Creating is easiest when you are in the flow. Ideas just float through you and come out perfect. These are rare times, but they are glorious..

When we can do something – anything – our creativity is validated. We can breathe a little easier knowing that we have done the important work we are called here for. It doesn’t have to be the best thing we’ve done. On 90% of of days, we’ll throw away 90% of our ideas. Those are still great days, because we were present. We showed up.

We are in a cultural time of disrupted flow. Most of us have had their lives and creative channels altered. Some of us are in creative doldrums, some are in creative frenzies. The spring runs higher in a flood — we can run from it. Some people are finding that they have jumped into the deep end of projects on their “someday/maybe” list. Others are finding they cannot write like they used to, but heck, they can collage! Music venues and art galleries are closed, pressing many artists into the pool of the internet just to keep up with fans and maintain a living. We are all doing something different. 

It is not what comes out of the work, but showing up, that keeps the channel open. Showing up means being buoyant, taking action instead of reacting, running towards the experience instead of fleeing from it.

Our work will become better through our presence. Without it, things change and we have no say about how we deal with it. We begin reacting before acting, and creativity requires taking action first, or at least being aware of taking that first step towards something

And, if today, you cannot? Don’t give up. You can pick up your tools and put them back down again. You can sit in your studio without making anything. Sometimes, that’s okay too. Take a breath. Forgive yourself. Indulge in someone else’s work, or move to a distance and look back at your own beautiful creations. Forgive yourself more. Appreciate what you have done, if possible — it is surely more than you could ever know.

Most importantly… Show up, tomorrow. 

(drawing by rob grey of the band Devil’s Holler)