A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it to be God.
– Sidney Sheldon
"I've lost it! I'm terrible! I'll never be an artist again! I'm just no good and that's it - I'm finished!"
Many creative people occasionally feel like they've exhausted their supply of ideas, that they're worn out or they can't see what's good any more. "Writer's block" is a common term, along with "blank page syndrome". Yet if these artists knew the depths of their own potential, they would never be concerned about running out of things to create.
Inspiration and momentum
A true writer is not writing because he is inspired; he is inspired because he is writing.
Among average artists, it's common to wait for inspiration before starting a work, but the superior artist will begin the work before inspiration strikes, and, with practice, become inspired along the way.
When you put the effort in, beginning to write or paint, you'll find that new ideas come with a trickle, and then a stream, and then a flood. Yes, you will have so many ideas that you will struggle to get them onto a page. Dutifully, and patiently, we clean and purify the lens with which we see the world; surely and brilliantly, shines through the rainbow.
Return to nothing, and you will be reborn.
All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.
― Eckhart Tolle
In a certain myth, the story of the universe is that, originally there was nothing but Potential, and from Potential came Existence. From nothing, something, spontaneously, without provocation.
There is a quiet place inside yourself that is always accessible to you, a place of infinite potential. If potential can give birth to an entire universe, imagine what it can give you in terms of inspiration for a poem. Close your eyes. Allow your mind to drift and become quiet. When you come back from the void, what you bring with you may astound you.
Learn to listen
Half the time you think you're thinking, you’re actually listening.
― Terence McKenna
Creativity doesn't come from an overactive mind repeating the same tired thoughts. It comes from new information - received from whatever source.
Your mind is an antenna, connected to the universe. At any moment a great idea could enter your mind, and you will have no clue where it came from. But you need to listen first.
The echoes from potential futures may resound in your brain as your future descendants thank you dearly for everything you created - but you must listen first.
The physical objects, the rumours you hear, the actions and mannerisms of those around you, can all easily serve to trigger inspiration within you, but you must be watchful, and you must listen.
Life and death
[after record producer Sam Phillips stops Cash's band a couple of verses into their audition]
Sam Phillips: You know exactly what I'm telling you. We've already heard that song a hundred times. Just like that. Just... like... how... you... sing it.
Johnny Cash: Well, you didn't let us bring it home.
Sam Phillips: Bring... bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing one song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or... would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' you felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain't got nothin to do with believin' in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin' in yourself.
I'm sure you've heard stories of travellers in foreign countries, broke, hungry, and unable to speak the language, but somehow managing overcome their condition, to survive, and even thrive. If you're lucky, you might have even lived a few of those experiences. In those times people exercise the most ingenuity, the most courage, and even the most authenticity, when they feel their lives are at stake.
You might say you just can't find anything to write, and you can't even bring yourself to put the pen to the paper, yet if someone right now were to hold a gun to your head and say "Write," I guarantee you that you would reach inside of yourself and find something. Death is with you now. Remember His lesson.
If you can write when your life is threatened, how much more can you write if thousands or millions stand to be delighted by what you create? How much more if you have the potential to change the ideas of just one person, possibly even to change the fate of humanity? Yes, it only takes one life, one mind, one idea, one single moment, to change the course of an entire life - to change everything. If you can't write for your own sake, write for theirs.
The Spring
These are a few directions on how to arrive at the Spring. All that is left is to drink, and share the nourishing waters. You need never fear, and you need never doubt, for you are drinking from a spring which will never be exhausted - a spring which will never run dry.
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