Glory in Random

Random things happen.  None of us can consistently predict what’s around the corner.  An old friend texts “out of the blue,” a sudden insight comes “out of nowhere,” two friends experience the same thing at the same time in totally different situations.

These “random” events, from dreams to serendipitous moments, help create the backdrop called our context.  They are the frame in which our life is lived.  While we certainly can not control the stuff happening, we are responsible to interpret it.

The creative takes this responsibility serious. To connect the crazy dots of life’s random events is a joyful priority.  We are on the lookout for meaning, reconciling things others assume disconnected, constantly adjusting our pre-conceived notions about reality.

A creative lives in this constant state of wonder.

This constant adjustment to reality is what being inspired is all about.  We stay fundamentally open to what the universe brings our way.  We have no idea what is coming, but we are open to it as a manner of practice, even necessity.

This includes being open to what is not seen - to our interior worlds.    The creative accepts that there are spiritual realms or dimensions to life.  Layers of reality we can not see, below the surface, but real nonetheless.     

The creative focuses on what is not seen, or at least what is not commonly focused on.

Thus creators tend to speak in future tense, in the language of what can be.  Their visions, not yet seen, lead them to explore other worlds, even to inhabit these other realities.  What is going on there is hard to measure.

The creative process draws them there, even though their bodies are here.  Unusual funks (not much different than any travel dysphoria) can result.  It’s a lot to deal with.  As hard as it can be to love someone like this, whose body is here but whose head is not, this remains the birthplace of ideas, the cauldron of creativity.

And a good creative realizes they are not in charge of the process.  They are not in control of much at all. 

The job is to access and interpret the randomness of inspiration.  To be fully open and fully aware of whatever is being revealed in the world. This includes mourning tragedies and celebrating successes like everyone must, but doing it with a different lens.  For each event provides a rich resource bucket of metaphors, illustrations, deep emotions, poignant metaphors, and more. All priceless gifts.

This may sound cheap, like we are emotional opportunists. But the real creative does not go seeking insights, scouring through the carnage of human experience to look for a pithy quote or subject for the next project. The creative simply remains open to reality, to being surprised by whatever comes.

And there it is.

Hiding in the simple experience of everyday life…Glory, in all its beautiful randomness.