For most of my time on this funky rock floating in space, I’ve suspected there was more at play between the big ol’ Universe and us—where mysterious whispers, winks, and nods were disguised as coincidental, yet serendipitous, moments.
It took roughly 50 years for me to embrace this realization, and that fully developed while writing my second book. You see, after my first book was released, it became clear people wanted more of what that book embodied, so I set out to write a follow-up—but the Universe didn’t want me to write that book.
Allow me to explain.
As I stated in both part I and part II of this series, something magical happens when we create. We have access to an intangible location, a place where words and images flow easily and more freely into our minds—much like opening a window to a different world. When I started the first drafts of this follow-up book, that connection kept guiding me toward something outside of that original plan.
Honestly, as I created this book that eventually became The Curious Reality in Imagination: A Creative Odyssey, I’d never witnessed so much communication from the big U. Whenever I followed a topic, various confirmations would show up guiding me toward that alternate path.
That may be confusing, so allow me to explain further with an example of how this works through a brief story that happened after the book was first published.
When I got close to the book’s release, I wavered on including the subtitle, “A Creative Odyssey”. When it came time to decide on its inclusion, I figured I wouldn’t since “odyssey” is so prominently attached to a literary classic. Basically thinking, “Who the hell am I to use such a word?”, even though the definition of that word was perfect for the nature of the book:
1) a long wandering or voyage usually marked by changes of fortune, or
2) an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest.
Weeks went by, and magically I started seeing that specific word in various situations; once on a TV show, again at an art gallery, almost like it was being placed in front of me as a reminder. They were little nudges from wherever, and then the ultimate confirmation showed up to convince me of its inclusion.
In my first week at my new position at Colgate University, my supervisor walked me throughout the campus, showing various buildings, classrooms, and other places with special meaning. There was a particular room he wanted to show off in the Classics Department: a den-like meeting area with beautifully finished wood garnishing the space, filled with hundreds of books on well-crafted shelves. As I looked around the room, all books were perfectly aligned with spines facing outward—except one book. Yes, just one book was sitting with its cover out, contradicting all the other books, and of course that book was Homer’s Odyssey.
Confirmation received.
The irony of this story is that the book I just finished was built upon those types of stories, those types of serendipitous coincidences, where the Universe steps in with clues (and confirmations) on where our thoughts are leading us. That’s exactly how it all worked, as I believe the Universe moved me away from writing a follow-up to the first book. The book grew into something completely different.
“Bernie’s first book made me view the world differently; his second book made me feel it differently.” - My sister, Christine
It certainly is a deeper dive into many things, evolving from a deep history in creativity and how there seems to be this force that surfaces in our reality when we are more aligned spiritually.
During this book’s creation, my art also shifted, and I give strong credit again to the Universe, as it all seemed to be coming from that same intangible, ethereal location. The drawings surfaced from the words created, and in turn, the art affected the words. It became a cyclical pattern, and all along the way were those clues and confirmations. In the end, the book is a product of a reciprocal journey. A journey that resulted in me being more open to everything, to see different perspectives more clearly, and to thoroughly trust the process of how creativity can come through us.
At the final stages of that book, I was in a yoga class, resting in the savasana position, where you release all thoughts and surrender to the flow (it’s often called the corpse pose, which may freak out some folks while others may completely understand). While lying there, giving myself up to the powers that be, one sentence came through, like a vision, and it was soon added to the last chapter:
“Inspiration grows from a collaboration with the Universe.”
The way those words came through me planted a seed. Did I hear those words, or did I see them? I went over this multiple times in my head and realized I had experienced moments like this many times in the past, a blending of senses. Words and images have come through me in mystical ways throughout my life, and the most meaningful was a memory that consistently comes back in the present day—after finishing that second book, it came back stronger and more frequently.
There’s no doubt, the process of writing (at least for me) can be healing. Each of my first books helped me find more comfort in this world (and ultimately my skin). As this memory from 2001 came back with endless persistence, I realized I wasn’t done with that medicine yet (in fact, I may never be). To fully understand its intention, the natural next step was to go much deeper in writing—and that made it clear the Universe was insisting another story be told.