Harry Potter’s Secret Garden: There’s an old question that goes something like: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I’ve come to think about this in another frame regarding creativity and beauty.
The other day I received an e-mail with photos of a tree that had been shaped into a chair. Now -- this isn’t a piece of wood that someone cut down and shaped into a chair – but a living tree that had been shaped like a chair and that grows in a garden!
Two things struck me about that. First was: what kind of magical imagination manifests this kind of “art”? Second was: WOW, what a cool idea – I want one of those in my backyard!!! Taking this whole journey a little further, I looked up the website (http://www.pooktre.com). And there was a garden filled with pieces of magical living art shaped like people!
And all that made me think about creativity and imagination and what drives us to create or what keeps us from creating things that bring happiness and/or beauty to our world. I occasionally get caught up in a flight of fancy about something I want to create – and then my left brain self kicks in with comments about how much time it would take, how expensive it might be, what will I do with it when I’m finished with it, it wouldn’t be any “good” anyway, people would think it was stupid, blah, blah, blah… Result is often I don’t act on the creative moment.
This garden of delight makes both soul and body smile – who isn’t drawn back to the magic of childhood just by the possibilities of living tree friends. Harry Potter comes alive in the back garden!
What if no one saw your creation – does it have beauty and meaning without someone ELSE to appreciate it. What if a little bit of magic dies in you each time you talk yourself out of creating what brings you laughter or joy or appreciation for living?
Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote a very thought provoking poem that is the basis of a wonderful book called “The Invitation”:
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
The left brain monkey chatter started in big time when I first thought about writing a blog: who's going to read it, what if they hate it, what if you have a typo or an incomplete sentence, what if it doesn't make any sense to anyone but me? And then I started writing. And perhaps it is like the "tree chair" -- I write because I can. Because it is a conversation with myself -- a way to capture bits of creativity and beauty that cross my path and that I want to acknowledge.
The other day I received an e-mail with photos of a tree that had been shaped into a chair. Now -- this isn’t a piece of wood that someone cut down and shaped into a chair – but a living tree that had been shaped like a chair and that grows in a garden!
Two things struck me about that. First was: what kind of magical imagination manifests this kind of “art”? Second was: WOW, what a cool idea – I want one of those in my backyard!!! Taking this whole journey a little further, I looked up the website (http://www.pooktre.com). And there was a garden filled with pieces of magical living art shaped like people!
And all that made me think about creativity and imagination and what drives us to create or what keeps us from creating things that bring happiness and/or beauty to our world. I occasionally get caught up in a flight of fancy about something I want to create – and then my left brain self kicks in with comments about how much time it would take, how expensive it might be, what will I do with it when I’m finished with it, it wouldn’t be any “good” anyway, people would think it was stupid, blah, blah, blah… Result is often I don’t act on the creative moment.
This garden of delight makes both soul and body smile – who isn’t drawn back to the magic of childhood just by the possibilities of living tree friends. Harry Potter comes alive in the back garden!
What if no one saw your creation – does it have beauty and meaning without someone ELSE to appreciate it. What if a little bit of magic dies in you each time you talk yourself out of creating what brings you laughter or joy or appreciation for living?
Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote a very thought provoking poem that is the basis of a wonderful book called “The Invitation”:
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
The left brain monkey chatter started in big time when I first thought about writing a blog: who's going to read it, what if they hate it, what if you have a typo or an incomplete sentence, what if it doesn't make any sense to anyone but me? And then I started writing. And perhaps it is like the "tree chair" -- I write because I can. Because it is a conversation with myself -- a way to capture bits of creativity and beauty that cross my path and that I want to acknowledge.
So, here’s to creating for the joy of creating!
