The Little Juggler (Li’l Juggler)

The previous post featured a long scrolling image with this little fellow in it:

Just who is he, anyway?

I call him the “Little Juggler”, or “L’il Juggler” for short. He’s a curious little fellow, who seems to be very much at home in what could be called some rather Lilliputian-like settings. He wears a large odd-shaped cap on his head, decorated with flowers and stars, and usually dresses in a rather Kilt-like outfit. Normally, he goes barefooted, as he loves to walk along the sandy shorelines of the beach, when there are few other people around. I have often seen him walking along the beach in the evening (in my imagination, of course) juggling the thoughts in his mind. That’s right, those balls that he’s juggling are actually “thought balls”. He often loves to hold many thoughts in his mind at once, and will often just let his mind drift and flow along with those thoughts. But the number of “thought balls” that he juggles seems to vary, sometimes rather greatly – I’ve seen him juggling with just a very few thoughts, and I’ve also seen him juggle with so many thoughts that I’ve wondered how anyone could hold so many thoughts in their head!

While he’s often smiling contentedly as he lets his mind flow along with his thoughts, I’ve also seen him with a rather pensive expression on his face, as though he’s juggling a lot serious thoughts in his mind, and trying to come to some kind of decision or conclusion with them.

A lot of times, he’s so into his thoughts that he does not really notice people if they pass by him – but then again, I suspect that he usually takes his “thought-walks” along the beach when no one else is around. I myself have only seen him when the beach was otherwise empty, and like to let him to be immersed in his thoughts, which he always seems to be deeply engaged in. The first few times that I saw him, he walked right by me as if he didn’t even see me. After a while, he began to recognize me, and would smile if I said “Hi” to him. Then he would go right back into juggling his thoughts on his solitaire beach walk.

I don’t recall when it really began, but I have spoken with him on a number of occasions, and he has shared some of his thoughts with me. He thinks a lot of interesting thoughts; some are silly and lighthearted, some are flowing and reflective, and some actually involve some very deep and complex controversial issues.

It’s very interesting – although I think he usually likes to be alone, (he’s very shy) he does seem to love to share his thoughts and ideas with those who show an interest in them. Thus, I sometimes have him come and sit on my shoulder while I am juggling some thoughts of my own, working on some creative project. He’s all too eager to offer me advice on trying different things. Sometimes it’s just the inspiration that I needed in order to get off on the right direction with the project. And at other times, it turns out to be a dead end, as if some, or sometimes all, of the balls have been dropped…

But he rarely gets too upset when the ideas don’t turn out right – a little frustrated, maybe, but that seems to pass quickly enough.

So I usually enjoy having him around when I am working on creative stuff. I guess his creative attitude kind of rubs off on me, and keeps me from getting overly upset when something doesn’t turn out quite how I wanted it to.

On the other hand, if I am doing something very utilitarian, such as figuring out my income taxes, then I (regrettably) find his presence to be somewhat distracting. He might be trying to suggest an idea for a drawing, a poem, or a song when I am in the middle of trying to crunch some numbers, or am trying to read through some heavy legal stuff. Then I have to politely ask him to return at a time when I am not so in the middle of “doing the stuff that has to be done”. But still, I tend to feel just a little tinge of sadness when I do that. But I think he understands. He just goes on juggling and musing over the thoughts in his mind, endlessly…

Little Juggler (Li'l Juggler) with Hearts and Stars

NOTES: I’m sure you must sense that this little bit of “musing” has some kind of meaning behind it – the Li’l Juggler is the “Creative Muse” that comes and visits us when we are engaged in creative activities, juggling our minds with ideas and inspirations! 🙂