Monday, March 18, 2024
Someone recently gave me what I call a back-handed compliment. Comments like that go along the lines of, “you gave it your best shot!” Or, “I could tell that meant a lot to you.” That’s a subtle way of saying, “better luck next time.”
We are not the product of our labor. We are laborers, the conduits of divine expression, and the medium through which all things are done. We can claim no right to the fruit. The Bhagavad Gita reminds us of this truth when it says, “You have the right to work, but for the work’s sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work.”
How it turns out is beyond your control. And that’s the key, to learn what’s beyond your control. What you see as control is nothing but an exercise in futility anyway. Releasing the “need” for it to be perfect is what perfects it. Desperately wanting it to turn out a certain way is what ruins it. Only in the present moment can our craft be perfected by doing things with ease, effortlessness, and without grasping. It comes out as beautifully as you feel while doing it. The comment was true. I wasn’t at ease. I was apprehensive when I created what resulted in that impression, and thus the product came out apprehensively.
If you let go of claiming the prize, but pay attention to the freedom while you are in the creative process, the perfect prize will materialize right in front of you. The prize is not yours to have. You only have the right to work, for the work’s sake. If you focus on that, you’re golden. The so-called final product is never attainable anyway, and that foolishness should be left to the control freaks.