gestation and then birthing

I’ve been rereading “the letters to Young poet” by Rilke. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read this book already, It comforts me. Somehow I get new insights every time. I love letter 3 so much I could have parts of it written all over my walls. I adore His focus on gestation leading to birthing and on what it takes to be an artist.

“Allow your judgements their own silent, undisturbed development, which, like all progress, must come from deep within and cannot be forced or hastened. Everything is gestation and then birthing.

To let each impression and each embryo of a feeling come to completion, entirely in itself, in the dark, in the unsayable, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one’s own understanding, and with deep humility and patience to wait for the hour when a new clarity is born: this alone is what it means to live as an artist: in understanding as in creating.”
—Letter 3 Rilke

I think many years before I started doing art again. I had this idea that I had to force some sort of vision of what an art piece or poem would look or feel like to me and unfortunately hindered my creative process. This intensity was coupled with a tendency to distract myself from tending to my creativity while being impatient with myself. I experienced so many unfortunate comparisons, and negative ideas that just didn’t serve my creativity so when Rilke says “everything is Gestation and then birthing” it hit me that thru a lot of healing I’ve gone through I imagine my paintings going thru a birthing process and there’s a flow in creativity that requires nourishment for the soul. That flow is creative rest and I started to experience stillness and patience. There’s nothing to force when you are in flow. I’m so grateful that I don’t need to manipulate the creative process. I can stand tall and walk with every piece I do in a calming way. Grow these lil creature friends naturally with patience and care.

Love,

Nya