Creativity happens in the pause between these two moments: feeling sorry for yourself and feeling proud of what you’ve made. And these alternate pretty regularly in the cycle of a creative’s life. Take the 37 minutes prior to me starting this post. They were filled with self-pity, confusion, tears, frustration, and fear of never measuring up.
And then came the first sentence. That soft transition into creating is what we wait desperately for. That movement forward into making art. We never really know when it’ll come. It can take 37 minutes or 37 days. A week or a lifetime. There is so much of the process we simply can’t control.
Really, the only thing you and I can control is continuing to show up. To put in our time. To keep writing words until they are no longer jagged but rather come together in a unified form that delivers a message. Keep painting, keep crafting, keep building, keep singing.
And so, I will write the words. I will keep chasing my muse and see where it takes me. And I hope, my dear, you chase yours.