Eureka! The Perplexing Journey of Invention
Moments of euphoria
Followed by lengthy periods of melancholy
And the realization that the highs are dwarfed by the lows
The illusion of pensivity
No longer easy to sell to the masses
The unravelling is becoming apparently obvious
My search for understanding
Fruitless journeying into realms filled with confusion
Where each step is traced and retraced again and again
Each trip providing more questions than answers
As if I’m trapped in a deep hole
Each attempt to free myself becomes an exercise in futility
As I pull loose soil in
My footing now uneven
Movement hindered to the point of concern
Thoughts wandering uncontrollably
Across history and across time
As I try to draw upon the failure-success paradigm
Invention being nothing more than a process
Elimination of failures,
Continuing education through practice
And a hint of luck
Misfortune, it seems favors the likes of the blind
Seekers with vision but lacking sight
Even when eureka! seems the obvious response
Mental calculations quickly reverse the impulse
Forward becomes a quagmire
Until momentum comes to a complete stop
And at times shifts to reverse without warning
Minutes become hours, days, and weeks
Solitude my only companion
Assembled parts and partial experiments, my surroundings
Mechanization provides a foil to the silence
Barriers to genius beyond my grasp
Incremental improvement offering respite
Continued frustration without innovation
Natural selection of invention
The need to survive and the will to thrive
While keeping a dream alive
author’s note
Just as writers fear writers-block, inventors experience periods of their own kind of creative-blocks; moments that seem endless in scope, where ideas are always wrong, even the best plans appear useless, and frustration becomes a monkey on their back. History can reveal that those who persevered and found ways to overcome those lengthy periods of uninspired ideas ended up being successful.
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Marvelous poetry, Ralph. Your exceptional phrasing always amazes me. I enjoyed reading this post. Great work.
Original thought is no easy task and what’s worse invention: creativity with strict purpose. The flow of creativity is usually in a state of complete relaxation, unperturbed by the avalanche of thought and distraction, for me anyway. Any kind of frustration or blockage comes from outside pressures, which in the case of invention must be dispensed with, I would think. Once we achieve a flow of unencumbered thought, anything is possible. A thought -provoking work Ralph, very well penned and expressed.Cheers!
Thanks Phyllis – I certainly appreciate your support and praise