The
following was a snippet from my upcoming book … one that did not make the
cut for Writing on the Landscape.
“Last week I had a great inspiration to make an earth-tones collage. I
knew there were too many obligations on the calendar for the work week so I
planned to begin my creation on the weekend. I pulled out the spare folding
table, set it up next to my desk, and climbed to an upper closet shelf to get
out a box of paper scraps. I spent a few minutes finding autumn-colored
swatches of old paintings I had made over the years and had since torn up as
collage fodder. Then, the alarm rang and I was out the door to the next
obligation.
And to the next.
And then it was bedtime. And then the next obligation and the next and the
next arrived; days have passed and the scraps are still waiting. I’ve enjoyed
seeing them there vibrant and patient, even as my week took off.
We do not create our big ideas in a single sitting. For a person who is
hell-bent on completion, I have learned this as a big-fat-smack-across-the-face
type of lesson—over many years, numerous dissatisfactions, umpteen failures.
But I have also learned this through successes and achievements; in retrospect
I have seen how—out of sheer necessity—I have learned to step up to the big
tasks one blisteringly small bit at a time. I do not write my books in a single
sitting, day, week, or sometimes even within a year. Watercolor paintings, a collage,
knitted scarf, raking the fallen leaves, weed pulling, housecleaning … I’ve
translated this behavior to nearly everything.
Of course, I complete a shower, the dishes, billing, repotting a plant, a
hike—in a single shot.
But the desires to become more creative, or a better mentor, or more
widely published, or a more integral member of my community do not come to
fruition overnight.
So I continue to glance at the pieces for my collage. I continue to
scribble new ideas for my book. I continue to meditate, pray, care for those
around me, stretch my muscles in small daily doses, in the hopes that one day I
will feel more spiritually aligned, more considerate of my fellows, stronger,
and fitter.
We do this in bits, as we can. The collage of life continues.”
All blog images created & photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: "©2017 JenniferJWilhoit/TEALarbor stories. AllRightsReserved."
