CREATIVE CONDUITS

I once read a quote (if only I could remember where, and by whom) that went something like this: I feel closest to the Great Creator when creating. I find that to be so, so true, and it's the first thing that crossed my mind when I watched this amazing little video which Hubby shared on Facebook. My next thought was "Well there you go. Yet another example of what happens when someone opens themselves up completely, and allows him-or herself to become a conduit." I mean, seriously, how many times have you read that some of the greatest artists, authors, and musicians known to man claim that a certain piece of work wasn't really their own doing -- that it simply came to them from out of the blue, and they were merely the instrument for getting it out into the world?

Why, just a few weeks ago, in my writing class at Lucky Star, I met the greatgranddaughter of the woman who penned some of the most treasured children's books of all time, Frances Hodgson Burnett.

According to Kerri, family legend has it that, to her dying day, Frances refused to accept credit for the creation of these books, claiming they were "whispered in her ear", and that her job was merely to get them down on paper.

Alas, that has never happened to me. Maybe that's a good thing, for I'm fairly certain that one would appear to be a bit crazed to one's friends and family, should this ever occur. However, every so often, when I do manage to let go of the reins just enough to fall into one of my little art trances -- that state where one completely loses track of the passage of time or anything that is going on around one -- I  sometimes feel as if there is the tiniest buzz of electricity flowing through me. Which is why many people refer to it as being "in the flow."

As for that cave artist, well, as far as I'm concerned, the wonder is not in the beauty of his work, amazing as that may be. The true miracle is that someone with no education whatsoever in structural engineering has managed to create all those sand caves from scratch, without being buried by a cave-in! Could there be something guiding his hand?