A Natural Occurrence

Sometimes new form is difficult. Not the birth of it, I think that just happens. The acceptance of it.  That is often blocked by our choosing NOT to show it.

New is not familiar. And it begins by leaning.

I don't know about you but I can say in all honesty, audience is a factor.  Well, after all my years I know in my heart that is probably always true.  There is a need to share, but we shape it.  So new form is rare.  Because it isn't easy to explain. And may not fit to expectation.  May not be "marketable".  Even if we are not selling anything, we are still "selling self" in a way, although that is a harsh way to put it.   Like Deb, I have been thinking about what we share and what we choose not too.  And then, what we share,  how that also might fall back on "old form".  The familiar, the way we are expected to handle it.  The self we are known as. There was a long story here that seemed to happen in an instant.  There were choices and I left the cute behind.

I want to call this The Need to Explain.  But then, for now,  not explain.

just going

I threw this onion end in the compost.  It seems to have other ideas.

 

40 comments

  1. cednie

    Commenting late as usual…but I’ve been thinking about this a lot and wanted to add something. I took a class called “Woven Cultures” about the Andean weaving traditions prior to Spanish colonization. They had very traditional patterns and designs that they repeated over and over. Even using the same colors. A tiny change in color was a big innovation. There was no expectation of “new forms.” Interesting how far we have come from that. We have an agitation about new designs and how to share them that I don’t think existed in our species’ past. No wonder it is puzzling. I appreciate our innovations very much but I also wonder what it was like to just do what our mothers did in a long chain of tradition.

    • jude

      This is a good point. I think they can exist side by side, but I remind myself how long it probably took to get to the tradition itself. How much evolution is actually in tradition. And then just how much tradition gets in the way of change. This is good to consider. Reconsider. Humans create their own limitations. Some out of fear. Perhaps tradition is a safety net. Still it has it’s own beauty. It can stay as a story and we can move on as well.

  2. I’ve been thinking about this a lot … how much to share “hard stuff” without sounding needy versus only sharing the “good stuff” (sometimes called the “curated life”) … trying to find the balance between those two things … and then I think how trees sway in the wind, like the being in your cloth, bending, but not breaking

    • jude

      yes sharing it without seeming to be searching for sympathy or advise.
      Flexibility, How to maintain that, in so many ways… Certainly on my mind a lot.

  3. Jen NyBlom

    I want to be as a child; learning & creating with no expectations–every new and miraculous.
    Hard to return to that…

  4. This is an EXCELLENT topic. It’s so hard to do, but throwing expectation and ‘is this good enough’ right out the window is the right thing to do, otherwise we can never move forward.

  5. Mmmm…good food for thought here. I wonder, how does selling self differ from selling out? In our online sharing, presenting…there are so many elements that shape that…

      • Peggy McG

        Afraid to share happened today.. a woman knitting a beautiful shawl with expensive yarn and we talked of her quilting large bed quilts.. she exudes money..is in a nice camper.. i judged she would not understand my Slow stitching with scraps… many emotions reading this post.. and so glad I can connect with like minded people and learn more of myself and how to grow in my personal and creative selves. Swaying cat beast teaches to bend with what comes.

  6. deemallon

    There is this idea in transformation circles — that growth often looks messy and like a step backwards. But even that idea (like the pressure to share) can be inhibiting. What if my mess is just a mess?

  7. vickiseastrom

    Sometimes, maybe always, our toughest audience is ourselves. Trying to listen for the heart whispers under the noisy Judge Evaluator. It’s a daily practice. I am trying to remember what play feels like, your reaching form helps me see what it may look like!

  8. debgorr

    Expectation is a kind of fence, a trap. And… “cute.” It’s a hot button word for me at work, with the children. Deep breath. 🙂

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