Sometimes I feel as if so much of what I write and paint is meaningless and a waste of time, and yet, if I just keep at it, eventually some really deep and meaningful stuff always comes through.
Sometimes when we turn on an old faucet all we get is rusty, dirty water. Don’t be afraid of the imperfect, the meaningless, the ugly - let it come. Allow it. Out with it! Keep the faucet turned on because eventually, water will begin to flow from the depth of the well.
Let all those ugly, imperfect, failed pictures be painted. Let all those boring, meaningless thoughts spill out on the pages. Don’t hold back, don’t censor. Don’t turn the faucet off just yet, even though the water is rusty and undrinkable - let it pour, keep it coming, and soon, clear, clean water will fill your cup.
Sometimes when we turn on an old faucet all we get is rusty, dirty water. Don’t be afraid of the imperfect, the meaningless, the ugly - let it come. Allow it. Out with it! Keep the faucet turned on because eventually, water will begin to flow from the depth of the well.
Let all those ugly, imperfect, failed pictures be painted. Let all those boring, meaningless thoughts spill out on the pages. Don’t hold back, don’t censor. Don’t turn the faucet off just yet, even though the water is rusty and undrinkable - let it pour, keep it coming, and soon, clear, clean water will fill your cup.
And don’t be discouraged whenever it feels as if your muse has left you and your creative life seems dead and lifeless.
Most people think that wilted flowers are ugly and that they have now lost their value and that they’re done serving their purpose. But if that flower doesn’t wilt it cannot go to seed. The seeds can’t ripen. The seeds that will eventually grow into thousands of new beautiful flowers. And if the flower doesn’t die, there can’t be any apples, blueberries, raspberries or plums.
The wilted, dry, colorless sunflower is about to crack open, exploding with thousands of seeds that will grow into thousands of sunflowers that in turn contain thousands of seeds that will make thousands of sunflowers. If the sunflower doesn’t wilt and die, new seeds cannot fall into the ground. Even the seeds must go through a “death” of sorts. The shell of the seed must crack open for the seed to sprout and grow into a seedling.
I was inspired by the story of Persephone and Demeter. Persephone was forced to disappear into the underworld for six months and the world turned into winter and when she returned to stay with her mother it turned into spring. That’s how it is in our own lives - sometimes it’s important to disappear into a winter of the soul for a while so that we can be born anew and experience a creative spring again.
The wilted, dry, colorless sunflower is about to crack open, exploding with thousands of seeds that will grow into thousands of sunflowers that in turn contain thousands of seeds that will make thousands of sunflowers. If the sunflower doesn’t wilt and die, new seeds cannot fall into the ground. Even the seeds must go through a “death” of sorts. The shell of the seed must crack open for the seed to sprout and grow into a seedling.
I was inspired by the story of Persephone and Demeter. Persephone was forced to disappear into the underworld for six months and the world turned into winter and when she returned to stay with her mother it turned into spring. That’s how it is in our own lives - sometimes it’s important to disappear into a winter of the soul for a while so that we can be born anew and experience a creative spring again.
