Harvesting Creativity
The most invisible creators I know of are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible… They neither paint nor sculpt… Their medium is being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life… They are the artists of being alive. -J Stone
Creativity comes in many forms, the most essential planted in the soil of our being. While most of us don’t express through creative activity each day, there’s an innate creative seed in each of us that grows naturally through life. This is the expression of our authentic being, and the harvest of this form of creativity will feed the world.
photo by Daniel Franks
I love this time of year in Idaho. Chill autumn mornings bring the leaves alive with color, and by afternoon the perfectly warm sun invites me to play. It’s a great time to be outdoors, and now that we’ve harvested most of the fruits from the garden, I have a little more time to take long walks by the river. (Although, the vital energy of autumn is bringing my creative energy alive with lots of new ideas for indoor projects as well!)
Harvest time brings bounty, but only after months of preparation and nourishing the seeds we planted last spring. It’s the same with creativity, and the change of seasons always opens my awareness to the parallels between our outer & inner gardens. (You may have noticed that I love to learn from nature. 
In both gardens, we begin by preparing the soil. In the inner, we prepare by paying attention, by listening carefully to our dreams, our desires, and by noticing what is uniquely ours to share. We prepare by being curious and open to possibility, by seeing with eyes of wonder and awe, by being awake to the present moment. And we prepare by being willing to give back to the world what is now being given to & through us. Often this comes with plenty of composting of the old stories, habits, patterns of living we have taken on from past seasons of our lives.
As I move through my vegi-garden this fall, harvesting what is still Good, and composting what is no longer nourishing, I am consciously noticing what is ready to be released in my life. In some ways, I’m ready to release more than ever before. Simplicity is calling, and I have less & less desire to be weighted down by excess. I’m also finding it very nourishing to dig through some of the plants I thought were through producing…I’ve found a few seeds from past creations that are ready to sprout in new ways!
I look forward to sharing more in a week or two … meanwhile, Happy Harvest to you!
~ Shining Sor’a
Consider your life as a garden.
Close your eyes and reflect upon the state of this inner garden:
What is blooming inside?
What colors & scents & textures are you growing?
What are you ready to harvest?
What might you turn into compost to enrich your inner garden?
Let me know what you come up with by posting a comment!