June 27, 2003

• Exploring Creativity

  
  

  I've been thinking (oh, stop that groaning!) about creativity.  The creativity in my life seems to ride a predictable cycle of productiveness alternated with dry spell.  The dry spells tend to frustrate me as I sit and stare at the blank white screen.  The productive highs frustrate me because I can't type fast enough to catch it all. 

  
  

  Having just returned from vacation, I'm in a bit of a dry spell.  I'm more tired than I expected to be and even though I've been back almost a week, I'm still trying to catch up on household stuff.  So instead of forcing out a blog that will make me cringe later over the misspellings and the garbled thought structures, I'm going to post a quote from Julia Cameron's book Walking in This World.  She has wonderful encouraging things to say about the process of creation and art. 

  
  

  So often we try to gird ourselves to face a harsh and difficult world when we might instead gentle both ourselves and our world by just slowing down.   

  
  

  We worry rather than ruminate.  We fret rather than speculate.  Even foot-ball teams take time-outs, but it is so hard for us as artists to do the same.  So often we feel there is so much we yearn to do and so little time to do it.  We could take a cue from music here:  "Rest" is a musical term for the pause between flurries of notes.  Without that tiny pause, the torrent of notes can be overwhelming.  The torrent of our lives can be the same. 

  
  

  Even God rested.  Even waves rest.  Even business titans close their office doors and play with the secret toys on their desks.  Our language of creativity knows this.  We talk about "the play of ideas," but we still overwork and underplay and wonder why we feel so drained. 

  
  

  A friend of mine, a glorious musician, works on two faculties and tours internationally.  Sometimes his great voice, an instrument of beauty as large and soaring as a pipe organ, reaches my ear haggard with fatigue.  His great strength becomes his greatest weakness.  He forgets to rest.  

  
  

  As artists living with the drone of commerce, we have forgotten that "rest" is a musical term, and that to hear the music of our lives as something other than a propulsive drumbeat, driving us forward as the war drums drove men into bloody battle, we need to rest.

  
  

  The ego hates to rest.  The ego doesn't want to let God, or sleep mend up the raveled sleeve of care.  The ego would like to handle all that itself, thank you very much.   As artists, we must serve our souls, not our egos.  Our souls need rest. 

  
  

  Julia Cameron, Walking in This World, p 28

  
  

  I hope you will have a restful weekend.  See you on Monday. 

  • 11:33 am
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