The Rhythm

In any creative feat
(by which I mean your work, your art, your life)
there will be downtimes.

Or so it seems.

Just as the earth is busy before the harvest

and a baby grows before its birth,

there is no silence in you.
There is no time of nothingness.

What if,
during the quiet times, when the idea flow is hushed and hard to find
you trusted (and yes I mean trusted)
that the well was filling, the waters moving?

What if you trusted

that for the rest of eternity,

without prodding, without self-discipline,

without getting over being yourself,

you would be gifted every ounce of productivity you need?

What would leave you? What would open?

And what if during the quiet times you ate great meals

and leaned back to smile at the stars,

and saw them there, as they always are,

nourishing you?

There are seasons and harvest is only a fraction of one of them.
We forget this.

There is the rhythm that made everything.

The next time you stand in the kitchen, leaning,

the next time a moment of silence catches you there,

hear it, that rhythm, and let it place a stone in your spine.
Let it bring you some place beautiful.

– Tara Mohr

Art by Shelley Kommers

Join the discussion 11 Comments

  • michelle says:

    Beautiful. Touching. Perfectly timed. Thank you.

  • Thank you for this reminder. Every time I enter a “down” cycle, I panic a little and think there’ll never be another up cycle, but there always is. I’m slowly learning to trust the cycles, and I truly appreciate this beautiful reminder.

  • Lori says:

    Beautiful! Thank you for this.

  • Melinda says:

    Ahhh….just what I needed. Thank you Tara.

    Melinda

  • Lianne says:

    Just poking around your site, Tara. I had a little gasp when I saw the artwork for this post as I was in the class where Shelley did that mandala at artfest’08. She was sitting in front of me so I got to admire it all day. Wild, hey?

  • Stacey says:

    Sublime! Blessings always.

  • Just happened upon your blog and this post, which was perfect timing for me. This morning I had a long talk with my coach about how I need to be patient and not get frustrated, as two of my very important creative projects as in a gestational period. It is downtime, while I tinker and wait. Thanks for the reminder.

  • Marianna says:

    What a gift! Thank you so much for this, Tara! I think I’ll be re-reading this one for the next couple of weeks (or maybe months, who knows?). I’ve been dreading talking to people, having to explain that nothing is really happening in my life, anxious to sound lazy, depressed, frivolous, boring….. now I guess I’ll just read this poem for them 🙂
    Love,
    M

  • […] program, has a blog post that has saved my days from this tiresome question.  Read her post, The Rhythm, if you find yourself impatient with your progress, uncertain about your next steps, or worried […]

  • Andrea says:

    Beautiful! and so true…!!! exactly what I needed, thank you Tara

  • Bea says:

    I love this – is it from a book or your own work?

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