Nature
A Method of Re-creation
Nature
by Clint Watson, FASO Founder
This is a follow-up article to The Art of Re-Creation and Solitude. If you haven’t read those essays yet, I recommend you start there. Both of these articles are excerpts from my upcoming book The Sovereign Artist: The liberating power of the creative act.
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes.
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The soul and nature are carved from the same substance. That’s why, traditionally, we journey into nature to find our “true nature.” Attention to nature is the most effective re-creation method. Artists typically know this intuitively and that’s why most artists paint landscapes from time to time. The creative person almost can’t help but feel drawn toward nature; for their soul recognizes itself. Even the busiest modern person will occasionally stop and admire a beautiful sunset and, even in that briefest of moments, something will stir in his heart. If you wish to be truly born again, spend time in nature; for the very word nature is descendent from the Latin natus which means, “to be born.”
Combining your re-creation methods with nature makes the Self discovery process more effective. For example, meditating in nature will lead to wondrous insights. There is a reason traditional rites of passage typically include a journey of solitude into nature.
In modern society, we are no longer taught how to mature through these important rites of passage. That’s why, in many ways, we are a society of adolescents who never grow up.
But creatives cannot be that way. You must be in the world, but not of it. We, creatives, must grow up. We must mature into true adulthood. We must integrate our shadows and release our souls into full creative expression. We must create our own rites of passage and, in our leisure time, walk the path into true adulthood.
The true adult combines mature skill and discernment with the wondrous eyes of a child. And, if we wish to become a true adult, we must learn the lesson, through faith and experience, that leisure time is just as important, even more important, than constant “productive” activity. Knowing and pursuing this is the mark of the true master.
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