5 Things I’ve Learned About Creativity

Have you met the Hindu Goddess, Akhilandeshvari? Akhilandeshvari (Ahh-kee-lawn-dish-vari…fun to say, once you get the hang of it) is a goddess who embodies the ability to come together and fall apart, again and again. “Ishvari” in Sanskrit means “goddess” or “female power,” and the “Akhilanda” means essentially “never not broken.” In other words, The Always Broken Goddess.
Akhilandeshvari is the personification of healthy annihilation and the archetype of unexpected change. She breaks apart in order to come back together as a more powerful version of herself. Indeed, it is exactly because she is able to break apart that she is so powerful. She does not expect that things will stay intact and the same.
I have a fear of visibility . . . of being seen. I mean really being seen—for the flawed human that I am. When I think of my book being published, an iceberg of terror forms in the middle of my chest. Bearing all my deepest faults and fears in writing for everyone to see—it’s horrifying! And that’s just the emotional side of visibility; then there’s the physical side: too old, too fat, too emotional, and on it goes. In my experience our patriarchical culture encourages silence, subservience, and invisibility.
This summer I am feeling so grateful for the beauty that helps distract me from all the heartbreaking social, political and environmental news. I just completed my annual wilderness quest in the Inyo National Forest with the hundreds of years old junipers, pines, and aspen groves. I named my questing place at Johnny Meadows “The Big Quiet.” Being there was like time out of time. Long, lazy, warm days and a shimmering full moon at night. I was even visited by a coyote that sauntered by my campsite one evening. Time alone in nature makes me feel like everything is right with the world. Read more here…
One of my sisters called me the other day and asked, “What have you been doing up there in Oregon besides breaking dishes?” It took me a moment to realize she was talking about the Kintsugi breaking and mending ceremony photos I’ve been posting on Facebook and Instagram. I laughed and said, “Well, not much; mostly just breaking dishes.” Read more
I hope this email finds you catching the wind of creativity and letting it carry you. It’s not always in the direction that you thought you’d be going, right? One thing aging is teaching me is that I can plan all I want (and heaven knows I’m a great planner!), but the key to happiness and living a fulfilled life is to know when to let go and surrender into what is and what might be. Read more here.