Dec. 22, 2024

Unlocking Creativity Rabbi Alon Ferrency's Journey

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Join us in this enlightening episode of the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball as we explore the profound connection between creativity and spirituality with Rabbi Alon Ferrency. Alon shares his journey from the pulpit to supporting artists in overcoming self-doubt and creative blocks. Discover the artistic mentality, the link between art and faith, and how artists can navigate challenges like cancel culture. Alon also discusses the concept of 'artistic morality' and offers insights into upcoming projects that aim to inspire and nurture creativity. Don't miss this inspiring conversation that encourages everyone to embrace their inner artist!
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. Uh, if you believe you can achieve, cheat.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome um, to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today I am joined by Rabbi Alon Ferency. Alon is the advocate for the artists and all of us and he focuses on helping creatives, you know, like if they have any self doubt or uh, creators block or just anything that they might be facing that's negative. He tries to help them get meaningful work done and get the best out of what they're doing. So Alon, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Speaker B>Thank you for your time. Curtis. Yeah, you described me quite well. Better than I could myself. Thank you.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, I appreciate it. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself.

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> Speaker B>Well, my name is Alon Ferency. I currently live in East Tennessee, but I grew up near Boston. Um, I lived there for the first 22 years of my life and then I, uh, went on a cross country bike trip, served in the Peace Corps, worked in the music business in la, and then eventually returned for graduate studies in experiential education and seminary. Um, I met my wife during my graduate studies in New York. We moved to LA together for seminary. We moved to Knoxville, Tennessee for a pulpit here that I was in for 12 years, during which time we had four kids. I stepped down from the pulpit about two years ago to work with artists and arts organizations more directly. More specifically, in my spare time I'm learning drums. I continue to play Dungeons and Dragons and other role playing games. I have a soccer team I play with when I can and keeping uh, my body healthy. I love to read science fiction novels and I love to laugh.

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> Speaker B>I think those are the bullet points.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All. Ah, right. What made you get into the type of work that you're into now?

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> Speaker B>Well, I wonder how true this is of anyone who works in the arts in an ancillary capacity. Uh, I loved being around and making art, but was never skilled enough to do it on my own, with the possible exception of stage acting.

00:02:31.612 --> 00:02:51.085
> Speaker B>I could have pursued that further, I suppose. Um, and I love the artistic mentality. I love people whose first response to a creative challenge is not to say it can't be done, but to say, how do I do it? How could I do it? Um, I love being my own boss, which was something I hadn't had previously in my life except for brief periods.

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> Speaker B>I am fascinated by the theological implications of artists and their art making. What art has to teach us about the structure of the world, what we might call God, um, if God is the name of the blanket we put over mystery to give it shape. To quote, I think, Barry Taylor, I think art has a lot to inform us about the nature of holiness and the sacred in this beautiful, messed up universe.

00:03:21.025 --> 00:03:29.164
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, speaking of that, how do you feel that creativity and spirituality are linked? Talk about that link.

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> Speaker B>That's always a, uh, it's a question I get often and always a hard one to answer because to me it's so intuitive that I don't have the words for it easily. It's just a knowing that in addition to places like synagogues and Glacier national park, some of the holiest experiences I've had were late night listening to John Coltrane's the Love Supreme Being, uh, in the Prado Galleries, watching certain movies that have transformed the way I think about living. And those always felt and gave me an awareness of the way we're connected to all life and the way there is some deeper meaning to everything we experience that is very hard to express. Um, as much as I like reading theology, it's very hard to put in words what's really happening.

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> Speaker B>And I think art strives to explain some deeper reality that we can only barely glimpse. I just wanted to be returned to that world that I had been in on and off throughout my childhood, into my young adulthood.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, here's an interesting question for you. What do artists and other, you know, like, heretics have in common?

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> Speaker B>Yeah. There is a new movie coming out with Hugh Grant called Heretic that I'd love to see. But I think it started as this conversation I had with a colleague that, uh, he said, I thought very wisely that standup comics are today's prophets.

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> Speaker B>They're speaking truth to power, at least the best ones.

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> Speaker B>And then I started thinking of all artists as a kind of prophet.

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> Speaker B>And then someone said to me that all prophets were also heretics. Right. They were also responding to the power structures and the hierarchy and the dogma of the day and challenging it at every turn.

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> Speaker B>So I think artists at their best are subversive and questioning, always questioning the reality in which we live, the political situation, the religious situation, the assumptions we have about ourselves and other people.

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> Speaker B>And that's when you. When the alternative is a kind of dogma or an enforced belief that is heresy to challenge.

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> Speaker B>You know, as I think was said of rfk, people look at things as they are and ask why? And he looked at things as they could be and asked why not?

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> Speaker B>That's the artist's morality and the morality of striving for truth and beauty, uh, which is itself a kind of heresy in light of political, social, religious norms.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, what role do you feel that art, uh, creativity and faith should play in our society?

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> Speaker B>A big and safe one.

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> Speaker B>Uh, it's hard to say. You know, I want to give a caveat because faith and religion and dogma have done so much damage and yet have so much potential for healing and support and wisdom giving that I wouldn't rate all kinds of faith as equally beneficial to society. And I certainly would want more of one and less of the other. You know, anytime people use faith or religion or dogma as a kind of club to hit other people with or the club to keep people out of, uh, that's not the right use of faith to me. But when faith is uplifting and supportive and gives meaning to you and helps you understand the world more deeply and gives you a connection to what was before you, uh, that's the kind of faith I'd like to see more of. And I suppose there's art that's dogmatic or propaganda, but for the most part, it really. For the most part, not the stuff that's just distraction.

