I slammed on the brakes when I saw a dragonfly on the path today.
They may be a common insect, but finding a dragonfly on the sidewalk is rare, it’s only happened once to me before, and the result infested my imagination for months.
I got off my bike and approached the beautiful creature.
It let me slide a piece of paper beneath its body and lift it from the pavement.
I was carrying a padded envelope filled with prints because I was out on an animated graffiti excursion. The envelope would protect the dragonfly’s body until I could get it home. As I was sliding the dragonfly into the envelope he came to life.
In an instant it flew away, gone forever.
Maybe this reluctant volunteer was evaluating my worthiness. It considered donating itself to my cause, seduced briefly by my artistic mantra that there is beauty hiding in plain sight. Is that worth dying for? Perhaps the dragonfly glimpsed the future that lay ahead, an afterlife where its corpse would be repeatedly abused beneath the iron of a crazy artist’s ambition. I don’t blame it for changing its mind at the last second.
Inspiration is a wild thing. When it appears, savor it. You never know how long you will be infested by it. It may let you hold it for years, allowing you to nurture it into hundreds of creations. But it is more likely the visit will be brief, a blessing that is gone in the flap of a wing. Stay creative.
Your friend,
Ade
P.S. This is my first email from Substack. I’m not expecting any issues but let me know if you have any concerns. Watch for my next email because it will contain an introduction to User Zero which I am going to be releasing one chapter per week, free to you and all my subscribers.