07/01/2020

The archive contains older posts which may no longer reflect my current views.

# Two quotes which seemingly appear at odds:

The Tao of Pooh -

"Let's say you get an idea... Where does it come from? From this something, which came from that something. If you are able to trace it all the way back to its source, you will discover that it came from Nothing. And chances are, the greater the idea, the more directly it came from there."

Steal Like An Artist -

"What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original... If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing."

Yes, something, somewhere, somewhen, will have been original but it will have been a long time ago. Still, even that will have been inspired by something.

In the Taoist sense, nothing isn't literally nothing but a state of mind, an emptiness we allow ourselves rather than constantly trying to fill our thoughts in hope that it will trigger something. It is more likely that the things we need and keep tucked away will present themselves when we are not trying to use them, force them.

Clarity comes from clear-headedness, not from confusion.