Acceptance


66

Acceptance.



Being successful in life is a wonderful achievement. To have created something that is greatly admired by another, enough to be displayed in their home. To get acclaim within the circles of those who are involved in the same area of the creative process brings a sense of fulfilment and a boost of positive feeling.  

All those solitary days and hours are rewarded, and the creative person feels ready to progress and tackle the next project or commission, possibly already the mind is engaged in what this might be.  

This can, of course, bring with its dangers that the artistic person must acknowledge and prepare to handle.  How short a step it is from feeling positive and good to feeling boastful and proud.

Care must be taken not to look down or talk down to others in our circle of friends or colleagues. It can happen, without even being aware that it is. 

Lao Tzu advises, that we learn to live in a true sense of humility, not putting oneself down but accepting praise graciously and with kindness.  

Do not make others feel oppressed or manipulated, rather make them glad that they have given deserved praise and it has been received with a thankful spirit.

The wise creative mind does not feel in competition with others, rather offers help and guidance whenever possible, in this way they find themselves surrounded by joyful people, and they continue to grow in all they do.

This is the way of the Tao.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be Calm

Image
63 Be Calm   Life seems to be lived at a frantic pace, everything has to be done, and everything has to be done now. It was, not so very long ago, that the attention span of a human being was considered to be twenty minutes. Recent figures say that now the attention span of a child is down to fifteen. Teachers have now to prepare lessons keeping this in mind, changing the activity more frequently than before to allow them to hold the students' attention. In sharp contrast, Lao Tzu tells us that nothing good is achieved from rushing around. A simple statistic seems to give some support to this. When the speed limit on motorways was reduced by ten miles an hour there was almost an instant drop in the number of deaths on the roads. We gain so much more when we take life at a slower and simpler pace. How can the mind be fed and inspired by the beauty of life around us, if we are in too much of a rush to see and take it in? How can we learn from one another if we do ...
Read more

Solitude.

Image
42 Solitude. "The sage takes such things and makes the most of it. Embracing his solitude." I could have made those two sentences into one by adding the little word, by. Lao Tzu on more than one occasion speaks of times of solitude, here he goes a stage further and says he embraces it as if it was a dear and precious friend. The creative person will be familiar with the thought of embracing solitude. Most creative things are accomplished after and during times of working alone. Some may find it helpful to be part of a group, working together and sharing the experience, but even those moments are just an interlude to the many hours closed away in the studio or at the workbench. The writer, sitting at the keyboard hour after hour putting words from the mind and moving them into flowing and captivating prose. It often seems that we live with a fear of solitude and silence. Some say it is the loneliness of such, but that may be too simple. We seem to be in...
Read more

Yin - Yang.

Image
28 Yin - Yang To be truly creative the artist of either painting, music, sculpting or composing must know the strength of the male and grasp firmly to the sensitivity of the female. To know and to sense both the Yin and the Yang. It is in knowing and sensing this marvellous harmony of the universe that the creative person finds the joy of the Tao as the creative process flows and streams. Lao Tzu says when we grasp both the Yin and the Yang we become again like a child. In this state of being, we can create with real freedom. He goes on to speak of the uncarved block of wood. In the hands of the creative, living with the Tao, it can become so many wonderful and useful things.                                                                               The artist who ...
Read more