to make sure we have it. You can’t depend on inspiration.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. I think we romanticize it. You know, this idea of inspiration. Because what is inspiration in English. It’s taking a breath. It’s really breathing. It’s taking something in. So I think in Hebrew, it’s in, uh, I don’t know. Anyway, we can’t depend on it. It’s almost like infatuation, right?
Miriam Schulman: Um.
Sherri Mandell: You can start with that infatuation. But if you don’t build from there, it’s not going to work because you have to design something. You have to build something and you’re building it with your material, you know? So you give to the material, but then the material gives to you and you need that space to receive it.
Miriam Schulman: Experience and experience that I have when I was writing my book, was that because I was writing the book, ideas would come to me during the day and I only had that experience during writing, like so when I was writing the book. And then it’ll be we’re out in the garden and oh my goodness, the, you know, the seeds we just threw here, they’re the ones that are flourishing. But the plants that we spent so much time fussing over and putting in the ground, they’re not doing so well. And then that became part of like my book. And I loved that. The way I became because I was writing it allowed me to have this channel that I’ve never had that experience, except for when I was writing the book, and that was enough to make me want to write another book. Is that an experience that you have as well with your writing or your creativity?
Sherri Mandell: Yeah, you’re always waiting for that moment. You’re always. I’m always waiting to figure out what it is I’m trying to do.
Miriam Schulman: But it only came to me because I was writing. It was like, when I’m just not writing and I’m just out in the world, those things weren’t coming to me. So like that whole process. I found that very satisfying to have ideas.
Sherri Mandell: Right.
Miriam Schulman: Connect dots. Can we talk next about ina comprehension?
Sherri Mandell: Um, yeah. So there’s a nice I don’t know if it works for art, but it probably does. There’s an acronym. It’s called Pardes. In Hebrew, Pardes is like Paradise, but it’s used as an acronym for different ways of understanding the world. So the the pay or the P, it’s the shot, it’s the simple meaning. And that’s like, you know, like the sketch. Or let’s say I write about something that happened to me that those that’s just the the rough outline of what happened. Then there’s Remez. Rem is is like, what does it remind you of? So it’s also bringing in the past or bringing in like if you’re an artist, bringing in the way other artists have handled this material or even with writing, what have other people said about this? So it’s a way of developing your thought. And then drash is what is the meaning? Like, what does this all mean? Why? What? And I’m not saying that you like say it outright in your work, but everything, at least as a writer, everything has to be contained by the meaning that you’re trying to give over, so that if you go outside those boundaries without guiding your reader, they can get lost and frustrated. And also for you to know what is this material I’m working with. And what can I say about it that hasn’t been said before that only I can bring? You know.
Miriam Schulman: I love what you just said right there, because that’s something I talk to my artists about a lot. I’m always telling that people buy meaning, not medium. And as artists, they get too stuck in the how and talking about the how and the what rather than the why and the who that they also need to be connected with, with their art. And sometimes when they talk about their art, I will call them out if they say something that I said, you know what you just said there on your about page could be said by 50 other artists. Therefore it doesn’t mean anything anymore. So you need to talk about your in art in the way that only it can be said by you. And so you can pull together a hundred landscape painters that are all painting in oil, and maybe they’re all painting, whatever, the Grand Canyon, but it’s how they’re talking about it, and thinking about it is going to change the meaning very much. So it is very similar. The meaning is very important. Sometimes artists are not as conscious of the meaning when they’re creating their art, which is fine. That’s that’s why people like me have to come in to help them articulate what it is that’s it’s really there, even if they’re not conscious of it.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. Well, I think people most people, they want to feel something. I’m not talking about the artist. I’m talking about the viewer or the reader.
Miriam Schulman: Correct? Correct.
Sherri Mandell: It feels something. So meaning can just be like a unity. But that unity, it can also be fragmented. Right. But it has to, I think, have some kind of balance even in its fragmentation, you know, so that there’s something that people connect to because that’s the other thing people want, they want connection.
