Freedom and Flexibility

The wind blows and some trees seem to dance with it. The trees don't stay rigid trying to fight the strength of the wind choosing to adapt instead. Freedom and flexibility are the result of a very important aspect: the roots. The deeper the roots the greater the capacity of a tree to remain standing. Because of the foundation there is freedom and flexibility to adapt to the situation. Bruce Lee in his martial arts teachings reinforced the idea using the example of water:

“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee
In fine arts as in martial arts, flexibility is one virtue artists should cultivate. There are some ideas we visualize in our heads that when translated to a tangible concrete world might not work. We can discard the idea completely or we can adapt the idea to the reality it is facing. We can fight against the strength of the wind or we can dance with it. We can let our art be water. If we get to know our craft and dedicate time to find roots from which we can draw freedom and flexibility we can find new aways to present our ideas and vision.

Life itself is not one straight line for use to reach our goals and desires. We need to plan and be prepared but we need to learn how to be flexible. If we are too rigid we might snap. It all depends on the roots. Our values and beliefs, the knowledge and education we work hard for, and the passion fueling our every move provide the capacity for adapting freely to a situation at hand. Trees that grow to fast without a deep foundation are destined to fall. Trees that pretend to be stronger than the wind are destined to split. Let's take time to examine our roots and grow them stronger. Let's be free and flexible. Let our ideas be water.

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