"Act on it!" Don't put off the creative impulse. Don't delay. Live! Jump on the unicorn the instant she appears. Weeeee!
While on the flight back home from New York City to Los Angeles, I was reflecting on how inspiring my past 8 days on the east coast had been. They were inspiring because I was out of my element. I had to rely more on inspiration than habit. And true to the theme of the show I co-host Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed, stepping out on faith always leads to better-than-expected outcomes. Now I was wondering, how was I going to maintain this level of enthusiasm for everyday living at home, back in my regular routine? The answer came: act on the creative impulse WITHOUT delay. Simply accept it as Divine guidance and take the indicated next step.
Without any other plans in New York I was unable to fall into the comfortable trap of a routine. So each day I'd wake up and greet the day with no plan other than to say, "Yes!" to intuitive guidance. I let streetlights decide which direction to take and miraculously ended up bumping into an old friend I knew from Los Angeles. Another time, inspired to head uptown, I received a call from an old friend who wanted to get together. He happened to be uptown too, only a block from where I received his call! One point while walking down Seventh Avenue I needed to use a bathroom. Just then I looked up and there was a McDonalds. I knew it would have a public bathroom but was surprised to discover that it happened to be the McDonalds that a fellow artist and I were hired twenty years earlier to paint an interior mural of the New York City skyline. I was happy to see the mural was still intact. My days became an exciting game of releasing control and going with the flow. The rewards of stepping out like this increased. I was invited to co-host three episodes of the Italian cooking show, Tailored Cuisine with chef Rosanna Di Michele on i-Italy/TV, believe it or not because of my inability to speak Italian. Then when my planned location to join Ed for our live broadcast of Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed, fell through, I was offered Eric Butterworth’s former office at Unity Center in New York. This was incredible because Ed and I often refer to Eric Butterworth’s writings during our show.
I drew the above entry in my journal while squashed in my seat during my flight home as a reminder. Even this journal was a miraculous find. On my first day in New York, I was in a jam when inspired to sketch and had no pad, funniest thing, this pocket sized 1919 Stockholm dictionary was left to be discarded in the hotel's library. It became my constant companion. This little pad has been responsible for helping me follow through on my goal to 'jump on the unicorn the instant it appears." The pad has since been filled up with sketches and cartoon drawings of how this practice has made it possible to transform my familiar environment into a daily adventure. I refer to the unicorn as symbol of the creative impulse from the following essay by Emmet Fox from the September 8th reading in the book Around the Year with Emmet Fox: A Book of Daily Readings.
"As long as we insist upon telling God his business, nothing very much can come of our prayers.
The ox, the mule, the donkey, will obediently pull your plow or your cart, and take them where you want to go; but you have to know where you are going and how to get there. The unicorn will not do chores. He will not pull a cart or turn a mill. He will not take orders. The unicorn knows where he is going, and it is always somewhere you could not choose because you never heard of it, and in your present consciousness you could not even dream that such a place could exist.
Nevertheless, there are such places, and the unicorn knows them, and is not interested in anything less. Some day it may happen, probably when you least expect it, that the unicorn will suddenly appear at your side, eyes flashing, nostrils quivering, pawing the ground with impatience. When that happens, do not try to put a bridle on him, or to look for some task for him to do. He will not do it and there will be no time. No sooner, seemingly, has he appeared than off he will go again. So do not pause, but leap on his back, for he is a flying steed, and he wings his way to the gates of the morning.
On that ride problems are not solved – they disappear.
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his hand in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? -Job 39:9-10"
Without any other plans in New York I was unable to fall into the comfortable trap of a routine. So each day I'd wake up and greet the day with no plan other than to say, "Yes!" to intuitive guidance. I let streetlights decide which direction to take and miraculously ended up bumping into an old friend I knew from Los Angeles. Another time, inspired to head uptown, I received a call from an old friend who wanted to get together. He happened to be uptown too, only a block from where I received his call! One point while walking down Seventh Avenue I needed to use a bathroom. Just then I looked up and there was a McDonalds. I knew it would have a public bathroom but was surprised to discover that it happened to be the McDonalds that a fellow artist and I were hired twenty years earlier to paint an interior mural of the New York City skyline. I was happy to see the mural was still intact. My days became an exciting game of releasing control and going with the flow. The rewards of stepping out like this increased. I was invited to co-host three episodes of the Italian cooking show, Tailored Cuisine with chef Rosanna Di Michele on i-Italy/TV, believe it or not because of my inability to speak Italian. Then when my planned location to join Ed for our live broadcast of Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed, fell through, I was offered Eric Butterworth’s former office at Unity Center in New York. This was incredible because Ed and I often refer to Eric Butterworth’s writings during our show.
I drew the above entry in my journal while squashed in my seat during my flight home as a reminder. Even this journal was a miraculous find. On my first day in New York, I was in a jam when inspired to sketch and had no pad, funniest thing, this pocket sized 1919 Stockholm dictionary was left to be discarded in the hotel's library. It became my constant companion. This little pad has been responsible for helping me follow through on my goal to 'jump on the unicorn the instant it appears." The pad has since been filled up with sketches and cartoon drawings of how this practice has made it possible to transform my familiar environment into a daily adventure. I refer to the unicorn as symbol of the creative impulse from the following essay by Emmet Fox from the September 8th reading in the book Around the Year with Emmet Fox: A Book of Daily Readings.
"As long as we insist upon telling God his business, nothing very much can come of our prayers.
The ox, the mule, the donkey, will obediently pull your plow or your cart, and take them where you want to go; but you have to know where you are going and how to get there. The unicorn will not do chores. He will not pull a cart or turn a mill. He will not take orders. The unicorn knows where he is going, and it is always somewhere you could not choose because you never heard of it, and in your present consciousness you could not even dream that such a place could exist.
Nevertheless, there are such places, and the unicorn knows them, and is not interested in anything less. Some day it may happen, probably when you least expect it, that the unicorn will suddenly appear at your side, eyes flashing, nostrils quivering, pawing the ground with impatience. When that happens, do not try to put a bridle on him, or to look for some task for him to do. He will not do it and there will be no time. No sooner, seemingly, has he appeared than off he will go again. So do not pause, but leap on his back, for he is a flying steed, and he wings his way to the gates of the morning.
On that ride problems are not solved – they disappear.
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his hand in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? -Job 39:9-10"
 | What If Godzilla Just Wanted a Hug? Now Available in Paperback and ebook! The new book by Darrell Fusaro encourages the talented and timid to trust their gut, act on intuition, and step out boldly. Even if you just bought it for the chapter titles and Darrell Fusaro's illustrations alone, you'd be getting more than your money's worth for this book. Darrell Fusaro's old-school charm and no-nonsense approach to spirituality will keep you laughing and inspired. His wit and wisdom is packed into easy-to-digest, bite-sized stories of how he transforms chaos into tranquility and succeeds in the entertainment business by doing the opposite of everyone else. |
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