Bonsai Bonus - Grasshopper

Somewhere in the 1990s I got interested in Bonsai trees. I took a few classes and read a number of books and articles, and bought a few trees. I even attempted to grow my own from seed.

I killed my fair share of trees due to lack of knowledge but the experience left me with an eternal piece of wisdom.

 

You can’t rush Bonsai trees. The black pines bloom in the late spring and their candles are to be trimmed by mid-June. The schedule never changes. They bloom when they bloom.

 

Similarly, you can’t rush creativity. It comes when it comes, not a moment sooner.

 

You can, however, set a frame for creativity. That frame is called “waiting.” When you’re stuck and need some inspiration, the worse thing you can do is consciously try to get creativity to force bloom.

 

Creativity needs space and the space it flowers in is “quiet.”

 

Cramming your thinking apparatus with pleas for your muse to appear doesn’t work. The chattering mind is the antithesis of quiet and is the sworn nemesis of creativity.

 

The gifts quiet waiting delivers are abundant, but they become scarce when we put quiet in reverse.

 

Bonsai trees need lots of tending to as does our ability to wait.

 

Patience can now be defined as “the time it takes.”

 

“Waiting” is the lull where creativity flourishes. It’s a discipline that works even though you don’t know how, sort of like “wax on, wax off.”

 

All the best,
John