Ephemeral Eurekas

Are you waiting around
for a flash of lightning,
a bolt of brilliant inspiration?
Are you chasing these moments
of expanded, crackling possibility?
Or are you limping, bereft,
between their thrill,
lustily craving them,
like a salty crunch,
because you love how
they cleave you open,
give you unseen stimulus,
and usher you into
a blatantly brighter reality?

Consider that
lightning strikes
under certain conditions,
so prepare the circumstances
where they can occur:
be creating already.

Like a big tree,
exposed in a field,
invites the crashing brunt
of the electrical storm,
inspiration loves
to find us working.
It is amazing
what is realized
just through hands and eyes
in focused motion, with
little thought attached.
Like dripping water
into a big bucket,
this way you can collect lots
of little ah ha moments,
which add up to oceans full.

Lightning bolts are powerful
but temporary revelations
of magnanimous potential–
so harness their aftermaths
and milk them
for all they are worth.

But ultimately,
don’t rely on them,
they are a stop gap,
mere icing on the cake,
so keep on actively doing,
for diligence and obedience
yield so much more
regular and permanent good.
Even with fabulous
flares of insight,
whatever it relates to
will still take work.

So ride each
ephemeral eureka
as long as it lasts,
but continue to show up
and progress apace,
ploddingly if necessary,
regardless of the
surging impulse
(or yawning lack)
of atmospheric propulsion.

Polly Castor
2/27/24