An Odyssey of Creativity and Wisdom: Day1

one thousand words daily

An Odyssey of Creativity and Wisdom on 7-31-2018

By: Sekou M. Black

               

               This exercising of the mind is my first new attempt at pulling creativity and inspiration simply from images around me. This task is one out of twelve that I have challenged myself to.  I just can’t back down from a challenge even when I challenge myself.  “Hey, I have an idea… How about you also send me a picture of some type of image and I will blast off from there!”  When I was a teenager I used to freestyle on a corner at a park nearby (freestyling: a form of improvisation through rapping) to any subject or word folks would bring up.  So the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Let us see what ideas, wisdom and anecdotes that I find within my mind from each random picture selected.  Be adventurous and send me your own images to write from.  I will give finder’s credit in a shout out to each picture selected. The subject can be items, scenery, distinct places and even people.  Write on and right on!

               

              As I sit down in the doctor’s office I fill out the questionnaire and see a scenery picture on the wall of a small river with trees surrounding it on both sides.  The trees I notice are all unique in some way, one beginning to change colors with the seasons.  I thought of how hospitals want us to be relaxed so often they try to use colors and images that are pleasing as well as relaxing to the patients.  For those that can’t swim, looking at water might cause them to either look away or perhaps want to learn to swim in order to take a dip in that cool stream.  The peaceful scene depicted might also call someone to have a picnic on the side of some gorgeous stream somewhere.  

              Originality as I say is a very big factor in a person building a good character as an individual.  The uniqueness the tree turning colors displayed in the photo gives us a sense of although the trees were virtually in the same type of spot, taking in the same sunlight, that there were factors that caused this tree to turn colors before the rest.  Perhaps the tree was a lot closer to water. We can look at ourselves in the same context.  Oftentimes we find folks that go grey before us, have certain illnesses before us and so forth. Timing is relevant to each unique individual.

              In our experience we often find some that mature faster or “Get the picture quicker,” than others might.  I have always wondered whether or not environment or exposure was a determining factor is why some folks are the way in which they are.  In some cases my answer turned out to be “Yes,” however I am reminded through daily interactions with people, even from what I see on the media, that the psychology of an individual from home-bringing to who they choose to be today is solely guided by a wonderful variable that we humans take advantage of called Choice.   Christian’s know this as something called Free Will, which was written as a gift the Creator bestowed upon us, a curse from knowing too much and wanting to know too much in the Garden of Eden.  Regardless of your belief system, the reality that we have some say in the choices we make is power within itself.  For those forced into some type of slavery or forced servitude do not know the luxury of choice and only dream of the freedoms that both me and you, share automatically and naively without much thought. 

               At the beginning of this exercise, I believed that I would merely write about one picture, however when I made my way from the doc’s office to the x-ray imaging place I was compelled to write more.  Why?  Well another one of those trees with a very wide stream painting was hanging on one of their walls.  This time the picture was done with dots to make up the picture instead of brush strokes.  What wisdom could I find in this?

               First of all, I’d like to one day be adventurous enough to jump butt naked in a river or stream somewhere.  After watching “Stand By Me,” a movie about little white boys in the 60s coming of age, jumping in a watering hole to get leaches all over them, I didn’t see that as such a good idea.  Who knows, maybe I’ll grow a solid pair and not care about leeches, or little fishies that are known to swim up the urethra, then spread out the fins, causing intense pain and dying.  That is only if you live in some South American country I believe. If I were to take the philosophical approach about this cool picture using dots, I could talk about patience or how often times we are only given dots when we are trying to figure out who we are or what exactly we are to become.  Those dots can represent lessons as well as experience.  It is only after we learn certain lessons or gain a certain level of life experience or work experience when we can fully get a clear picture of how we can make it happen for ourselves and determine our place on this planet.

               Being able to jump freely into anything takes more than determination, but takes the right conditions. Whether influenced by a hot summer day wanting to cool off or having the freedom from a short day of work or vacation to jump off one of those bridges to make a heck of a splash.  Sometimes it takes ability and will.  I for one can’t physically jump, but I remember when I could.  That doesn’t stop me from wanting to try.  I know I might need to know the currents and whether or not it is safe to do so, no matter what type of leap I decide to take.  One thing for certain is that the simple fact that I want to eventually relax, feel mentally as well as financially free, whether making a business move or making a fun move in a natural environment set’s me directly on a path towards happiness. Often the most courageous thing you can do is simply taking the first step.