Sun and Cloud: The Creative Struggle

Like Sun and cloud, our creative struggles, challenges, and success, are all the better for the combination.



I live in a rainforest. Unlike many of my fellow temperate coastal forest people I readily acknowledge the fact that the weather patterns will continue to bring rain here off of the ocean as they have for millenia, and that I have a choice of living locations. I could live in a desert arid climate, or the prairies where the fields run off into the distance. I've spent a bit of time in both those climates and, while I can appreciate the differences and beauty to them, I love the giant green forest, plethora of plants and mosses, and deep goodness in the woods along the sea.

So we have sun, and we have rain, and we have many many clouds, often.

I can tell you from personal experience that the sun and blue sky look absolutely brilliant when they peek through the clouds after a few days of being overcast. And the colours!! At sunset and sunrise, or other random moments through the day, you can find all sorts of weird and wonderful light making it's way through those clouds.

As for creative struggles? Well.. they're very similar. The passion and inspiration to germinate an idea, like a flash of brilliant sunlight. The striding forth in that light to start creating, to take pictures, lay words on paper, or pluck strings to make tunes. And then the struggle of choosing how to display that, how to share it, how to arrange it, how to quantify it, how to risk making it real, and tangible, and putting it out there.

There is a challenge and a struggle in that darkness.



And then there is the sun. Rising once more over the waters, over the hills, through the fog. A new day dawns and we stand there with our completed work for all to see. We have succeeded. We celebrate, and then strike out to see what this new day will bring, how it will inspire, how it will make us muse.

So know that you're not alone in that struggle, in that journey, in that quest. Though it is uniquely unique to you, it is also a generally shared experience to many, and we're cheering you on even though you must walk the steps yourself, we're hooting and hollering and waving banners, though you must ache and strive to continue.

Please do, for in watching you struggle and succeed you also cheer me on. So thank you.
Thank you and go well :)

Jordan Oram
The Maplemusketeer

ps You never know how sharing your muse and action will inspire others. To you something may seem small, but the ripples it casts will go on into until at least lunch time, possibly eternity ;)

Thanks to Paulissa Kipp who's comments to me this morning on Google Plus inspired this post, and to Jake Easley for his sharing of awesome and timeliness. ;)