“A true creator knows that you follow the thing where it’s going, not to where you think it ought to.”
– Adam Savage, of “MythBusters” fame
As I sit in my black chair watching the last pinks of a lovely sunset glow on a big mountain, I sorta wish I’d have discovered this idea a bunch of years ago. “Creating” life requires a certain flexibility. We all begin with a picture. Then, actual life happens, and things get screwy.
Through time, new information, data points, circumstances, perspectives on loss and love and value and meaning disrupt our original idea of what life should look like. Here, we either adjust or suffer clinging to an old picture. Being too rigid rarely ends well. We waste time or lose things we don’t want to lose.
“You are holding a cactus plant in your hand. You are bleeding and cursing the cactus but not letting go of it. Cactus is not hurting you. Your own attachment with the cactus is hurting you.”
– Shunya
We hold a lot of cacti. And, we don’t have to. They’re more beautiful and loving when we set them down in the sun. We’re more open to enjoy their gifts, as well. Life happens as it happens, often independent of how we think it “should”. This is a good thing to learn sooner rather than too late. Letting go of our old pictures cracks open the entire palette of vibrant and alive colors with which to paint new and better pictures. Life becomes beautiful when we simply follow it where it’s going.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger
Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave uses his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives. For more info, check out his website: wordsbydave.net
