So much of who we are as individuals and members of social gatherings and groups is revealed through that which we produce. You can sense a lot about character from a person's journal entries or letters or sketches or flow of conversation. Somehow, in the process of getting ideas and sentiments out of us and onto the page or in some medium of communication we reveal bits of our core. If in no other way, the very things we start off with, pay attention to, or elaborate on can cue people into priorities by preference.
These things can also be of use to each of us for trying to find out who we are ourselves. Portions and pieces of our own self-identity are hidden from us in the many blind spots of life. When we take the time to take a look at our past collection of mail, paintings, writings, meeting agendas, outlines, journals, photo albums, video collections, music preferences, and even doodles - the things which we create and are attached to from within our depths and cast out upon the outside world - we get a sense of the landscape of who we are. Just as dolphins and whales use echolocation to find passage through the terrain of their lives, so too we can gather snapshots of meaning and inspiration along the way not only from objects and images from others' lives, but from the very things we ourselves have projected onto the world.
I believe that one very clear reason we like to create things, is that we get a sense of touching our own souls when we interact with the matter that comes up and out of us into the world via the creative process. Those who become self aware of the process of this encounter with echolocation and their own soul, are better able to access pathways of growth for themselves and others. We have an ongoing need to know where we are and where all of the things in our life exist in relation to our selves. Literally and figuratively, both.
What do you find yourself weaving through on the landscape of life? What comes from you, and what from others?
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