Miriam Schulman: Yes. Yes they do. And art gives us meaning in our lives, whether it’s writing or visual. If you’re a visual artist, you’re probably thinking that writers have it easy when it comes to putting their work into words or talking about themselves. And here’s something that’s really fascinating. Even professional writers struggles when it comes to writing about themselves and their own work. I’m Miriam Schulman. I’m author of the book Artpreneur and a host of The Inspiration Place podcast, and I’ve been a professional artist for over 25 years. But here’s what I’ve learned. Whether you’re a painter, a sculptor, or any kind of creative, including writers, the challenge is still the same. How do you translate the meaning behind your work into words that actually connect with people? Because at the end of the day, people don’t just buy your art, they buy meaning and they buy connection. I see this struggle everywhere. Artists will spend months perfecting a piece, pouring their heart and soul into every brushstroke or detail. But when someone asks, what’s this about? They stumble. They’re completely unprepared. They’ll say things like, well, it’s an acrylic on canvas, or they’ll talk about their technique and they completely miss the emotional core that drove them to create it in the first place. Now, I know that’s because many of you do create on a subconscious level. That’s totally normal. But that’s the thing. Your collectors are not buying your medium. They’re buying your message. Which is why it’s so important to unpack that. They want to feel something. They want that piece to mean something to them in their lives, in their homes, in their hearts. That’s exactly why I created the Artpreneur Messaging intensive session plus vault. We’ll dig deep to uncover not just what you make, but why it matters. You’ll discover how to articulate the meaning, the connection, and the secret that only your work can offer. Because when people understand the why behind your art, that’s when they don’t just admire it. They need to have it ready to give your art the words it deserves. Go to Schulman Art.
Sherri Mandell: The last one is sowed. The sowed is the secret, and the secret is something. It’s just what we were talking about. Something that a hundred people haven’t said before and something that hasn’t been written about before or painted before in the way you’re painting it. And so it’s also for you to arrive at that moment where you understand, like that’s the bina, that’s like the light bulb moment, because Bina is like a pattern. It’s to build something and the pattern, it’s not a strict pattern, but it means that I mean, it’s like knitting a sweater or something where you don’t know what you’re knitting, and then you get to the end and know it is something, right? I mean, it doesn’t work as as an analogy because you usually know what you’re knitting, but there’s that like light, there’s that light bulb moment. And I think that’s what we’re all in it for really, because I think that light bulb bulb moment is that moment when you really connect to the divine, because it’s not yours. It didn’t come from you, but you opened yourself to it. And once you receive it, that’s when you know, oh, this is this. Now, I, I can finish this because I know what it is.
Miriam Schulman: That’s so beautiful. All right. I want to make sure we hit on some of these other aspects that I think you talked about endurance already.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: And there’s.
Sherri Mandell: Hold the.
Miriam Schulman: Hold. I was just going to say we’re ready to talk about surrender.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. The surrender. And it’s really important. It’s like that letting go. Because sometimes we push, push, push, push. And you’re not getting anywhere. We’re just not getting anywhere because it’s not supposed to be. And even if we are getting somewhere like you need that surrender, you need that rest. You need that voice that speaks back to you. Because it can’t just come from only your volition. There has to be a kind of what’s the word? It’s not rebound or resonance. It’s something else.
Miriam Schulman: Well, you talked earlier about co-creating. Is that what you’re referring to or something else? Is it more like a reflection? You have to step back. Like for artists? We have to step back. We have to step away.
Sherri Mandell: Right.
Miriam Schulman: From our canvases, because sometimes we’re too close.
Sherri Mandell: You wait for that echo, you know? But it’s something different when it’s echoed back.
Miriam Schulman: Okay.
Sherri Mandell: But I think the surrender, especially in today’s world, people don’t give themselves time to surrender. Like surrender is also just like driving or being on the subway and just sitting there, you know, it’s like it’s also allowing boredom. It’s allowing nothingness. It’s allowing frustration. It’s allowing peace. It’s just this kind of validation of what is without trying to push forward. You know, because I’m religious Jew, wouldn’t I keep the Sabbath? It’s like the Sabbath because you work so hard to get ready for the Sabbath, and then you just have to surrender, like whatever you did, you can’t really like, you can’t can’t cook more. So whatever you cooked, that has to be enough. And you can, you know, there’s no electronics, there’s no phone, there’s there’s no there’s no traveling. You’re you’re sort of stuck with yourself. But and that can be really frustrating. But if you just let go and just listen to your voice and listen to your thoughts and, you know, maybe pray or meditate, it’s like just Letting yourself go. And it’s also a kind of saying like, it’s okay, it’s okay.
