Friday, December 5, 2014

Living the Journey

by Janet M. Shlaes, Ph.D.

I set out on my early morning walk feeling uninspired and unmotivated. After following my usual walking route, basically operating on auto-pilot, I absentmindedly turned down a new street and happened upon a design studio with the following quote by Omer Arbel in the window:

By focusing on the process, rather than on an end result, we often stumble upon great discoveries.
The quote sent me on a journey - exploring my experience in the contrasting worlds of process and outcome. I remembered a beloved quote from He-Man Comics that has always intrigued me:

Live the journey, for the destination is but the doorway to the next journey.
Then, I remembered the story about Albert Einstein regarding his hitting a roadblock in his research, taking a break to take a nap, having a dream about riding on a light beam, waking up with an “aha moment” and then generating the formula e=mc².

And then, I recalled that almost all of my creative inspiration moments occurred after shaking things up a bit – walking down a foreign street, moving out of my comfort and/or competence zone, trying something new and perhaps a bit scary, talking to a stranger that turned out to be a wise soul, etc. Lots of different versions of turning down an unfamiliar road - the road less traveled so to speak - being open to the experience, having no expectations or demands and simply being open to the unexpected. Essentially, I was embodying the wisdom of “focusing on the process" and "living the journey.”
Inspiration and creativity are directly connected to “focusing on the process” and “living the journey.” It also helps to be open to embracing the discomfort of the unknown new street. What new street have you walked down lately?


Janet
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