difficulty
We live in a world of instant gratification and overnight deliveries. Tips, tricks, and easy fixes. But, “we gain most when we are willing freely to choose what is difficult”, says John O’ Donohue.
To choose a creative path, a creative practice, or a creative discipline is to choose a kind of creative asceticism. Willingly stripping away what is unnecessary to make room for what is essential.
It isn’t penance, penitence, or punishment. It’s a curated focus. It’s saying “no” to the noise of dopamine consumption, and saying “yes” to the arduous quiet of the blank page and the empty canvas.
It’s a monasticism of the desk, the studio, or the work bench. Where the difficulty isn’t avoided, but welcomed and inhabited. It’s where time and space are consecrated and made sacred. Where we wrestle, refusing to let go, until we receive a blessing.
The strife and struggle is a place of depth, meaning, and resonance. It’s the place where transformation happens. It’s where we discover that freedom and liberty aren’t arrived at through infinite options, but in boundaries, restrictions, limitations, and commitment.
May the silence of the desk become a sanctuary
May the struggle reveal something deeper.
May the difficult work reveal a holy country
In case no one’s told you today, I love you with all my everything.
Thank you for this Duane.
Indeed.
Saying ‘yes’ to the arduous quiet of the blank page, to reclusion and struggle.
But when the blessing comes, how wonderful that feels, bringing with it I find, nourishment needed to re-enter and live better in the crowded noise of the world outside.