Thank you, James Hillman, for Letting the World In

Creativity requires that we listen and notice: What is moving me? What is touching my heart? The process of discovering what we love is about letting the world in. We need to be open to it, see it, feel it, and experience it. The psychologist James Hillman passed away today. Here’s something he wrote that has always inspired me:

The world “doesn’t consist of merely objects and things; it is filled with useful, playful, and intriguing opportunities: The oriole doesn’t see a branch, but an occasion for perching; the cat doesn’t see a thing we call an empty box, it sees safe hiding for peering. The bear doesn’t smell honeycomb, but the opportunity for delicious feeding. The world is buzzing and blooming with information, which is always available and never absent.” (from The Soul’s Code)

Hillman invites us to move out of our “psychological” homes—the house of our parents, and take a leap out into the home of the world. There we find our inspirations. We let the world in, and we discover what moves our hearts. Thank you, James Hillman.

~The above was excerpted from Getting Messy: Taking Risks and Opening the Imagination by Kim Hermanson