I have been asked a number of times recently what the meaning is behind this image. On first glance the Wu Wei (pronounced “oooo-way”) Cowboy is just a fun piece depicting a man falling off his horse. This is not what I had in mind when I created it, however. In my mind, the cowboy is a person who is “going with the flow” of something bigger and more powerful than himself. He’s holding on but not too tightly; he is still connected to the source. While this looks (and can be, in real life) precarious, it is the ride that he needs: by not hanging on too tightly, he can go where the flow is taking him without the kind of stress that accompanies rigidity and fear.
Wu Wei is essentially the Asian concept of flow outlined beautifully in Edward Slingerland’s book, Trying Not to Try. I first encountered this book on Maria Popova’s site, Brain Pickings.