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| photo by richard kehl via flickr |
Richie felt so deeply that his shield wasn’t invisible like
so many. It had a lovely patina from all the storms it had weathered and it
even breathed out a warm rusted scent. But it wasn’t permanent. It was just a
temporary, as-needed shield. So sometimes, when I perceived with the Me in me,
I caught glimpses of the He in he, too. They found me like playful, magical,
extra-sensory twinkles….a moonbeam through the clouds or a silver of an exotic tropical
fish. He was beautiful. And extra-ordinary. And his imagination grew mine.
I wasn’t allowed to take his class. My profile didn’t fit
the mold. Maybe that’s why he let me in. Maybe he related better to people like
me--a spiral in a line-laden world. Whatever it was, non-art major me was
somehow admitted into an upper level art-major-only class, Richie’s class, a
class I still carry around with me all these twenty-something years later.
He invited me to make a zero backwards, to creatively
express my definition of my Self, and to make slides of different ways of seeing
every day things. Like Bach stretching the brain through the pianist’s fingers,
Richie stretched my imagination through colors and textures and wild, yes, WILD
ideas. Nothing that semester, nothing mattered more than riding the waves that
Richie set before me.
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| photo by richard kehl via flickr |
* * *
What makes you more alive? What inspires you? What gives
your heart a flutter and your toes a little twitch? What gets you off that track
of yours and into a feeling of whimsy where you want to dust yourself off and
soar? Is it a song, or a person, or a quote, or a feeling? Is it a something
you pass every day or a something you missed long ago? Is it a dream that you
don’t dare share or a wish you thought you would have let go of by now?
This week, my wish is that you honor that which makes you
feel more alive. Even if you aren’t supposed to or you aren’t really allowed,
find a way to do it anyway. Break a societal rule to honor your own (as long as
it doesn’t hurt anyone), soar with your whimsy, leap with your heart, invite
your ideas to color your future with a big fat brush.
Ride the wind to the place where the moon sits down for
breakfast to fatten herself up and the stars plug in to get recharged. Find the place that gives
flowers their voice and trees new sheet music for their songs, where your heart knows love and your eyes know sparkle, where your imagination comes alive. You see, that's where I most like to be, so of course I'd love for you to join me....want a cupcake?
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| photo by richard kehl via flickr |
10 comments:
A nice paean to creativity, though in this, it was so nice to not use that word. Creativity itself maybe isn't the right term. Maybe you can't put a term to this at all. Maybe today, if decide to skip rocks across the harbor instead of walking a few laps, I will think, 'just having a cupcake for a moment.'
I shall hear the kerplunks of your skipping rocks today, dear Michael and smile...maybe even when I'm not supposed to smile...when everyone around me is serious. I just wish those sounds came with icing for my nose, too....hmm...sounds like a new idea brewing...:)
More people should give themselves the invitation to listen to that inner voice. The one that does not need to reason why, but just Knows how to make you truly alive. I recently started to listen closely to mine, and the changes have been unbelievably positive. Thanks in part to my incredible teacher. Cupcake sounds yummy, to the store I just may go.
If I could, I'd bring one to you to celebrate your magic, bright soul....with sprinkles, of course:) Hugs!
Ahhhh Brynne, you have shared one of my secret observations, thank you for that. There are people, beings, who are keys to unlock the fortress that family and friends have, unwittingly, built around us. In their sincere effort to insure we fit in, they too often insured we conformed.
There are key-holders though, people who are themselves the key, that unlock the childish spirit that dwells within all of us. The best key-holders, hand us the keys once opened, to allow us to access, at our discretion and at our speed, the multitude of doors that encompass not just who we are or what we might be, but who we want to be.
Despite my age, and I've thought this at every age I've been, I want my soul to have the eyes of a child. The innocence, the freedom, the wonder and the creativity that not only knows no bounds, but fails to see the rules that guide the rest of our lives.
Richie was a key-holder, who unlocked the child within you, gave you the key, and let your creative spirit free. Please thank Richie for me, if only in your prayers, for I am grateful for the artist in him, seeing and fostering the artist in you.
Artistry is life as much as creation, and creation is awareness as much as innocence. Richie created beautiful works of art, certainly, but his most beautiful creations were spirits, set free to be themselves.
Thank you dear, for sharing not only his beauty, but yours.
A spiral indeed! Lovely.
Oh Brynne, thank goodness for the Richies of the world! They seem to bring us out of our shells, coax us to explore different sides of our personality, and invite us to dream! We should all meet a Richie--at least once in our life. For me, it was nana. She encouraged me to do and be whatever I wanted to be. She smiled when I broke the rules, even cheered me on as I did, and she was always there to comfort me if things didn't work out. "The important thing is to try things for ourselves, Bella. Don't let anyone tell you how it's done. Go and do things for yourself!" I can still hear her! I'm so happy Richie inspired you to explore and create magic, amiga! Thank you for sharing your story! :)
I am tempted to make your reply a post itself. What wise, heartfelt, moving thoughts you share with all of us, my friend. To come to the realization that one of the greatest and most beautiful gifts we can give another is to free their spirit...is simply profound. Thank you so very very much, John.
Happy you liked it, my beautiful spiraling friend:)
I always always love hearing about your nana, Bella! I am soOO happy she encouraged you to try things for yourself, to test those wonderful wings of yours! And selfishly, I am soO happy your wings flew you over to me!:)
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