All From Beneath the Cedar Trees

There is this place that I've had my eye on since I came. It seems to call to me for some unbeknownst reason. I've walked past it many times, and each time it seems to encourage me beneath its canopy. It offers a place of comfort, of warmth but mostly of security. There doesn't seem to be anything that I couldn't accomplish there. It seems to me to be a place where thoughts are welcome to flow as freely as the sparrows and the wind would somehow miss you.

Today was the day to visit this place, and I was right in everything I thought it would be. I have experienced it from one point of view only thus far, yet there are three other points of view I anticipate experiencing. However, these I cannot rush, nor control. I have no choice but to allow them to come when they are ready as I await their arrival with an unwilling patience.

The thoughts that flowed were certainly welcomed and streamed like the wind beneath the sparrow's wing. One thought to the next, they danced and followed each other, twisting and turning at each point they faced. They made sense to me; they seemed to be the most important thoughts of the day. I wished to capture their essence in my memory to later record them here. As it usually comes to turn, I've forgotten some of them; I've misplaced their immediate connection that made them flow so easily. But one thing I did not mistake is their lasting emotional effect on my soul. They linger with me still, and have created a heightened sense of gratitude for their ability to sooth and excite me at the same time.

They brought me to love the creation of trees. To have the ability to create trees. There are no judgments within the tree, you cannot say it is wrong in its directional limbs. They stretch and turn at any angle and reach for their salvation. I can allow them to live as they wish, I can create them to be who I want them to be, with no fear of being judged for the life I've given them. This is the incredible freedom of creation.

From there, I connected the fear of being judged. I have grown to believe that an unfinished work cannot suffer the realm of judgment since it is incomplete. And only when it is complete, do I give you permission to judge it. I have become accustom to leaving most of my works of art incomplete. It does give me a sense of failure, a sense of something outstanding that must be done, which speaks of anxiety to some level. Only some of the pieces that adorn my walls have been completed. Funny thing about those is that they, at some point in their career of becoming a masterpiece, had already been deemed a "dud". They never had a chance did they. Yet, they are the ones that are complete and considered my most prized creations. Something to think about....which got me to thinking...

The ability to be able to think creatively is one thing, but allowing yourself to do it is entirely another. The gift we give ourselves by saying its "okay" to do nothing, is truly a liberating experience. I've decided to do just that for the next 30 days. I believe this will have an enormous impact on my well-being and well...my creative abilities.

From the chair I've prepared, I gaze upwards, to see the tangled limbs, the snow that rests upon them, and the sparrows that call this sacred place their home. I thank thee for inviting me in little one, and I look forward to listening to your stories, all from beneath the cedar trees.

Signed,
A creator.