Put a Rider on the Wild Horse
2 min readJun 29, 2023
I don’t deal in numbers. I won’t crank out 9 hasty haiku to get to 300. To be applauded for some milestone. My work (and reward) is in the present (it hasn’t always been so). Maybe gardening teaches patience.
The long awaited Peony, finally delivered (crop failure, everyone frustrated, not just me!), grown full and promising this year, six lovely buds, all dead in a
week. No apparent reason. So I wait another year (it’s been so many). It’s not in my nature to give up.
Some people uproot their plants and chuck them in the woods (to my delight, I found some). Some people dump their animals. I can’t imagine it. Tie their dog to a bench and leave it (the stories get worse).
There is work involved in any creative effort. There are mundane tasks which must be attended. A balanced energy finds time enough for both and rests and goofs off in between. We all need replenishment.
If you can’t discipline your impulses, you’ll be heading into trouble. If you’re blown here and there with no direction, you’ll never get anywhere. A map is not a rigid plan, but a guide to consult, if you’ve gone off course. It’s fun to wander, but only if you have no place you’re supposed to be.
Marion Woodman says, “Put a rider on the wild horse.” You can live at the mercy of animal instinct, driven and distracted, or you can saddle up. Sit tall, be alert, observant, make wise choices, have patience. Tame the unruly, never harshly but respectfully, so it learns how to listen, (yet retains its spirit). Teach it to want what you want.
LBM 6/29/2023
