The poet John Keats said that "negative capability" is a key ingredient for any artist. We demonstrate negative capability when we allow ourselves to remain present in the face of uncertainties, doubts and fear without emotional outbursts, bringing drama or reaching for fact or reason to use as a scapegoat or a life rope. When we, humans, are at our best, we become the artists of our personal life portraits. We can then be at the helm of our own ships, navigating the waters of life, able to overcome impatience and abstain from the need to control.
The Tao Te Ching tells us that all nature follows this process moving from conception to creation one step at a time.
A tree that grows beyond your reach
Springs from a tiny seed.
A building more than nine stories high
Begins with a small mound of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles
Begins with a single step. -- Tao #64 Lau Tzu 500 BCE
As we develop greater strength of character, we're able to face the unknown and to create new possibilities for ourselves. We begin to learn to detach and to recognize the cycles and the patterns that are always evolving within us and around us.
