Building creativity

I’m always amazed at how restorative reading is to me. I have a few writers that I turn to regularly or stories that I go back to. Each of these times, I’m looking for their work to recreate a feeling I had the first time I read it. That is easy enough to do for fiction–just get carried away in the story. But there is a selection of non-fiction that I have slowly accumulated that also does this for me. For those works, the experience is more intimate. These works are not self help, but revolve around living an authentic self. Roughly psychological, I identify with aspects and use these works to recreate an inner anchor.

The book I am currently reading is the Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron. This is the book I need right now. It has been long time since I have read it in a single pass. As it consists of essays, I most often pick it up for a quick fix based on what my need and mood is. This summer I felt I needed a recentering of my creativity. Losing my creativity is something that I have been worried about for a while. I picked this up as therapy as I usually do; but I found myself continuing beyond the quick fix I settle for.  The theme of the book follows the process of creative life. There is a narrative that spans the highs and lows, but still brings the process into a clear place to see the whole process.

I needed to see the whole arc. Despite that I wouldn’t define myself as a working artist, I have always ascknowledged a creative desire. As such, when the desire left, I couldn’t see beyond it for myself. But this book was able to remind me of the whole arc and put myself in a context. It gave me hope that I wasn’t lost forever.

I’m considering rereading it again immediately. This read has been therapeutic, but done without the exercises. I am deep enough in a creative drought, that I think the exercises will help. And they are gentle enough to move me in the direction I need to go.