#creative life

[intergalacticgoose]

From @rrmeggy on Insta

[lucybellwood]

I’m reminded of Bernard Suits’ definition of playing a game, which is also my favorite definition of art-making: “the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.”

— Austin Kleon, Getting in and out of trouble

[tinajaxen]

I confess to you,

I sit here with the old dumb yearning

of the aching soul.

That one, always a friend and an enemy.

It’s always a treacherous game

to not escape to the clouds.

I confess to you,

I sit here, not broken but

high on freedom

and sick with loneliness.

I guess I continue

the journey of being a dreamer

when burning in crooked horizons;

we only ever find something

so gentle about spinning away.

My heart still lands in confused gray

but I burn gently on!

This is a new hope –

it aches for me, this hope once again.

So with the house empty

and doors locked all over –

I am still but full of yearning.

I invite you to come dream with me!

2022 revisit. Finished March 20th 2025

[howifeltabouthim]

The only thing then that kept her from writing constantly was the nervous recognition that she'd miss the things other people were doing and become even more separated from life than she already felt herself to be. To stay so much in the world of writing she would not learn about the world, and she had a lot to learn. How could she write without learning how to live.

Susan Minot, from Don't Be a Stranger

[wordshaveteeth]

If you want to be an artist of any sort, then handling your frustration is a fundamental aspect of the work—perhaps the single most fundamental aspect of the work. Frustration is not an interruption of your process; frustration is the process. The fun part (the part where it doesn’t feel like work at all) is when you’re actually creating something wonderful, and everything’s going great, and everyone loves it, and you’re flying high. But such instants are rare. You don’t just get to leap from bright moment to bright moment. How you manage yourself between those bright moments, when things aren’t going great, is a measure of how devoted you are to your vocation, and how equipped you are for the weird demands of creative living. Holding yourself together through all the phases of creation is where the real work lies.

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

[inkedwingss]

something that the intimidating spirit of self-sabotage will always tell you is that it's not worth the pain of going through the process.

it's a sweet promise that you will be at peace if you just drop it. ''oh do you need a rest? i knew you wouldn't be able to keep up with your plan. you never will be able to, actually. this is not for you''

BS! you can rest. you can pause. you can have different areas of focus that change and you can be sure that the things that belong to you, like your creativity, will absolutely NOT disappear just because you had a bad day, week or even year.

shoot the fear in the face by listening to its words and not believing a single one of them.

[landbeorht]

Being a creative of any kind comes with an electric weirdness. You create something—art, writing, a musical piece—in a place of solitude rattling inside your skull. It’s just You and The Action of Creating and maybe a Muse leans over your shoulder, but it is just you three in a strange trinity of magic.

And then the work is done and…well…it needs friends, doesn’t it? And so you share it. And you wait to see what will happen to it. This thing born in an attic beneath the spinning stars, in a basement while arguments raged overhead, in the notes app on a phone while headphones silenced the voom of the mad world—this thing needs to Go Out and Be. And so you, the creator from these solitary spaces, must step out into the mad world and say, “Behold! I made this!”

And, god, isn’t that just a tension in the chest? A stiffening in the spine? A breath caught and held for a beat too long?

And then the thing goes and becomes something else for someone else and you go back to the solitude and scribble on.

[elwood778-blog]

Update from the poll

I've decided to clarify something. I am merely using the names of the characters from the Bible (Adam, Eve, Lilith, Azrael, etc.) and making characters that fit the theme & tone of my fanfic/storyline/Alternate Universe

They will not be biblically accurate, nor will they be anywhere remotely related to the bible.

For starters, Adam is a businessman who grew up in the Great Depression, and he and Eve are not even remotely related.

Caine & Abel are considered the "gods" of the digital realm, there is no other God. I might make a Digital Circus interpretation of Jesus, but it'll most likely be a random character they call Jesus or something.

[charliejaneanders]

Bonnie Raitt's career ended back in 1986.

And yet, somehow she's still making music, topping the charts and winning Grammys. There's a lesson for creative people here! My latest newsletter....

[spiritofnostalgia]

Creativity Prompt - Favourite Things About Autumn 🍂

Make a list of your favourite things about autumn.

Use this list as prompts for your creativity:

Write a short short story or poem using keywords and, or, imagery from your list

Take photos of some of the things from your list

Or do a series of drawings and paintings

Why not use the images you have created to make an autumn collage?

[harrietosborneart]

[tinajaxen]

Tender thoughts.

You go through my mind

and out – never anywhere.

Tender thoughts,

you rip at the seams.

It’s not what I want

but I go with it every time.

Tender thoughts –

you woke me up!

And I wish you to be more

than what you are.

I want you like a swirl

and to make more sense

than any earthly reason.

I want you a watercolor painting,

a memory larger

than anyone else’s brain.

I want to be special,

tender thoughts.

Living a life large,

living life mostly in thunder.

Tell me, tender thoughts,

do you run a tornado chapter

round my brain?

Only to come back?

Do you come out somewhere else

and if you do, do you come out

differently there?

Finished March 20th 2025

[howifeltabouthim]

What had she done all day? Hovered over a piece of paper, like a hawk searching the shallows far below for the shadow of a fish . . . and yet the people just sitting here . . . what was it that they were doing?

Susan Minot, from Why I Don't Write and Other Stories

[wordshaveteeth]

If you want to live a contented creative life, you do not want to cultivate [laziness or perfectionism]. What you want is to cultivate quite the opposite: You must learn how to become a deeply disciplined half-ass.

- Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

[strijkdesign]

Hey everyone! Exciting news - I'm thrilled to share that this cute little witch painting is now on display at the "Microvision 6" online exhibition hosted by WOW x WOW You can check it out until May 28th! It's an honour to be part of such a talented group of over 70 artists. If you love art, you won't want to miss this!