Miriam Schulman: Really nice. Let’s talk about the next aspect. One thing that you you have in your book, the next aspect is creativity. But you talk about it as creativity, as invitation. Could you say more about that?
Sherri Mandell: Well, that’s I like that idea. So when I write something and forget about it.
Miriam Schulman: I know I like that all the time. I said that.
Sherri Mandell: As an invitation. It takes the pressure off because you’re being invited to work, you’re being invited to create. It’s a collaboration. I think that’s the word that I would like to use. Like you’re collaborating with the universe to partner in this creativity and, you know, in this creative act. But you’re looking for those invitations and being ready for them when they occur. That’s the difference, I think, because so much of our lives were in a rush and we’re getting to the next thing we’re running here, we’re running there, we have to pick up the kids, we have to get to work, we have to make dinner, and there’s no time to just let. In Judaism, we talk about it like the voice of God is a still, silent voice. So there’s no time to just let that still silent voice invite you in. But that’s really what is. I think an exalted state of reality is when we see life as an invitation and and we reply to it in some way, we respond to it.
Miriam Schulman: I want to read part of what you put in this book and then remind you of the story that you added here, because it’s similar to what I was talking about before. It was like it was only because I was writing a book, that the something in the world became meaningful to me, that I could write about. So when you talk about creativity as invitation, you say, the Hasidic masters tell us that everything that happens to us is a lesson, but it is also an invitation to create. And then you share the story. One summer, I was driving behind a trailer truck that was transporting giant blocks of limestone on its long, narrow bed. The blocks looked like enormous tombs. The truck inched forward slowly because of the weight of the load, and it was impossible for me to pass it on the curvy road. And that image stayed in my mind, and it wasn’t until I sat down to write that it became a symbol of grief in my story, Jerusalem Stone, which is about a woman who is threatened by the heavy weight of the grief she carries as a young widow struggling to create a new life for herself and her son.
Sherri Mandell: Hmm. Well, yeah, that happens often, actually, that there’s trucks carrying these huge blocks. They’re like, must be 20 tons. And it’s like such a heavy image. But yeah, I’m not usually looking at trucks except right now. Now I am because I’m writing children’s stories. So the trucks go home. So I’m, I’m actually writing about trucks. So I really do look at trucks a lot. But that’s what I mean, that invitation to just look at things and think about, what is this, an invitation to like, what can this mean in the world? You know, how can this speak to me instead of like, frustrating me that I can’t get by this car, this truck, and it’s going to take me an hour to get into town?
Miriam Schulman: I know with my watercolor students that they start to see the world differently too, because you may be seeing this as like, okay, this is a metaphor for how I’m going to use my in my writing. But when you start painting and you’re working all the time with the light and the dark and the colors, then as you walk around the world, you start to see things of like, well, how would I represent that? And what ideas does it give to me? So it like opens up those pathways for you because you’re creating you receive that type of inspiration.
Sherri Mandell: I think even as watercolor painters, it would happen even more because anytime you’re out in nature or even in like an industrial zone, You’re still seeing the colors and the shapes and you can translate them into your work. You know, like just that visual.
Miriam Schulman: Tell us next about rulership.
Sherri Mandell: That’s the last one is manhood. And that’s kind of putting everything together. And it works very nicely in terms of writing because it means like you’re an authority, but an authority is it’s related to the word author, right? So you’re the author of your life and you’re the author of this book, and you, you find this authority. But, you know, like once I asked my students to write about authority I write about in the book. And I said to him, what are you an authority in? And they really didn’t want to tell me, even though, like, one was an authority, like she was an artist and she did paper cuts and somebody else was the principal of a school, but they didn’t want to talk about their authority. And then I said, well, you know, authority can also be like you are like an expert in, like having a messy room or you’re an expert in not showing up on time, or you’re an expert in, you know, making cakes for your, your kids or something. And once I opened it to like, more negative things, people could really take ownership of the negative. But a lot of people, it’s hard for them to take ownership of their strengths and their talents and their integrity. And in terms of creativity, there is an integrity to being an artist. And there is a way of saying, this is the way I see the world, and this is important to me and this is my contribution, and this is my way of sharing my talent and my soul.
