The Narrow Ridge.
On the narrow ridge between flow and being driven – how to notice the crossing, and the pause that brings the longing back.
After days of creating I sat down for this letter exhausted – still connected, but tired in a way I didn't want to admit. The work had been flowing; at some point, without noticing, I had started chasing it. "Just this one more thing" had become my most-used sentence.
The letter draws the line I couldn't see from inside: it is a narrow ridge between flow and being driven, and the signs of crossing it are concrete – small mistakes creeping in, lightness turning heavy, holding on. Its advice is not to push through but to pause until the longing returns. "The Creative Process" says the same about the breaks: when the impulse from your heart returns – and it will return – then create again.
If you can't tell anymore whether you're still creating or already chasing, the ridge is worth a look.
Dear traveler,
It is a narrow ridge between flow and being driven. Flow is calm, clear, relaxed. The body is soft and permeable. Open and devoted. When we are driven, we are tense. Set on a goal. We "want" to make it happen – "just this one thing", "just quickly this" – if I do "that" too, then it will be "perfect". Perfection is striving. Striving is wanting. Wanting is not creating. Not from love. Love does not want. True creating from your essence comes from letting go and allowing. Without wanting. Not "making", but arising. When you feel yourself passing from surrender into "driven", it is time to pause. To reflect. To wait. You notice it when small problems and mistakes creep in. When the lightness slowly grows heavy. And you try to "hold on". To cling.
No fear. It is a reminder. An invitation to pause. You are not too late – and you have not taken a wrong turn. You felt it at exactly the right time. Now listen to yourself. Breathe. Do something else until the longing returns. Until clarity returns. Stillness. Inner urge. Lightness and love.
You are on the right path. Right now. Right here. The path is not linear and straight. There is not only "forward". What a limiting view, that only "forward" is right. True creating happens in all directions. Doing belongs to it just as much as not doing. It is the flow of all being, the cycle, the rhythm. It is the nature of rhythm to change. How boring would a linear, only forward-moving, uniform song be?
Love the variety. Day AND night. Fast AND slow. You understand. Now you are free. Because everything belongs. And everything may be. Carpe Diem.
Thank you for being here.
If something in these letters stayed with you, take it along – think about it, write your own answer, or just let it sit.
And if not today, that's okay too. There's no rush.
Until next time,
– Jan