“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” -Michaelangelo
Every week on Monday or Tuesday I brainstorm about what I should write about in this blog.
And every week, one of two things happens.
1. The blog post pours out effortlessly.
2. Or, the post is forced, doesn’t get published, and ends up as a half-finished draft. I’ve never been able to force out a piece of writing.
The posts of the first variety seem to have a mind of their own. I become their vehicle, not their author. It’s as if the blog posts that want to be written have always been written and have always existed– they just haven’t been penned to paper yet.
When my mind stumbles upon the article that needs to happen, it just happens. It’s as though it’s been piecing itself together in my subconscious mind for months, or years, just waiting patiently. And then one day the dormant article pokes my brain and nudges my fingers and it all comes pouring out.
After the initial poke, it becomes my job to chip away the stone of words until I’ve chiseled out the blog post or story in the way that it’s always existed. I believe that this is the case for creators of all types: sculptors, painters, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, builders, and orators. Their creation is made long before they pick up their brush or chisel or keyboard.
It is the creator’s job to prepare for the poke. And to prepare, you simply live. You travel, you read, you think, you experience, and you communicate and exchange. It’s been discovered that our subconscious mind does a lot more than we give it credit for– and in living, we’re starting our brains on the creative process without even realizing it.
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