The Joy of Creation

There is an immeasurable happiness that comes from creating something.

(Kauai, 2004.)

And it doesn't matter if you're an artist or not.

And it doesn't matter if anyone else likes it or not.
And it doesn't matter if you ever show it to anyone or not. 

(Cuzco, Peru, 2007.)

* * * * * 

"Create what?" you ask.

Oh, you know exactly what.

That thing you keep telling yourself you'll do if you can ever find the time.

That thing that makes your heart skip a beat before you shove it clear out of your mind.

* * * * *

There's a million reasons why you keep putting it off.

Chief of which is probably that you think you don't have the time.

But -- news flash! Time is all we've got.

It's the only thing being alive guarantees us.

Just time.

And it runs out.

(Kauai, 2004.)

* * * * *

Maybe you've been putting it off because that little voice in your head always persuades you otherwise.
Then turn the music up louder.

(U2 at the Rosebowl, 2008.)

* * * * *

Or maybe you know what you want to do but you've been putting it off because you live in a small town and you can't find your tribe. 

That excuse has now officially expired. 
As a friend recently said to me, "The genius of the internet is that now there's a classroom for everyone." 

(New Delhi, 2007.)

* * * * *

What we're after here is not the creative end result but the creative process.

I arranged a bunch of wildflowers in a vase the other day and the bliss from those fifteen minutes lasted until bedtime.

Because when you let go and create something, lots of good things happen:

1. You experience freedom without judgment.

2. You connect to yourself.

3. You gain confidence.

4. You feel like time is expanding. (Imagine that!)

* * * * *

I'm not going to tell you how to do it.

That's entirely your affair.

Balzac wrote best after midnight wearing a white robe.

Before starting a novel, Somerset Maugham would read Voltaire's "Candide" over again. 

Winston Churchill's daily nap was a non-negotiable part of freeing up his brain.

(Cabinet War Rooms, London.)

What are you going to do?
How are you going to do it?


x/Lisa