The Art of Cidermaking: You Already Know It, You Just Don't Know It

[The following is an essay I wrote in conjunction with a discussion on the Holistic Orchard Network website. Go there for further discussion and comments.]

Art can not be taught 

You heard right: Art can not be taught. At best, a teacher can help the student learn how THEY make art, but if the student is not willing to look inside for the way (or if they are fixating on looking for answers) then forget it, Art is not for them.

Maybe you can teach the formal aspects of art, but you can not teach the art-making itself because Art is a relationship, not a product. The "product" manifests from the relationship. This is always the case, Art does not manifest from the formal aspects. 

There is nothing elitist about Art because everyone is an Artist. That's right, YOU are an Artist! Do you have a relationship to your family and friends? Then you are an Artist. Do you have a relationship to Earth and the environment? Then you are an Artist. Do you have a relationship to yourself (the Spirit within you, your thoughts, your body, imagination, feelings and intuition?) ... Then YOU ARE AN ARTIST. You already have lots of practice with being an Artist and the skill will translate in your study of apple trees and cider making. Learn to trust what you already know. 

So, let's be clear: Apple cultivation is a relationship, and so is cider making. RELATIONSHIPS.
If you can remember this and get in touch with this fact every time then you can approach apple growing and cider making as any artist does (and how all people should.) You will also be well positioned to digest the formal qualities and what the "experts" say (the "science") in the appropriate context. There are no experts at life, no one lives more than you do. And, yes, experience does counts for something. Just not much. 

OK, so you want little-old me to speak about the formal qualities? Fine, I can do that, as I have on past posts, but DON'T get lost in my words or knowledge. This is the trap, and I've seen it a million times. Words are not real, they are just ideas. Ideas can inspire but they can't be learned. (BTW, Science and the formal qualities are just ideas too. If you disagree, come back to me in 300 years time and be astounded to find-out that everything we think is a fact will have been disproven by then -- and probably seem ridiculous.) 

So this is it, two rules to remember: 

Rule number 1: Don't let ideas substitute for YOUR experience of life. You will figure it out. You've been doing this all along. Trust it.

Rule number 2: Be weary of everyone who is not you! Don't trust their words. Inspect them and take only what is helpful to you.

When I say, "Dabinett is a good cider apple but it sucks in Northeast soils (unless you amend the soils, graft on dwarf, spray and irrigate, etc., in which case you're removing 90% of the good properties anyways.) 

Or, when I say, What you really should grow is wild, assimilated trees because it's not the variety, it's how it's grown." ... keep in mind this is just what I say (because it was true with my experience.) But I have a very different way of relating to the world than you. 

You TELL me how to grow a cider apple! Seriously, that's what Art is! You tell me! 

Finally, Knowing this we can all proceed and relax as equals. And as equals, there is no hierarchy of information. I've had lots of experience making cider, growing trees, and with Art in general, but my stories and "wisdom" (if you want to call it that) is offered only as a reference to your journey. Listen to my words knowing that the "truth" I speak is relative. 

It's all relationships. Only you can live your life. What's it like?