“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it,” said Kurt Vonnegut.
Whether you’re a master or a beginner, engaging in creative expression nourishes your spirit and fosters personal growth.
It’s not about perfection, but about the joy and fulfillment that comes from simply creating. Every stroke, word, or note is a step toward expanding your soul and connecting with something greater.
So, do it—embrace your creativity with all its imperfections. Let your soul grow through the act of creation, and discover the profound impact it can have on your life.
“Creative work is a gift to the world and every being in it,” says Steven Pressfield.
Your creativity is a unique contribution that enriches and inspires those around you. By holding back, you deny the world your invaluable gift.
Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Share your talents and ideas generously. Your work has the power to touch lives, spark change, and bring joy and understanding to others.
Embrace the courage to create and give us what you’ve got. Your creativity is a precious gift that the world needs.
“Creativity is a funny thing. When we’re inventing something, we’re more vulnerable than we’ll ever be,” says Bob Dylan.
In these moments, eating and sleeping fade away, and we enter a state of “Splendid Isolation,” much like the solitude Warren Zevon sang about and Georgia O’Keeffe embraced in the desert.
To be truly creative, you often need to be unsociable and intensely focused. It’s not about being violent or ugly, but about being unfriendly and distracted, immersed in your own world. This self-sufficiency allows you to stay focused and channel your energy into your work.
Embrace this solitude and vulnerability. It’s in these moments of deep focus and isolation that true creativity blossoms, allowing you to create something unique and powerful.
Picture source:
Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“I’ve always felt that the more personal you get, the more universal the application, rather than the other way around,” said Leonard Cohen.
When you delve deeply into your personal experiences, you create something profoundly relatable to others. By sharing your unique story, you touch on universal truths that resonate widely.
If you try to address the masses directly, you might achieve broad appeal, but true connection comes from authenticity. The more accurately you capture your situation, the more others can see themselves in your work. This honesty and specificity make your creations accessible and meaningful.
Embrace the power of personal expression. Let your true self shine through in your art, writing, or any form of creativity. By doing so, you’ll forge genuine connections with others, creating work that speaks to the human experience.
“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing,” said Georgia O’Keeffe.
Success isn’t the ultimate goal; what truly matters is revealing your inner world and sharing your unique vision with others.
Embrace the journey of bringing your unknown to light, letting your creativity shine. The process of creation is what counts, not the outcome. It’s about expressing your thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and connecting with others through your work. This act of self-expression can leave a lasting impact and inspire others.
Focus on making your inner world known, and let go of conventional notions of success. Celebrate the courage it takes to share your true self and the beauty of your individual journey.
Frida Kahlo once said, “I paint flowers so they will not die.” Through her art, she captured the fleeting beauty of nature, preserving it forever on canvas.
Every brushstroke breathes life into the flowers, ensuring their vibrancy endures. Kahlo’s work is a testament to the power of creativity to transcend time, allowing beauty to flourish endlessly.
Embrace this spirit in your own creative endeavors. Let your art, writing, or any form of expression immortalize the moments and subjects you cherish. Through your creativity, you can make the ephemeral eternal.
Photo source: Frida Kahlo, taken on 16 October 1932, by Guillermo Kahlo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen,” said Leonardo Da Vinci. Both art forms are expressions of beauty and emotion, but they reach us in different ways.
In painting, we experience visual poetry through colors, shapes, and compositions, allowing our eyes to interpret the artist’s vision. In poetry, we feel the emotions and imagery through words, letting our hearts and minds paint vivid pictures.
Embrace the interplay between these art forms. Let your paintings tell a poetic story and your poems create vibrant imagery. Each form enriches the other, offering a deeper, more profound experience. Celebrate the harmony of sight and feeling, and let your creativity flow across both mediums.
“Creativity is just connecting things,” Steve Jobs observed.
When you ask creative people how they did something, they often feel a bit guilty because they didn’t invent it from scratch—they simply saw the connections. Over time, these connections seem obvious to them.
Embrace this process of seeing and linking ideas in new ways. Trust that your unique perspective allows you to notice patterns and relationships that others might miss.
Celebrate the simplicity and brilliance of making connections, knowing that creativity lies in recognizing and combining existing elements in fresh, innovative ways.
Your ability to see these connections can lead to extraordinary creations.
Yes, the writing life is glamorous – ha! I awoke at 6 AM and got out of bed. I put on my house slippers, made a pit-stop at the “necessary room,” put my iPhone on the charger, and headed downstairs.
Once downstairs, I first placed my iWatch on the charger. Next, I collected a bag of trash from the kitchen along with a bag of recyclables. I exit the house via the kitchen door, I walked passed the swimming pool, opened the back gate and places the bags in the alley.
I returned to the back side of the house. Five more bags of recyclables and two more bags of trash awaited me. Carrying two bags at a time, I made four trips to deposit them in the alley. The trash collectors come about 8 AM and the recycle people between 10 and 2 PM. Mission accomplished. I come back into the house and lock the kitchen door.
Next, I put a new trash bag in the trash can and a new recycle bag in the recycle bin.
Then I headed back upstairs, got dressed, pick up my now fully charged iPhone, and made my way back downstairs.
Take My Morning Medications
I refilled the water bottle before going to the restroom to get my seventeen morning pills to take. Once retrieved, I spent the ten minutes taking the pills and glancing at the online version of the Dallas Morning News. My iWatch is now fully charged so I retrieve and put it on.
I tossed my MacBook in its black leather Coach bag along with the charger, noise suppressing headphones, and wireless mouse. I have an extra USB mouse in my computer bag in case I forget the wireless one.
A note I left on the table tells where I am going and what I’m doing. A stop at the mini-refrigerator gets me a Diet-Coke. I grab a new KN-95 face mask, exit via the front door, lock the front door, and put my computer bag in the back seat, get into my Mercedes, open my Diet Coke, turn on SiriusXM to channel 90 – NASCAR.
Drive to Starbucks
I drink half the Diet-Coke during the ten-minute drive to Starbucks. The NASCAR news of the morning updates me on the latest happening. I’m a NASCAR fan following the Joe Gibbs Racing team’s four drivers.
When arriving at Starbucks, the handicap parking space was full so I have to park where I have to cross traffic to get into the building. I get my computer bag, my navy-blue Cardigan, and cane from the back seat and wait until there’s a break in the stream of traffic to cross the parking lot.
Once inside, I claim my table. All twelve tables are empty. I go to the counter where several baristas greet me by name. The manager says, Good morning, Jimmie. After returning their greeting, I pull out my iPhone and open the Starbucks app.
The addion of funds to the app is my first order of business. I push a button and another $25 is on my Starbucks account. I order the Starbucks Eggs & Cheddar Protein Box and a large cup of blonde roast coffee.
Daily Writing
While eating breakfast, I’m writing this post. When I finish, it’ll be time to get back to the daily writing as I head for achieving today’s word count on my pen name novel.