Miriam Schulman: It’s so beautiful, Sheri. This conversation has been so inspiring. I’m just going to run down the ten aspects just to review it for the listeners, but also just in case we forgot one. So I’m going to say them all in English because I don’t trust my Hebrew pronunciation. You can say the Hebrew after I say the English. That would be fine, will.
Sherri Mandell: Get.
Miriam Schulman: Inspiration.
Sherri Mandell: I just talked to.
Miriam Schulman: Ken.
Sherri Mandell: Which is actually it’s wisdom.
Miriam Schulman: Also comprehension.
Sherri Mandell: That’s beena.
Miriam Schulman: Kindness.
Sherri Mandell: Hesed. Boundaries gevurah.
Miriam Schulman: Harmony.
Sherri Mandell: Tiferet.
Miriam Schulman: Endurance.
Sherri Mandell: Netzach.
Miriam Schulman: I feel like I should be dipping like with like the Passover.
Sherri Mandell: Saying.
Miriam Schulman: Um.
Sherri Mandell: Surrender code.
Miriam Schulman: Creativity.
Sherri Mandell: You sowed.
Miriam Schulman: And finally rulership.
Sherri Mandell: Motherhood. But it is related to the ten plagues.
Miriam Schulman: Oh it is.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. All the ten.
Miriam Schulman: I didn’t know that.
Sherri Mandell: They’re all related to each other. Like God created the world with ten sayings. And then there’s the Ten Commandments, and there’s the ten plagues. Everything. All those tens are connected.
Miriam Schulman: Fascinating. If you enjoyed this conversation today, I strongly suggest you pick up the Kabbalah of Writing. There’s a lot of journal exercises, and whether you’re a visual writer or a creative writer, I found there’s a lot of things in here that helped me with my journaling to help unlock greater creativity, and the book is just beautifully written. I think you’ll really enjoy it. So it’s the Kabbalah of writing mystical practices for inspiration and creativity. And Sherry, could you also tell us a little bit about your foundation and the work that you do there?
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. My my son Kobe was he was murdered almost 25 years ago. He was 13. He was murdered by terrorists in Israel. And ever since then, we’ve had a foundation, the Koby Mandell Foundation, and we run camps and programs for bereaved families and for widows and for widowers and for bereaved parents. And as you can imagine, after October 7th, the work, you know, increased exponentially. My husband and I have now retired from that, and my daughter took over. So my daughter, Eliana mandell Bronner, she’s now running the foundation because she was a camper and a counselor. And we decided during Corona, we decided, you know what? We’re just closing down the foundation. We did what we set out to do. And she said, no, you cannot close it. Too many people depend on you. You help too many people. And so she took it over. And we have 2500 families were helping. So in Israel.
Miriam Schulman: Wow. And I did not. I was not aware of your personal story. And I’m so sorry for that loss, but what beautiful work that you’re doing.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah, that’s my book. The blessing of a Broken Heart. That’s my. That’s the story of Kobe.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. All right. Next time I’m in Pomeranz, I will look for that.
Sherri Mandell: Okay. Well, it’s all on Amazon, too.
Miriam Schulman: So I understand, but I like to support the small bookstores. Oh, good.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. Michael Pomeranz was a very good friend of mine.
Miriam Schulman: Okay.
Sherri Mandell: Yeah. He died two years ago. So he. He was a big supporter.
Miriam Schulman: Do you have any last words for our listeners before we call this conversation complete?
Sherri Mandell: I think the most important thing is to just keep going. Just one day at a time, one step at a time. Like you can define your life. You don’t have to let anybody else define it for you.
Miriam Schulman: Fantastic. One thing you said earlier that reminds me of a quote is to live your life. Create your life as if it’s a work of art. And you said something there that was just as beautiful, that you are the author of your life that you are co-creating. Thank you so much again for joining me in this brave conversation.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/Schulman Art, on Instagram at @SchulmanArt, and of course, on SchulmanArt.com.
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