Interesting evening. I was so determined to go to sleep early and stop working after midnight, but as you can see this did not happen. I have many, many excuses, but I won't bore you with my "stories". Instead I am thinking deeply about the cost to the creative process. Busyness is poison to art. Emptiness, moments of spaciousness and boredom are essential. Although we flatter ourselves that we have such great ideas, truly all that comes is a gift that we filter through our beautifully imperfect forms. Tonight's poem is one that has always brought me solace when I was held back from working, but now I find it is also a message about the importance of down time and in my case sleep. Just a note on tonight's print before the poem. I am so much more comfortable with bright colors. It's really interesting how easily we stick to something that was successful in the past. Comfort is another enemy of art so I am pushing myself to try and make friends with grey 🙂
Gitanjali #81
by Rabindranath Tagore
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time. But it is never lost, my lord. Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands. Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts, buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness. I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed and imagined all work had ceased. In the morning I woke up and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
xo