Looks like I'm sliding into my late night ramble. Okay, I'll admit this happens more often on nights when the bottle of wine has been opened!
Tonight I'm thinking about a speech I heard. The speaker was talking about accomplishments. This struck me because I've been re-evaluating my entire life. Anyway, he said that society sets out this path for us that defines success - HS, College, graduate school, business or academia. We invest our time in the education early so that we can then build our networks and stake out cohorts. Then the advancement becomes a grind. But, he said, the key is to follow your heart. The most successful grad student he'd ever had was one who finished his PhD and turned his back on his subject matter. The student went to the upper Northwest and experimented with different mediums until he found one that he enjoyed working with. He is now spending his time as an artist exploring his craft and never thinking once about his education. That, said the speaker, is the most successful grad student I've ever advised. The one who really followed his heart.
Creation. What is it about creation? All it takes is the scraping of a burned stick on a cavern wall and suddenly you enter into another world. The stacking of a stone upon another. The hitting of a log with a rock in a rhythmic pattern. Moving your body. Preparing food, making sounds, play-acting. But those are the extraordinary things that most of us long to see but seldom engage in. How can such a core piece of ourselves be so off-limits?
I want to create. Right now I'm reacting. But I will create.
