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Surrendering to the Creative Voyage
To move with the moment, to surrender to the unknown is to flow with feminine consciousness.Marion Woodman
Leonardo da Vinci, as quoted in How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb, mused, "I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells exist on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engage my thoughts throughout my life."
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"I like to think of hope as a guiding light for the human heart. It is the quality that will help you find your way through dark and stormy nights, through foggy and confusing days... Shining the beam of hope into your times of darkness, you'll learn to sail with more confidence. The sailing won't always be smooth. Undoubtedly, you will encounter some rough seas. A storm or two will cloud the horizon from time to time. But eventually, you'll find the storms will pass. The rough seas will calm. Unexpected changes in course may well lead to exciting, unexplored possibilities. Even better, having gone through the storm and darkness, you will find you've come a far better sailor. Learning to navigate by faith and to trust in a dependable providence, you have become a person of unsinkable serenity." Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light", shared these thoughts which led him to a successful career in Lightposts for Living: The Art of Choosing a Joyful Life.
The Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tse, appreciated the grace of fluid motion as he explained Tao:
The highest good is like water.The poetry of Lao Tse reminds us the strength of water comes from its very softness, its ability to flow through, around, over, or under all obstacles in its journey from the mountain to the sea. It returns to its home in different forms--water, snow, ice, mist--all the same element differently expressed, differently nourishing the world.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Tao in the world is like a river flowing home to the sea.
The creative voyage assumes many identities also, enriching your life in unexpected ways. It is hardest to be creative when hope seems extinguished by the stormy seas of change. To survive the roughest gales, we need not alter the direction of the wind because we can adjust our sails. It is the dark hour before the dawn of creation which is the time to move with the moment, to surrender to the unknown.
