What Wants to Emerge?
A reflection on complexity, change, and how we meet the unknown Why am I bringing up emergence? Because sometimes life…
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Creativity is a basic human instinct. Some people, like artists and musicians, pursue creative professions. Others find ways to express their creativity in their work or hobbies. I used to paint and have dabbled in ceramics, which brought me great joy.
A few years ago, I recognized I’d let creativity take a back seat to the daily demands of life. I decided to draw something every day to shake things up. An artist I followed online had offered advice to pick one thing to draw over and over every day. Having the subject of your art already decided removes one of the major challenges of creating art every day – what to draw.
What would that one thing I would draw every day for the next year be? It felt like a big decision. Then a little squeaky voice in my head yelled, “DOLPHINS!”
I almost snorted. Dolphins? – what a silly idea. I left it to be for a couple of days.
Then I asked myself again, “What should I draw?” And once again, that little voice said, “Dolphins.” I took it as a sign from the universe. A Dolphin A Day it would be.
As I approach 1000 dolphins almost three years later, people often ask, “Why Dolphins?”
To which I would shrug and tell them about the little voice. Little did I know a deeper meaning lurked below in my subconscious.
During a session with my Jungian analyst, she asked: “What do dolphins mean to you?”
I recalled a trip to SeaWorld with my kids from 15 years ago. As we watched the dolphin show, I reflected on their captivity. They were well cared for and, in return for performing a few tricks each hour, were given buckets full of fish, an environment free of predators, regular health care, and even cuddles from humans. The cost of all this was their freedom.
Wild dolphins are more vulnerable to the unknowns of ocean life. They must hunt for food and avoid predators, fishing nets, and plastic waste. If they get sick, there are no dolphin clinics they can swim to. Sometimes, they beach themselves and die. But they didn’t have to perform. They could play together, hunt with the pod, and surf the waves.
I realized this was a metaphor for my life. I had given up the freedom to be and do as I chose in return for the security of a paycheck, health care, and the approval of my family and society. In choosing the subject of my art, I subconsciously selected one that would continuously provoke me to examine my own life.
Our subconscious sends us these messages all the time. Most of them go unrecognized, showing up in dreams or impulses. If we ignore them long enough, they can manifest as anxiety and depression. One path to a more fulfilling life is to tune into these messages and examine them for their meaning.
Lots of people have asked me, “Why dolphins?” But only my trained Jungian therapist knew how to get to the real meaning by asking, “What do dolphins mean to you?” Sometimes we just need to be asked the right question.
So what’s your dolphin? What’s that little voice in your head screaming from time to time? And what does it mean to you?
