Wednesday, September 3, 2008

And Who Could Prune a Tree So Perfect?

Only the wild, I think.

Where does art come from?

I got into a conversation with a young man on the trail. A tall kid with an incisive mind. When we spoke of natural beauty, and I called it creative, he said, "It's not creative; it's creation. It's what our whole sense of beauty is based off of."

Of course.

The ancient Taoists, in the creation of their art, sought to model--through close observation and alignment with the natural way of things--the harmony of the natural world. They strove, through a sort of meditative state, to channel the Tao through themselves unimpeded. Thus, the art they made would be less a work of self-expression, and more a work that is expressive of The Way (the literal translation of "The Tao"), the natural harmony of the universe.

It's a wonderful approach to creativity. A way to be in touch with something bigger than just ourselves. A way to grow closer to the world.

1 comment:

Daniel Edlen said...

Beautiful!

I'm coming to a realization, a la The Hitchiker's Guide, that we might not have free will. It's just that we're so complicated a system that we can't model ourselves. When one channels Life as purely as Taoists, it's the closest we can come to understanding, but not, that Life.

Re-stating becomes impossible. That's what creation is. It is. All else is unauthentic.

By the way, I was wondering about Jedediah when I saw Than on Facebook. What's he up to?

I was jealous of Devon being in London. My wife and I want to move there someday...

Peace.