“They” (the experts, that is) will tell you that to be a successful blogger you must post and post often. Easier said than done. I find it very hard to tap into those “creative juices” when I am rushing myself to get a few words out before moving on to the next event clamoring for my attention. Creativity it seems, requires a calm and quiet spirit. Why is that? We can do other things, those normal routine tasks that we must engage in every day…what one might call “work”…rather adeptly whether we are rushed or not. In fact, sometimes speed enhances performance. Not so with creative acts. That is why, for me anyway, I need quietness, calmness and lack of interruption or diversion if I am to have any hope whatsoever of getting paid a visit by the genie of creativity. If that is the case, where does creativity come from, within or without? In my post yesterday about Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat, Pray, Love, I included at the end a TED talk she gave in which she suggests that it is without…that is, that creativity is a force outside ourselves that visits us from time to time, when the moment is right. While listening I thought to myself, damn girl, that’s a little far-out, but then upon reflection, I thought, yea, you’re on to something there. Not that I am any sort of a Tolstoy, or anything like that, yet there are times when I write something and then think to myself, where in the hell did that come from. If that is the case, how can we, or those of us who have a yearning for creativity, create an environment where the genie will be attracted to us, or at least take pity on us? I believe it is in finding that moment when you can be calm and un-distracted and, most importantly, endowed with a certain sense of humility and gratitude. These latter elements are most important, because if you are just trying to force it, you are suggesting by that very act that it is you and only you who are responsible for being creative and the genie doesn’t like that attitude one little bit. I love this idea of creativity being a friend rather than something bottled up inside that I have to vomit up. A friend that I can welcome into my mornings and invite him (or her) to express through me the creative thoughts of the day. And then be gracious to have the opportunity to get to share those with the rest of the world.
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365 Reasons I Love Costa Rica
