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At the mercy of the winds, we floated towards the Summer sunset. The floating was quiet but the bursts of flame lifting the balloon into the air were not. Depriving or infusing the balloon with hot air is the pilot's main tool as he skimmed the corn fields in search for better winds or soar some 1600 feet in the air to let us enjoy the amazing views.
This was my first hot air balloon ride and it was a thrill. Not only did I see the green forests, fields and hills of Southern Wisconsin in a new way, but I learned a lot about the art of piloting a balloon (and I shared some of those lessons here). And while the leadership lessons were insightful, I want to share with you the most powerful visual lesson I took from my first balloon ride.
As we headed towards the sunset, I looked back to see the shadow of our balloon. It seemed to move even more slowly than we did across the fields and forests. At first the shadow was fairly small with the sun still higher in the sky, but as it set the shadow grew. It especially grew as we descended after floating over a bit of forest. As the balloon sunk down in search of better winds, the bottom of our shadow cast itself on the forest canopy with the top of our shadow disappearing into the blue sky and wispy clouds beyond.
As I watched this partial shadow I was reminded of the creative process. Creativity is the sun shining on the tangible things of this world. With one ray, it transforms them into new and different ideas on the canvas below. But many times creativity doesn't give us the whole picture, like the half-shadow of the balloon against the forest and the sky. In fact the shadows that creativity casts on the world are seldom fully formed ideas ready to be implemented. Instead they are fleeting and changing in form.
So creative inspiration will get us started but it does not do the whole job. Instead it opens our minds to new possibilities and causes us to go searching for what shape and substance this new idea might hold. And that is the real work . . . applying the moment of creative insight to a rigorous processes of discovery.
As I sat in the balloon basket with the sun behind me and the balloon's shadow partially showing in front of me, I now had to do the hard work of imagining the details and bringing it to life.
Many people get discouraged when the bursts of inspiration don't complete themselves. They draw out a new idea on a whiteboard or write a few paragraphs in their journal and then wait for the magic to come again. But what my balloon ride taught me is that the creative process ignites something in us and gives us a taste for what could be. But the determination of the human spirit combined with the guidance of the Holy Spirit is what takes that fleeting shadow and turns it into a work of art!
What inspiration have you recently experienced? What is your next step to do the hard work of bringing your idea to life?
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