Att hitta sin Ithaka

I den gamla grekiska berättelsen av Homeros så skulle Odysseus efter kriget i Troja segla hem till sin hustru och sin födelseö Ithaka. Under denna resa, odyssé, som tog 10 år råkade Odysseus ut för en rad spännande äventyr innan han äntligen kom hem. Liksom för Odysseus kan den kreativa processen vara en lång och bitvis besvärlig, men ofta spännande, resa mot ett hägrande mål.

Men samtidigt som det är viktigt att sätta sina kreativa mål och prioritera så är det ännu viktigare att njuta av processen. Målet ska finnas just vid horisonten, men seglatsen sker just nu och den ska vara spännande och meningsfull.

Om man bara blint stirrar på målet så missar man resan och risken är stor att man tröttnar innan man nått fram.

Den grekiske poeten C. P. Cavafy har i sin vackra dikt ”Ithaka” på ett fantastiskt sätt beskrivit essensen av att låta målet styra resan, men att utvecklas under tiden.

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbours seen for the first time.

May you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind —
as many sensual perfumes as you can.

And may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.

But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Dikten finns nedan som Youtube-film uppläst av Sean Connery och med specialkomponerad bakgrundsmusik av Vangelis – en 4½-minuters upplevelse som starkt kan rekommenderas.

 This blog post in English

Author: Karl Ekdahl

International public health leader and creativity blogger. View all posts by Karl Ekdahl