Friday, March 02, 2007

between places

Like the moments just before night falls, or dawn breaks, or the sweet anticipation just before something wonderful happens, the creative process has between places -- space and time where nothing seems to happen, and yet that nothing blooms quite suddenly to magic.



These moments pass by lightning-fast if one isn't paying attention, but once noted and watched for, they grow longer and more useful. Letting the moments be silent and undirected seems to make room for solutions and revelations and synchronicity.



Honor the quiet empty times and prepare for the good stuff to come.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful description of an artist's sensitivity. One of the best I've read.

My yearning to share those experiences in the quiet moments is why I write.

Thanks for the visit. Don't be a stranger, Billie.

I'll definitely be back.

billie said...

Jason,

Thanks for coming over - your blog is wonderful and I'll be checking in regularly to enjoy the writing and the photos.

The creative process is almost as fascinating to me as writing novels is... would love any comments you may have as I really enjoy hearing other writers' takes on how they work and how they manage the ebb and flow of art with daily life.

Anonymous said...

Billie, I'd love to talk about the creative process, although I imagine its beyond the scope of blog comments. Drop me an email sometime and perhaps we can continue the discussion!

billie said...

Jason, feel free to expound away on creative process in comments, or send me your email address.

Anonymous said...

I'll spell it out so the bots can't grab it. ;)

jevanswriter at yahoo dot com

...how they manage the ebb and flow of art with daily life.

Yes, a difficult proposition, isn't it? I have to say, my creative flow exploded once I started a blog. It allowed me to bring together other interests along with writing (e.g., photography, music, video). Also, because of the size of the usual blog entry, I could explore all sorts of topics without a huge investment of time. I've learned a great deal by putting material out there.

In the meantime, I continue to write my current novel project. I'm not sure I could keep the same creative focus, however, if I didn't have the other outlet at the same time.

Why I'm compelled to write...well, that's a whole other matter. :)