Birthing a Design

 

I am completely amazed by the power of dreams, visions and various states of consciousness to generate expressions of profound creativity without any conscious effort.  Often - and maybe this happens to you too - I awaken from a dream and think, "Wow!  How could my brain conceive that intense, intricate, and ornate visual experience?"  (And why doesn't it happen when I am wide awake!?) For me, it is in this quiet space, this edge of conscious thought, this corner of mindless existence, that creation begins.

Sometimes, when I am awake, I'll catch a glimpse of a design.  It flickers in the corner of my awareness as I shift in and out of various states of mind.  It may be inspired into existence simply by a mark on the ground, a texture in the sky, or a smudge on a glass.  Sometimes, at the cusp of sleep, in the 'between state' of waking and dreaming, something floats by.  Pushing too hard to "see" it only makes it slip away.  I try to stay in the mists.  With patience the picture slowly manifests into awareness. The birthing begins.  A fleeting image transformed into conscious thought.  From thought to sketchbook.  Sketchbook to object.  Object to existence.

Once a reality, the design still needs coaxing to become what it will be.  Sometimes, it fails.  Sometimes it changes.  Sometimes it is set aside to mature.  Sometimes it melts... sometimes it is melted on purpose! 

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