Saturday, June 1, 2013

A path drawn by obstructions

One of my readers posted this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson on her website (Spiritual Drawing Board):

"Each man has his own vocation.
The talent is the call.

There is one direction 

in which all space is open to him.
He has faculties 

silently inviting him thither 
to endless exertion.

 

He is like a ship in a river;
he runs against obstructions on every side but one;
on that side all obstruction is taken away,
and he sweeps serenely over a deepening channel 

into an infinite sea."

I post it here because I find it deeply reassuring to think that, even though these paintings seem to emerge in unexpected ways, with no obvious connection or direction, they are part of a path; that the blocks I encounter -- those times when I'm trying to do one thing and end up doing something else altogether -- help me to stay centered and serve as guidelines.

But of course -- this holds true for life as well.  And I find that even MORE reassuring.

PS: The faces in this image are my paternal grandparents, and the image is an exaggerated reflection of childhood memories of their fourth-floor walkup in Hoboken, NJ.

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