10. One Word And Not Another

Judgments can limit the scope of my awareness. If I rush to judge everything I see, then I cut myself off from the opportunity to experience it fully. I have to open myself up and allow everything in as it is. I have to be sensitive to nuances and complexities. I have to hold my judgments at a distance and consider their opposites. I have to allow myself to see even those things I judge to be bad or wrong or ugly.

I need to be even more open and sensitive when I am creating. If I rush to judge my work, then I cut myself off from the opportunity to express myself fully. But I cannot let go of all of judgment, for it is also what shapes my creation through choice. I choose one word and not another. I choose one rhythm and not another. I choose one line and not another.

What I must release (send away) is reflective judgment, which evaluates my efforts with a distant and critical eye. What I must release (set free) is the judgment of experience, which arises through the intuitions I have developed by years of practice.

I have to trust that I can express myself without intervention from reflective judgment. I have to trust that I understand the conventions of expression, not through formal rules, but through worn lines of practical experience, through the grooves that have been etched into me.

Set free from the critic that is also me, I can create without censorship and without constraint. When I grow tired of expressing myself, then the work is finished. Then and only then can I allow my reflective judgments to examine the work. Only then will they help me see where I have discovered value and how I might refine my creation to improve its clarity and power.