Everywhere
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“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in thin places that distance is even shorter.” — a Celtic saying
In the Celtic tradition, there’s a belief you sometimes find yourself in extraordinary places that inspire and move you.
The Celts called them thin spaces: defined less by their physical characteristics than by the feelings they stir.
Depending on one’s relationship with the mystical, some describe the feeling of thin spaces as the collapsing of space between land and sky.
Others speak of a blurring of boundaries between heaven and earth. And typically, major landmarks around the world are cited as examples of where you might have this sensation: Arizona’s Grand Canyon, Skellig Michael in Ireland’s County Kerry, or the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, to name just a few.
As I see it, however, the place is unimportant. Thin spaces are everywhere.
What’s lacking is a readiness to quiet the ego. Which is why it tends to require these massive experiences to bonk us on the head before we realize just how small we are in the sea of experience.
Developing that readiness means to let go of the belief that you’re owed anything in this life. That extends out not just to our relationships with others, but also to way we perceive our creative abilities. The more you put arbitrary expectations on yourself, the more you will struggle. And the harder it will be to experience those thin spaces that surround you.
“Creativity and ego cannot go together.” That’s how Jeong Kwan puts it.
She’s a Zen Buddhist nun whose breathtaking work is featured in an episode of Chef’s Table. She continues: “If you free yourself from the comparing and jealous mind, your creativity opens up endlessly. Just as water springs from a fountain, creativity springs from every moment. You must not be your own obstacle. You must not be owned by the environment you are in…You must be able to freely move in and out of your mind. This is being free. There is no way you can’t open up your creativity. There is no ego to speak of. That is my belief.”
Your thin spaces are waiting for you.
You don’t need to travel far to find them.
But you do need to let go of yourself to get there.
Very best, Patrick
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