The Great Sage Vyasa one day called upon Ganesh and asked him for a favor. The sage had been working on his masterpiece, The Mahabharata, and wanted Ganesh to transcribe the epic poem as he recited it from beginning to end. Being the longest epic poem ever written, Ganesh understood the intensity of the request promising the old sage that he would capture every word. Ecstatic, Vyasa sat down, entered a trance and began the story. Taking a deep breath, Ganesh made himself comfortable for the long journey, picked up his quill and began putting the words down on the scroll. Days went by without losing cadence, Vyasa kept a steady pace and Ganesh followed along. Soon the emotion began to rise and the weight of the words grew heavy, Ganesh knew they were about to peak. In the power of the poem the quill suddenly broke in his hand and skipping on the edge of the moment without missing a beat, Ganesh broke his own tusk and continued writing. Through that sacrifice, history was created. 

There are many stories on how Ganesh lost his tusk, but this one always stood out for me. The intensity, the passion, and the importance, all of it captured in a moment. The integrity of a promise kept and sharp focus, Ganesh stayed true to his word. This is one of the many times why he has garnered the respect of being the best travel companion. His sharp mind and keen eyes find ways around any obstacle along the journey. What is needed is done, and though there is an impermanence to all things, we find a way. 

So many things can block our path, spin the unknown, and halt our progress. Sometimes even at the cost of a sacrifice played well the next step reveals itself. We may fall back a few steps just to find one forward, but as long the goal remains in focus, we push through. The importance of the endgame is measured against the level of the challenge. We find tools in the experience and ultimately it gets easier, and each new challenge is faced with a growing confidence. The struggle is real, but we break on through to the other side. Of course, only to meet the next challenge, though better equipped. 

When I chose to paint Ganesh, I had been struggling with symmetry, and the canvas had become a prison. For years I had been working with mandalas and it led me to a place where I couldn’t paint a single thing that wasn't symmetrical. With this piece I had to Break the Mandala. Tilting his head, Ganesh's tusk broke against the symmetry. The sacrifice paid to break free of what was holding me back. My next two paintings were Pagoda and Great Wave, and Ganesh opened it all up and I was finally free to explore the canvas in a new way. 

The Progress of the self comes in waves, steps we take one after the other following a vision we have for who we want to be. When faced with a problem or something that need to be overcome, we sometimes have to find creative solutions. The more we face it and not run from it, the more we get to experiment with ourselves, the more we grow. In the beginning we may dread these obstacles we encounter, but in time we begin to look forward to them, almost with an air of excitement. It is in these moments we find new aspects of ourselves we never knew existed, a new source of strength deep down inside we didn't know we had. That vision of ourselves starts to peek back at us and we smile. We will get there, one way or another.