Ascending

Achievement requires climbing and not freewheeling. So it is with horses in winter: trudging through mud, going out in bleak weather and finishing up in the dark. So also with writing: making time, sitting down, shutting out all else and finally setting down words. Oh, for more time! It's the discipline to do as much as possible within finite hours that proves hardest.

And then the satisfaction comes. I am transported to an island where my heroine rides, first through the surf in surprise and then uphill to see where she is. Over a smooth sward she rides, higher until she can see all around. What does she think, looking about a new and silent land? What would I think? Food, water and shelter. I've been in that situation before: a simple situation that concentrated the mind. What a joy to shed burdensome complexity, and what a responsibility to meet simple needs.

Whom will she meet? What will be said? My unconscious creeps forth and I begin to see the truth in Carl Jung's pronouncement: that creativity springs from the Shadow part. It is not a conscious function, such as I would use to reason or calculate. No, creativity is a shadowy process. I was going to write "dark", but that is wrong. The Shadow is not evil, simply ancient and archetypal. It contains good and bad, and each bobs to the surface of that mysterious swirling stream.

We rode today, Brena and I, amidst a rushing plucking wind. I thought about how I simply do not control a horse, but rather influence her. On an elemental day her character grows bigger, and her curiosity too. I settle myself to be a calming influence. She settles somewhat, though curious about far-off movements and nearby foliage. One to stare at, another to eat. I sit deep and relaxed. It was a pleasant ride, and now I am back home to write.

Comments

[The Equestrian Vagabond]

'oh for more time!' - that's my mantra! so much needed for writing-riding-working-exploring. you feel like you're cheating the others when you're working on one of them.

[White Horse Pilgrim]

EV - yes, and as time goes on I feel more and more tired through trying to cram in too much.