Filling the Well

A feast for the senses... NYC Polish Day Parade on October 4, 2009. Julia Cameron uses the term, "filling the well," to mean going out of your way to see, touch, taste, smell, hear something outside of your normal routine. She claims, and I agree, that doing so stimulates the creative imagination to make us more hopeful, more vibrant, happier, healthier and more prosperous.

Below is what I observed, longing for a camera:
I saw a little boy with a bright yellow Honda motorcycle toy in his hand discover a REAL yellow Honda motorcycle. He got his photo taken, dazed and enchanted, sitting on the motorcycle, toy in hand, with the biker behind him. A realized dream...
A troupe of cheerleaders with brilliant flags, doing routines down Fifth Avenue, to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
More Miss Polonias and Junior Miss Polonias than I ever knew existed, all in long white dresses, riding in convertibles, waving the Queen's wave and smiling from side to side.
Drummers, trumpeters, bands, choirs, some of which I thought were marvelous and others cacophonous... a matter of taste.
A boy with his face painted half red and half white, hair spiked up in a Mohawk. Did you know the colors of Poland were red and white? I didn't.
The marchers waiting to go on in a side street: some were already 'on,' others were clowning around, entirely indifferent to the whole scene or enjoying the parade before their march began.
Dancing doctors and nurses in front of a float.

The part I found most engaging was the sheer number and variety of people participating or watching, many in red and white clothing, ranging in age from infants to seniors. Even the teenagers got in on the action. The power of this diverse crowd expressing their enthusiastic pride in their Polish heritage was inspiring to me.

What did I learn? Passionate commitment to anything is compelling and it is important to my own happiness to look for what delights me in my daily life.