Grasping at Rainbows

 

Photo by mayahawk on pixabay

You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Creation sometimes feels like you are trying to grasp rainbows. All those brilliant ideas shine for a moment and then the clouds drift over the sun again. What was once perfectly clear is gone.

And this happens constantly. We can write down our ideas, though it feels as though they are never as perfect once we begin to bring them into form. The rainbow is perfect and beautiful, but a photograph rarely captures the power of sunlight on water vapor the way our bare eye does.

But we try to capture this beauty anyway. We are creators and rainbows are our inspiration. Ideas come to us, rise up and we shine the light of consciousness on them. In that moment ideas are as bright and colorful as a rainbow. We can’t grasp an idea like we can hold onto a bouquet of flowers. To grasp at something ethereal by nature leaves us frustrated. Relax and let the idea float.

One morning I saw an amazing rainbow out my office window. But I let myself get distracted by something and then I fumbled with my phone to take a picture. The rainbow faded fast. Instead of trying to capture it, I could have simply looked at it while it was full and bright. Those moments of enjoyment would have done more to imprint its beauty upon my memory than a weakened version in a photograph.

Relax and be with your ideas as they rise. Of course get something down on paper, but don’t grasp at the idea. It’s futile. If you reach into the moist air, your hand goes through the rainbow. Let your ideas leave an imprint on your heart. Just be present with them.

And if you don’t manage to get it down on paper, don’t worry. The idea may rise again, but it will only do so if you relax. Remember you’re not trying to capture the rainbow or the ideas themselves. All we have is the memory, the imprint left behind by the beauty rising within.