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> Speaker B>Maybe the YouTube shorts feed the TikTok sometimes, but the stuff that has something deeper to say. I'd like to see everywhere and all the time. And I'd like to see us as society, support that work, because it's dangerous, it's claustrophobic.

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> Speaker B>Uh, it's risky. Um, and people get canceled for saying and doing more than they should, more than they could have.

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> Speaker B>And I think we need to have a higher tolerance for the transgressive ability in art, that heretical ability.

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> Speaker B>I mean, uh, that's when you go back to artists being heretics.

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> Speaker B>I think when we talk about cancel culture, which is not a phrase I really like, because there's really three things happening. There's getting fired, there's going to prison, and then there's getting socially ostracized. And only the last one, I think, is wrong. M. But when we see artists say and do things that we might not agree with and we ostracize them, we're doing everyone a disservice. There has to be ability to take risk in life and make mistakes and apologize if necessary.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, speaking of cancel culture and artists getting canceled, what advice could you give an artist who has been canceled?

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> Speaker B>Well, that's. That idea is evolving for me, it seems to me. You know, I'm a big believer in apologizing I got quite good at it as a pulpit rabbi. People are always angry at their rabbi. So I always. I learned to sincerely apologize for what I could.

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> Speaker B>But sometimes Twitter is unwilling to forgive, and I think you have to move past that sometimes, because otherwise it could destroy your faith in humanity.

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> Speaker B>So when you make a mistake, and I did this recently in an artistic project, I really hurt someone.

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> Speaker B>You have to take stock of it, understand what you did, apologize where you can make amends as much as you possibly can. And then if the other person or Twitter or Instagram is unwilling to forgive, you have to let go of that a little, to do everything you can to take stock, to learn from and to fix. Um, but in Judaism, it says that once you've apologized to someone three times, and if they can't accept it, you can move on. So I would say the same to quote, unquote, canceled artists, if you've learned your lesson and made amends for it, that's as far as you can go.

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> Speaker B>And you may lose fans, but you have to move on with what you have. You can't tear yourself apart and ruin your faith in humanity.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>In your opinion, give us the definition of an autistic morality.

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> Speaker B>Well, I've been working on this a lot in my own writing, actually.

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> Speaker B>I think, uh, my theology is turning into a theology of truth and beauty. That the things that are guideposts and orient us towards what God might be are the senses of beauty.

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> Speaker B>That when we see a painting that is beautiful, when we see a person that is beautiful, it's because they're saying something true and showing something true about the depth and nature of the universe, what we would call God.

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> Speaker B>And so I think an artist's morality is one that creates more than it destroys, that sees through the lens of beauty and truth as much as possible and through other lenses. They're all important, or many lenses are important.

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> Speaker B>But in the end, at the end of the day, at the end of a, uh, life has created more than they have destroyed, has added meaning and value more than it's torn down and been nihilistic. Uh, more truth than lies.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that people need to be aware of.

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> Speaker B>Well, I'm doing some local classes in East Tennessee, but that might not be available and accessible to everyone. I teach meditation online through Inside Timer, and you can see some of those recordings on YouTube and other podcast services.

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> Speaker B>I'm, um, working on some writing, and you can read, uh, preliminaries of that through my newsletter, which you can find on my website, Eclectic Cleric dot com. Most of my work, ideally, is counseling and coaching artists one on one and consulting to arts organizations. So if you are in need of any of that, if you are in need for, uh, re inspiring your creativity, reconnecting to the artistic spirit within you, understanding your soul a little better through creating and making, please do reach out to me.

00:11:44.254 --> 00:11:48.475
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, so listeners can reach out to you. Throw out your contact info.

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> Speaker B>Yeah, yeah. Eclectic cleric.com is the main site, but you can find me on almost every social media. Eclectic Cleric, one word.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Close this out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on if there's any final thoughts you have for the list listeners.

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> Speaker B>Yeah, I think everyone is capable of creating, making and performing and writing and making art. And everyone should go out and do it, um, in your own small way and then also appreciate art.

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> Speaker B>Support artists. You can support them with your money, but you can support them with your attention. You can support them with forgiveness when they make mistakes. You can support them by trying to truly understand and see their artists, their art, and participate in it and, uh, sharing their work with others and, um, cultivating the artist in your children and in your loved ones.

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> Speaker B>Creating space for risk and trying. Even if it's just picking up a set of watercolors that you had when you were six, returning and returning again to making something, I think it nurtures the soul in a way that is unique and can't be replicated.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, Alon, uh, Farrancy.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Please check out his work and everything that he's up to.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Follow Rate Review Share this episode to as many people as possible. Jump on your favorite podcast app, check out the show, share it, Follow Review if you have any guests or suggestion topics or would like to talk to me about the show, Curtis Jackson, 1978@att.net is the place to send it. Thank you for listening and supporting the show, Alon. Thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining us.

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> Speaker B>Thank you for your beautiful time, Curtis.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurveball.com.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>until next time, stay focused on living the dream.

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> Speaker B>Dream.