Is creation ever finished? says Dorothy in regard to Kubla Khan, Coleridge’s Vision in a Dream poem. This question emerges at a most critical hour in the movie, Pandaemonium, when Coleridge is doubting his creative ability and needs validation/assurance to uplift his confidence. Dorothy, sister to William Wordsworth, fondly admires the imaginative life and works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, besides being an ardent reader and sharp literary critic.
When I was first introduced to Coleridge many years ago in high school, I felt a spontaneity and sense of curiosity in his lyrical ballads that made them leap with life. I marveled at how he’d managed to fuse intellectual firmness with a kind of romantic, spirited wonder, which is why I adored his work. Later, when we graduated from encyclopedia to the internet, I learnt that opium was involved!
Masonry –Malawi pic the handiwork of others
This morning, I was thinking of an image, perhaps from my dreamscapes, that I could bring into a section of the novel manuscript I was revising. I felt something fresh about to emerge and waited. Ideas came but not the image. I was like, well, figure out a way of imaging ideas if that’s what I’ve got. This is one of those moments when I fantasize about Mercury, god of creativity, trickery and speed among other attributes, whose methods can be unorthodox but they work, only to see Saturn craning his neck towards my work desk, sniffing so unromantically, while he announces, Get to work!
So when I finished editing the section, I read it out loud for my ears to chip in if they had a suggestion that my eyes had skipped. There was…something to add. Instead of rejoicing, I despaired a little bit and said, When am I done? How can this manuscript that’s a path to joy become an albatross as well? And that’s when Dorothy’s voice streamed into my consciousness loud and clear: Is creation ever finished?
That, too, was my Mercury moment.
I adjusted my perspective to fit the new.
I’m receiving my students’ portfolios and while earlier I had thought that the semester will soon be over, finished, I’m also aware that I’m already thinking about the next semester, changes I want to make in my syllabi, the new books I’ve ordered, work, revision, travel, creation, all cyclical and never truly finished. It’s April 30th but I’m also in May 1st, which will be tomorrow according to the calendar, the day my father decided that his work in physical form was done and he had other important things to get to in spirit form, so he transitioned. I’m anticipating my mood but with Mercury’s gift realizing that I’ll continue with creation, it’s the best and least I can do, and my father is probably doing the same. Knowing that man, he’s having a good time being and co-creating, what a waste it would be for me to do otherwise.
Chanced upon this sacred shed via UNCA botanical gardens
My creation from now on can embrace many forms which may include taking things out, becoming empty, then filling up again. Attending to music, poetry, grades–this is good for my students–to read their creations and know that they’re not finished. To arrive at a place where we started and know it for the first time, to paraphrase T.S Eliot. I’ll watch naked trees regain their clothing and cheer them. They continually do this season after season. And us? Find new passions and revive old friendships. Sit at a table and feed from sunlight as days get longer and weather tastes better.
All in acknowledgment that it’s never done, because there’s always something else that pops up the moment there’s space. It is true, nature abhors a vacuum.
Today, perhaps more than ever, I appreciate the question and where it’s coming from–Is creation ever done?
Malawi pic–reminds me how much of a sun lover I am.
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