I’m fond of saying that there’s no difference between creativity and life, that the precepts of one apply equally to the other, that the first rule of both is that there are no rules.
Yet I’ve discovered that once you commit to the highest possible path and purpose, there’s a trinity of principles that’s always at play:
1) Trust
2) Let Go
3) Leap
First, you trust the voice of your deepest heart, which is also the voice of your divinity, your god-self, your muse, your highest imperative. Next, you let go of all resistance, all clinging and all clutching (which doesn’t mean you’re not afraid). Finally, you leap into the void — just like the Fool in the tarot.
Legendary sci-fi author Ray Bradbury follows the way of the Fool when he says about writing that you must leap off cliffs and trust that you’ll sprout wings on the way down.
Not only do I do my best to write that way, I do my best to live that way. It’s scary, but ultimately satisfying. And even though it means living and writing without a net, those wings Bradbury talks about have never failed to appear. The Fool is never abandoned.
Of course, I’m not always without resistance. “You want me to do what!?” I have been known to exclaim when presented with my next step.
That’s what happened 13 months ago, when an inner voice interrupted my on-the-road reveries and urged me to refresh, revise and overhaul my modest Voice of the Muse eBook into an expanded and published form.
Yet once the initial shock dissipated (my novel, The MoonQuest, had been out barely a month at that point), I surrendered to the higher imperative.
I trusted, let go and leapt…and watched all the requisite resources begin to fall into place, often miraculously.
Now, not only have my wings sprouted, they’re lifting me higher and higher and higher. The Voice of the Muse is selling well (and helping to sell The MoonQuest), and the book and its companion meditation CD have received rave reviews (including on this site) and hyper-enthusiastic reader testimonials.
Trust. Let Go. Leap. It’s a chapter in The Voice of the Muse. It’s the way of The Fool and the only way I know how to live.
In writing as in life, it always works.
Note from Arwen: You can also see my review of Mark David’s fabulous book here.
Mark David Gerson is an inspirational speaker, spiritual mentor and creativity coach whose newsletters and essays are read in more than two dozen countries. For more than 15 years, Mark David has taught writing as a creative and spiritual pursuit, an experience that’s now available to wider audiences through his new book, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, and 2-CD set, The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers. Mark David is also author of the award-winning visionary novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy. For more information about Mark David and his work, visit http://markdavidgerson.com. His books and CD are available at selected US retailers and online at Amazon.com and http://lightlinesmedia.com.