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Shahriar Shahriari |
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Message of the Month
May, 2001
The well Never dries up
Every month, as we near the end of the month and approach the beginning of the next, I start thinking about the new message of the month. At times, the inspiration comes very quickly. Other times, things don't happen until the eleventh hour. But one thing I have noticed is that there is always a message.
I was thinking about this topic over the past few days, and thought it would make a good message for the next month. So here it is.
In my reflections, I was thinking about the mechanism of such process. I realized that writing, or more accurately giving a message is a creative process. And creativity is the process of creating something from nothing. Sure, we may use tools such as the Internet, and raw material such as words, just like a builder uses tools like the hammer and the shovel, and raw material like brick and mortar. Nevertheless, just as the building was nothing more than an idea that took shape, the message is nothing more than an idea that takes form.
Then I realized that it is pretty much the same with everything else. In my poorer days, when I was struggling for the next month's rent, sometimes it would not come until the 30th of the previous month, and sometimes perhaps the 3rd or 5th of the month it was due. But without fail, it would always arrive.
I realized that I have never been without shelter. Never gone hungry (except for when I chose to fast). Never been without friends (except when I was trying to seek seclusion and become a hermit), and never been without money (although at times heavily in debt, I still had the credit to go into debt and make use of that money).
So what exactly is going on with this process?
I realized that we live in a physical-spiritual world. And in this world, everything is something. And something always arises from nothing. And all of us have access to an infinite supply of nothing.
The well of nothingness never dries up. But how do we get that water up to the ground? How do we make something out of nothing?
Sometimes we would draw water out of the well by the bucket, other times by a hand pump, or by an electric or gas powered pump... There are many different ways and tools of drawing the water out.
But first we must want to do it. We must have the intention to pull the water up bucket by bucket, or turn the pump on.
Then we must follow the intention with action. We can either use our muscle power to pull the buckets out, or make it more effortless by flicking the switch on.
Finally we must be receptive enough to let the water flow into our lap and satiate our thirst.
Intention, action, and receptiveness are what constitute the creative process... and I realized that this applies to any water, whether it is a message on the Internet, money for the rent check, or food on our plates.
The well never dries up. The question is do we access our well by the bucket, or by turning of a switch, or not at all...
© Shahriar Shahriari
Los Angeles, CA
May 2001
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