Unlocking Truths
April 20, 2006
I just wrote a lengthy entry that I promptly deleted. I’m not sure why, it just felt like I was rambling on too much. I’m not sure what the key to life is or what the answers are to my deepest questions, but I’m realizing that most of the time I need not worry myself about that. What I need to do is simply continue doing what I love, which is being an artist. I have a strong tendency to think about things entirely too often, and most of the time things are much smaller, easier and not nearly as catastrophic as I imagine them to be. I am trying to sit still with mundane goals, to embrace taking small steps, and to remember that it is not a requirement for me to pursue grand ideals twenty four hours a day. This is what is on my mind today as I watch the sun shine on the grass outside my window. This is what I am trying to hold close to my heart.
"I have often wondered whether especially those days when we are forced to remain idle are not precisely the days spent in the most profound activity. Whether our actions themselves, even if they do not take place until later, are nothing more than the last reverberations of a vast movement that occurs within us during idle days.
In any case, it is very important to be idle with confidence, with devotion, possibly even with joy. The days when even our hands do not stir are so exceptionally quiet that it is hardly possible to raise them without hearing a whole lot." -Rainier Maria Rilke
I feel like I have to constantly remind myself of this! To stop thinking so much, worry much less, and just do what I love and let everything tumble as it may from that place. I come from a terribly long line of Jewish mothers and aunts and grandmothers and even my sister-everyone worries with each and every breath, and the funny thing is almost all of these worries don’t even come true, and those spare few that have, we’ve handled them just fine! Keep feeding your artist creative appetizers and entrees all the day long and know that someone here in Oregon is cheering you right along!
I’m currently trying to claim some of that time back, too. I sleep better, think better, work better and feel better in the long run.
Christine, I love your thinking and ramblings! You are one of those rare talents who transforms the most mundane of thoughts and processes into highly inspirational pieces of word art.
However, there is a danger of living too much in your head, sometimes it is good to stop, and sit still, and just let things be.
What I find even more effective is to just go and DO something, rather than keep analysing and disecting everything in my head. Motion causes and changes Emotion. I think we talked about this before and I certainly need to remind myself of my own advice more often than I care to admit
And here I go, overthinking this, too! This is quite simple, really. You have had a couple of exceptionally busy months and you have been through one of life’s most unsettling experiences, moving home. You just need some REST, c’est tout!
oh boyo this post just soothed me so sweetly
THANK YOU.
i feel like you wrote this just for me…