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 science and the arts. As concerned citizens, we may feel at a loss, wondering what difference we can make when the problems are so vast.
How many creative ideas exist within one human soul?
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.
We can cultivate our creativity by shifting our perception, looking beyond lack to the larger process. As thousands of potential tomatoes exist in one small seed, so the fruition of our creative work exists in the first flash of inspiration. With faith in the process, we can follow our 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 Dreher, 2000, p. 3)
What can you do to take that step today?
References
Dreher, D. (2000). The Tao of Inner Peace. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam.
Peterson, C., Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1993). Helplessness. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Diane Dreher, Ph.D., is a professor of English at Santa Clara University. She is also a research associate at the SCU Spirituality and Health Institute.
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