My first thought was, "Now what?" I'd planned for something, looked forward to it, and had to change course--just like on a road trip when you encounter unmoving traffic or a road block.
"Doing nothing" is not a comfortable response. So I returned some broken things to Lowe's, washed all the sheets and towels, and cleaned the casita. But with an aching neck, I was forced to stop, to do nothing after all, and go to bed with an ice pack and ibuprofen. I read my Sunday School material--Brainpickings, which is wonderful. And this week's post linked to another favorite, "On Being With Krista Tippet" in which she interviewed Brene Brown. The interview lasts an hour, I fell asleep ten minutes in and will have to rewind to hear it all.
With my chronic neck issues of late, along with a few other things, I have been feeling vulnerable. I've always hated to admit it when I feel a negative feeling--like vulnerability or depression. I want to be perpetually sunny, positive and strong. I shrink even from talk about vulnerability or shame (Brene Brown's subjects), and have therefore not been an enthusiastic reader of Brown. But this morning's piece on Brainpickings, along with the interview changed my mind:
A common denominator Brown found in those able to rise strong from their facedown moments is an active engagement with the creative impulse, whatever the medium — a physical practice integrating the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual:
Creativity embeds knowledge so that it can become practice. We move what we’re learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands. We are born makers, and creativity is the ultimate act of integration — it is how we fold our experiences into our being… The Asaro tribe of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea has a beautiful saying: “Knowledge is only a rumor until it lives in the muscle.”
She's right. As soon as I admit feeling vulnerable, or whatever, that feeling usually begins to dissipate as I turn my focus to something creative.
No comments:
Post a Comment