Creativity

There is nothing to do. Do nothing.

But I wanted to know more than that, so I studied and read and now I will write about creativity. But the real answer that you might be able to really use is above. There is nothing to do because creativity is a state of being, like an emotion. I believe that creativity is a natural state, and it cycles with periods of exploration and rest. Thinking of creativity as a way of being leads to thinking about ways to bring about that state of being, however, we tend value the end product rather than the actual whole process that may or may not produce anything.

I need exploration, then I need fallow time - rest, winter, quiet. And eventually, I paint. My artistic process has been similar since early childhood. The rhythm of the school year is embedded in my art-practice and I wonder if children in school now feel the pressures of rushing and performing the way I did? Summer is for song and dance and wandering the hills, winter is for dreaming and painting memories. Now in University there are nearly no two-term courses left. It feels like stuffing two seasons into one, like a turducken of learning.

It is ironic that the process that erases the feeling of time is the one I need the most time for.