The name of this series, The Struggle to Right Oneself, hits me deep in my chest.

“Beyond the basic laws that govern and maintain our equilibrium, we live in a world that constantly tests our stability in various other forms.”
- Kerry Skarbakka

This particular image has more of a feeling of intentionality than the others, which to me, indicates more of the choice that we have in how we respond to the tests we encounter.

via Colossal

When we are most affected by the arts, whether through participation or observation, we experience the sublime…

During these moments, we are not thinking; in fact, we are most empty of our thoughts. All of our attention focuses on the present moment.

Artists and scientists both, that allow themselves to dwell in these moments of mental stillness, often begin to feel a larger interconnection with all things around them—their sense of self begins to fade.

In a very deep sense, creativity and the sublime, through the arts and sometimes through the sciences, act as a gateway towards a depth within ourselves.

- Jeff Lieberman
on Arresting Stillness: A Photographic Art at Integral Life
(click through for the full quote)

Current neuroscience research confirms what creatives intuitively know about being innovative: that it usually happens in the shower. After focusing intently on a project or problem, the brain needs to fully disengage and relax in order for a “Eureka!” moment to arise.

Scott McDowell on The 99 Percent

Go Read It: Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno

“I believe that as artists we all have a certain pool of creative energy that we draw from. For me, I have found that it does not matter what I do with that energy – whether it is drawing, painting, building picture frames, writing music, taking photos, designing corporate branding, writing software, designing logos or creating digital composites – it all comes from the same place – and it doesn’t matter how I use it, it only matters that I do use it.

-Josh Summers

Hear hear!

Add acting to the list for me. I think going to concerts and plays also fits into the mix.

via Eugene at MyModernMet

The point, of course, is that the people who spent days and sweated buckets could also have taken an aircraft to the summit if all they wanted was to absorb the view. It is the struggle that they crave. The sense of achievement is produced by the route to the peak, not the peak itself. It is just the fold between the pages.

Look To Windward
by Iain M. Banks
300

The man in the image is Eskil Ronningsbakken.

Yes, he really is balancing on the edge of an insanely high cliff. Just TRY and tell me this isn’t awe-inspiring.

Ronningsbakken on the philosophy behind his insane feats:

“A stunt is something you see in movies, often done with mattresses safety lines or nets. What I do, is draw a picture with vulnerable human beings and their bodies, in the surrounding of mother earth. That’s the balance between life and death, and that is where life is.“

As far as fear goes?

“I feel fear, of course I do, we are humans and we have a natural sense of self-preservation. However, I must control that before I undertake any new project because that would lead to lethal mistakes. If I ever find myself totally fearless then that is when I will stop what I am doing.”

Whew. How’s that for taking life by the horns?

Quotes from Daily Mail
More daredevil balancing acts at Telegraph
via MyModernMet

Insanity is wasting your life as a nothing when you have the blood of a killer flowing in your veins. Insanity is being shit on, beat down, coasting through life on a miserable existence when you have a caged lion locked inside and the key to release it.

Morgan Freeman as Sloan in Wanted

Splendid animation illustrating an engaging talk by Dan Pink.

(thanks to Mike for sharing this)