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Getting started in any creative endeavor reminds me of dipping ones toes into the Well of Inspiration. You have to step in and get your feet wet and as you do so, you can feel the forces of inspiration welling up behind you, creating a wave that you can catch and ride upon. The challenge is in getting to the actual spring itself. There is always some muck to tramp through initially—some daily sludge between you and the inspirational thoughts—and if you’re not willing to do a little tramping, a little getting your feet muddy, you never make it to the well where the living waters flow.

I have often stopped short before I found my way and oftentimes I have not even begun because I could not feel the pull of inspiration. Yet it is always there if we are willing to make the trek through the mundane.

Taking this trek reminds me of attending to the to-do lists of life. If I find myself stuck, I must usually write the to-do lists first, empty my mind of my worries, and attend to the basic needs of my life and ego concerns. This is what trekking through the mud can look like for me. It is only when I have done this—when this is the very thing that is standing in my way—that I can begin to go fishing for a nibble of inspiration, stick my toes into some fresh water. Often there is a period of washing the mud from my feet, but then the water starts to clear, along with my brain, and my heart opens to the beauty and abundance of inspiration. It always feels refreshing and I emerge from the process feeling energized and cleared.

Perhaps the initial phase of writing, or any creative endeavor, could be called, “Walking to the Well of Inspiration”. It seems like there can be endless distractions along the way, and too often, I can find myself writing nothing at all. I wonder how often this is true with other creative endeavors in our lives. How often do we never get around to doing our art, our creative project, practicing our music, composing our songs, creating our sculpture, taking that class, writing that book, dancing our own dance? It seems that there is a lot of mud to walk through on the way to the Well of Inspiration and how many of us actually stop short of finding it?

The Divine Feminine resides in the Well of Inspiration and She flows out into the world through our creative efforts. If the world is to ever change, if it is ever to come more into balance, we must answer the call in our own lives to show up in new and creative ways. We must make the trek to the Well of Inspiration and drink deeply in the waters of life, letting the Divine Feminine flow out into the world through our creative endeavors.

We must sing our songs, dance our dances, paint our canvases, write our books, and show up in the unique and creative ways that only we can do. We must be willing to be seen and heard. We must be willing to clear out clogged springs and trek through the mud and do the necessary work in order for Her voice to be heard once more in the world.

Moving through our self-doubts and insecurities, we must be willing to show up in authentic ways. We must learn to speak for those who are not yet able to speak on their own. We must write a new story for our earth. We must paint a new picture. We must do this or else we perish. The time is here and we must each one find the courage to pick up our brush, our pen, and our microphone, to speak the truth, to write a new legacy, and to paint a new picture for our world.

The years of guns, violence, and suffering can be changed, but it is up to courageous women and men to provide a new map, to write a new song, to show a better way. The pen is mightier than the sword. Art is more powerful than guns. The Water of Life from the Well of Inspiration can heal a planet. We must be the carriers of its life-giving force.

Fall is a time of celebration and harvest. It is a time of great abundance. The trees are full of fruit, the pantry is stocked with many yummy treats, and the garden has been dishing out its bountys for all to enjoy. It is interesting to note, however, that just as we are celebrating the abundance of the harvest that we are then called to immediately release this and enter the process of surrender as the leaves begin to fall from the trees and the days grow shorter and cooler. Just as the light and dark are perfectly balanced at the equinox, these two energies of celebration and release must be held in balance. It is a reminder to enjoy each moment of life, but to not cling to it, or try to own it--just celebrate its wonder and let it go.

We are co-creators with God. We plant the seed and tend its growth, but unseen hands guide and direct the unfolding of that seed. Within the tiny seed lies the archetype or pattern of what it will become. It is a miracle of no small proportion that we see play out before us time and again, and yet each time, should we not pause to marvel and wonder that it is so?

When standing before a garden full of life or a field ripe for the harvest we are thrilled with the abundance of man working with nature to produce a harvest. This is truly a partnership effort and requires that everything work together in perfect harmony for a successful outcome to occur. The seed must be good, the soil balanced and nutritious, the weather favorable with just enough sun and rain to make the plants grow. In reality, though, I wonder that we take as much credit as we do for certainly the earth holds great power in the outcome of each and every harvest. A gardener is a co-creator with God and with the earth and suggests the supportive role we play.

The danger of being a co-creator, however, is that we will fall in love with our creation, trying to own it or take credit for it. The release so evident in nature during the Fall and harvest times is a powerful reminder that there is no ownership in creation. Sovereignty of a creation and the Law of Cycles reminds us that we are participants in a beautiful process that has endings and beginnings and that we dance with this reality, we don't hold it in place or own or posses it.

The same might be said about our physical existence here as well. We come in at an appointed time and when the fullness of the harvest is completed, we go. The danger lies in becoming too attached to what we have created--our life here and now, our successes, our physical health and beauty--and to mistake it for its being who we are.

The spirit of the tree or plant holds the pattern of its perfection so whether in full leaf or lying seemingly dormant, it is perfect in Spirit. Just so, does our Spirit hold the pattern perfectly, so whether in physical decline or the bloom of health, whether here on this earth, or participating in a different adventure elsewhere, we are perfect in Spirit. Remembering this somehow makes surrender more possible and celebration more meaningful.

Here is a link for turning the day of September 11 from a day of fear into a day of love.