On Wednesday, I wrote about the challenge of getting started on something we dream of doing. It seems crazy to … More Afraid to Create? Of Course!
We need to be careful who sees our work when it’s still in process. I’ve learned this from writing and from quilting. My quilting experience is particularly surprising, because I discovered that early praise can be as harmful as early scorn.
Continue reading Unfinished Quilt: How Praise Froze My Project
There’s a belief that all the great artists are inspired, that what makes their work wonderful is a brilliant idea or new insight. But this is just a myth. A single moment of brilliance can be blinding to the rest of us, but there’s more to it than that. You can’t make use of inspiration if you don’t know how to use your medium. Great art comes from lots of work, which can be summed up in one word: practice.
Continue reading Waiting for Inspiration? Spend the Time Practicing
Creativity takes practice, which is why people say “You should write every day” (or draw or sculpt or dance or play the tuba every day). There’s an understandable emphasis on consistency, on showing up again and again to do the thing, whatever it is. On working steadily, even if it’s slowly, so that, like the tortoise, we can cross the finish line. Even creativity guru Julia Cameron says so.
Continue reading Doing The Thing Every Day — Gently
Rilke reminds us that we should create things the way a tree grows.
