The daily news mesmerizes us with messages of lack. There’s not enough—not enough energy reserves to meet our future needs, not enough food to feed the hungry, not enough jobs in the US economy or enough money in the federal budget for education, health care, environmental protection, Social Security, and Medicare, not to mention the arts. As concerned citizens, we may wonder what difference we can make when the problems are so vast. As creative artists we may think that there are not enough opportunities for us, or feel at a loss for ideas, wondering what to do next.
But these conclusions are based on the status quo, on what we know now, not what may be. My garden reminds me that we live in a world of dynamic growth, a world of possibilities. The bright red clusters of tomatoes in my garden, “Sweet 100’s,” offer silent testimony to the seeds of possibilities within and around us. During a single growing season, each Sweet 100 plant can bear over one hundred tomatoes. That’s a sign of abundance right there. But depending on the variety, a single tomato can contain from 16 to over 300 seeds, each of which could become a tomato plant. At this point we’re in the realm of higher mathematics. How many potential tomatoes exist within one tomato plant?
How many creative ideas exist within one human soul?
Never believe that there is not enough. As long as the vibrant forces of nature embrace this planet, as long as men and women can breathe and create, there will be new possibilities we haven’t even dreamed of.
Two keys to creativity are vision and faith. As thousands of potential tomatoes exist in one small seed, so the fruition of our creative work exists in the first flash of inspiration. As we open our hearts in faith, we can follow that inspiration to creative fulfillment.
Over 25 centuries ago, Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching:
A tree that reaches past your embrace
Grows from one small seed.
A structure over nine stories high
Begins with a handful of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts with a single step.
(Tao Te Ching 64 from The Tao of Inner Peace)
Take that step. Embrace your creativity, and open your heart to new possibilities right here, right now.
Diane
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