How often do we run after those things that seem elusive, believing that once we catch or grasp them we will be content forever? Yet, once found, and after the initial rush the desire brings, we are once again looking for the next “it” that will satisfy our momentary wants. Life is like that. We take our days as an adventure when we’re young and beginning the journey, and then as experience becomes expectation, we assume certain things will always remain the same while others should magically alter to meet our sense of what ought to be. It’s as though we are chasing windmills—wanting ever-present stimulation. Yet there is a lot of still time in between the bursts of wind or the next “Aha” experience.. There is the prospect of doing life on a daily basis that isn’t always glamorous or fulfilling...a lot of ordinariness and rote requirements. And there is nothing wrong with this as long as we recognize the importance of the process.
Windmills are useful. They fuel activity, and when harnessed, can propel us in grand ways toward the next adventure. Chasing windmills, however, negates a whole part of our lives that is also important—the in between time when we can distill what we’ve experienced and let it settle into us. It’s the old need for balance between doing and being—and some of us are more adept at this than others. Yet when we recognize the benefit of what the windmill brings (or our creative process) we can then utilize that “wind” to propel our project forward and take the down time that follows to let the fruit of our labor distill and deepen our understanding.
From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2007