My creative energy shifts with the seasons. The past few months I’ve been frustrated that I can’t slow down enough or find the patience to finish anything, whether it be writing, painting, or other random projects. In my darker moments I feel as though I’ve lost my creative energy entirely. But the spring season has always been this way for me: a season of life, color, vibrance, movement. “To everything there is a season,” I repeat as a mantra; a reminder to give myself grace as I experience change.
I think back on some notes I wrote in my journal this fall:
My creative energy is still present but it arrives differently: in bursts, in the colors of spring, in my legs as I propel them forward on the trail. This spring in particular I’ve felt inspired by the vivid colors of the wildflowers. If nothing else, my attention to these flowers and colors has brought me joy, and I’ve started matching my clothes and earrings in particular to their various shades. This, too, is a form of creative expression.
My mind wanders to one of my favorite poems by Rumi; I have the first stanza memorized:
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
He is speaking of prayer, of course…but these moments of appreciate for the earth and its beauty, to me, is a form of prayer.
To everything there is a season. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Some brief footnotes:
Last year, during springtime, I made it my mission to seek out as many different species of wildflowers in the Bay Area as I could. This year I found incredibly joy in recognizing them as I explored the trails. Here are some of my favorite reference lists for those who might be interested in some wildflower identification:
- Common wildflowers in the Golden Gate National Parks (GGNP includes the Marin Headlands, which is where the majority of the above photos were taken)
- Wild Plants of the East Bay Regional Park District
Share your thoughts!