Think of a wild horse. Untamed and free to gallop at top speed with awe-inspiring power, force and extraordinary focus. A stunning display of instinct, embodiment and full expression of unstoppable energy.
But, what would happen if you took this free-spirited animal out of its natural habitat and put it in the city where it’s instincts are overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of society — crowded streets, neon lights, unrecognizable noise — an environment so unfamiliar that this stunning animal becomes afraid, disoriented and unpredictable?
We are so entranced by wild horses when we see them in nature. Away from the city these animals evoke feelings of respect, awe and affirmation. But the moment one enters our life it makes us want to dominate them or at least tame their energy. And understandably so, they are disruptive!
In this scenario the wild horse is creative energy and the city is the human-constructed containers we live in: our workplaces, families, communities, teams, etc.
The clash between creativity and establishment is so insidious that we’ve accepted an US against THEM mentality as normal. But there’s an enormous cost to normalizing conflict that has no opportunity for resolution.
Let me ask this, who really holds the power in this scenario? Creative energy or establishment?
There’s an old saying that goes something like this:
Wild horses leap over fences of containment.”
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not advocating for stepping aside and letting creative forces demolish homeostasis. I am, however, pleading — yes, this is the right word — pleading for getting our minds and hearts around the truth of this conflict so that we can navigate creative energies — well… creatively.
We all carry both archetypes — wildness and establishment — inside us. Whether we think of them as energy and form, particle and wave, establishment and fluidity, yin and yang — the most important word in these descriptions is “and”.
The truth is that creative energy can never be tamed. We are channels of endless potential. Creativity is our nature. We must learn to shape rather than tame creative energies. And this skill sits at our evolutionary edge. We must embrace the learning curve required to develop our capacity to recognize — even revere creative energies as they move through and around us.
If you consider yourself a “creative” — then you must learn to direct wild forces so that while they may be disruptive, they are not destructive. This syllabus for your personal learning curve will free you to use your creativity responsibly. You will be admired rather than feared. Pulled in rather then pushed out. Embraced rather than rejected.
As humans, we hold the capacity to welcome wild horses into the city and become horse whisperers who remain in awe of nature’s spirit and instinct while uniting energies and forms together to create stunning, alive and awe inspiring new beginnings.
