Seedlings

The Privilege of Necessity

“We learn by going where we need to go.” - Theodore Roethke

Have you ever paused to ponder how grateful we might feel for necessity?  Sometimes, as Roethke suggests, doors of understanding open because our paths appear to be blocked and we have to confront a dilemma.  The path of progress is lit most clearly by persistently asking both “why” and “why not?”

Everyone who has visited Florence has seen the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo (Dome in Italian).  The Duomo, capped by the first large dome to be built in the Renaissance, offers powerful lessons on the enduring power of faith and vision.  No one knew how to build such a huge dome when construction began on the Basilica.

When design work on the Basilica started in 1294 it was intended to be the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the world.  After more than a century of work, all of the cathedral’s structure, except for the enormous hole in the ceiling, was completed.

The series of architects who had overseen the construction of the Basilica had never come up with plans for how the dome would be completed.  By architectural standards of that time, a dome of such great size would collapse under its own weight.  In fact, some large medieval cathedrals, such as Beauvois, had collapsed during their construction. 

In 1418 a design competition was launched to select the plan and architect who would attempt to complete the Duomo.  Brunelleschi’s suggestion of first building a smaller dome to support the structure of the larger dome was accepted.  This and many other unknown and unorthodox methods for construction were developed.  The great octagonal dome was completed in 1436.  It became the prototype for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and every other large dome built during that era. The Duomo became the most prominent symbol of the dawning of the Renaissance.

The necessity of finishing the Duomo was what fueled Brunelleschi’s creativity.  The building of such a massive masonry dome posed many technical problems.   A modern understanding of physical laws and the mathematical tools for calculating stresses was centuries into the future. Brunelleschi had to rely on intuition and whatever he could learn from the large scale models he built.  While he looked to the architectural successes of the past, such as the Pantheon, he was forced to come up with creative solutions for the unique design and construction problems of the present.  For example, to lift 37,000 tons of material, which included over 4 million bricks, he invented hoisting machines.  To deal with the challenges of stresses and fresh mortar, he came up with a herringbone design for the placement of the bricks.

The next time you face the daunting wall of necessity reflect on the wonderful breakthroughs that are possible when we scale that obstacle.   Pause to remember the story of those who set out to erect the world’s largest cathedral yet had no idea how they were going to cover its dome.  Fuel your efforts with the faith and hope which spring from approaching necessity as a privilege rather than a burden.

How can I harness the power of necessity?  What am I doing that will deprive my children or grandchildren of the opportunity to experience the privilege of necessity?

“Restlessness is discontent, and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.” - Thomas A. Edison

The Beginner’s Mind

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few"—Shunryo Suzuki

Shunryo Suzuki in his book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, introduced the world to the possibilities that open to us through the Beginner’s Mind. 

Children start life full of curiosity, wonder and amazement.  Unfortunately, as we transition into adulthood we too often lose that natural inquisitiveness.  One of the challenges for parents is to encourage their children to not only become lifelong learners but to cultivate the humility of a beginner’s mind.

In a previous blog entitled “The Dangers of Personal Observation – The Advantages of Collaborative Vision” we explored the wisdom behind the Hindu fable of the Six Blind Men of Indostan.  Consider this possibility.  What if instead of six different blind men approaching and feeling the elephant, one blind man would have touched the elephant six different times? With each touch his concept of the elephant would expand and be enhanced.  But even after six touches he could still learn more about the true essence of an elephant.  

Majestic possibilities for breakthrough thinking occur when an inquiring mind consciously sets aside the arrogance of expertise.  I have concluded that what Suzuki taught might simplistically, but not fairly, be summed up in these words:

“We reject the dogmas of ‘Been There Done That’ and ‘I Know Everything There is To Know About That’“

Just as our view of our universe, and the immensity of space, has expanded to accept as true the fact that space is expanding, so might we accept as absolute the ideas that there is no end to what we can learn about any subject and that the deeper we study a complex matter the closer we approach the simplicity which lies on the other side of complexity.

I stand in awe of the possibilities which open up when we adopt a Beginner’s Mind.  I would like to close this very basic overview of the Beginner’s Mind with a story illustrating the preparation necessary to approach the depth of learning and awareness made possible through the Beginner’s Mind.

Once, a long time ago, there was a wise Zen master. People from far and near would seek his counsel and ask for his wisdom. Many would come and ask him to enlighten them in the way of Zen. He seldom turned any away.

One day a wealthy man who was accustomed to having his way in all matters came to visit the Zen master.  “I have come today to ask you to teach me about Zen. Open my mind to enlightenment.”

The Zen master smiled and replied that they should discuss the matter over tea. As the visitor continued to speak about his hunger to learn, the Zen master poured their tea.  The tea rose to the rim and began to spill onto the robes of the wealthy man, who finally blurted out: “Enough. You are spilling tea all over me. Can’t you see the cup is full?”

The master stopped pouring and looked up with a kind smile at his guest. “You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty. Come back to me with an empty mind.”

 Do you have a better way of summarizing the essence of the Beginner’s Mind?

All self‑centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something.—Marion Derby

CREATIVITY AND APPLES

What Granny Smith and Issac Newton Can Teach Us About the Opportunities to Create Breakthroughs by Capitalizing on Observation and Curiosity

 

 “Every problem has a gift concealed in it for you.  We look for problems because we need the gifts.”--Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull

 

I’m sure you have heard the first story I will share with you in today’s blog but I suspect the second story will be “news” to you.

Isaac Newton is reputed to have experienced his breakthrough thinking about gravity while sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the mysterious universe.  Suddenly -

 boink! -an apple hits him on the head.  In a flash he understands that the very same force that brought the apple crashing toward the ground also keeps the moon rotating around the Earth and the Earth spinning around the sun: gravity.

A manuscript for what would become one of the earliest biographies of Newton, entitled Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life, relates what Newton told archaeologist William Stukeley one evening while they were enjoying tea, under the shade of some apple trees:

"After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden and...he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself..."

The second story involves Maria Smith.  Maria and her husband, Thomas, immigrated to the Ryde district in the New South Wales Colony of Australia from England, an area known for fruit growing.  The Smiths were respected growers of fruits.   Maria Smith enjoyed looking for the unusual and using it in a novel way.  One day, at the age of sixty-nine, Maria noticed a seedling growing out of a pile of discarded French crab apples.  It seemed different so she nurtured it.  The seedling was a natural mutant which had some very attractive features and Mrs. Smith began to work a few of these seedlings trees.  Soon thereafter other local orchardists.began planting a large number of these apple trees.

Maria Smith died two years later.  Two decades would pass before her apple, exhibited as “Smith’s seedling,” would win prizes as a cooking apple and be certified by the Australian government for export.  That apple is known today as the Granny Smith apple.

Thoreau mused, “the world is but a canvas to the imagination.” Creativity, in thought and action, is the capacity to create something which didn’t exist in that form before.  It involves taking something we have observed in the canvas of our surrounding world and organizing it into a material form that is pleasing to the eye, the ear, or the mind. 

Frank Lloyd Wright observed, “In much of our preparation we don’t really know what we are preparing for.”  And Seneca concluded: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”  Newton and Granny Smith had both prepared themselves to be observant and  to reflect on what might spring from that canvas.  In both cases being open to a new possibility allowed them to capitalize on their observations. 

Has your curiosity led you to breakthrough thinking?  What can we do to prepare ourselves to be more observant and reflective?

The Best is Yet to Come!!!

 

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play”—Abraham Maslow