Thank you for the follow, Jorien. This article of yours resonated with me. While I haven’t been writing all that much, I find that there are numerous paths to expressing creativity and one recent example was my suggestion of putting Nutella on as icing for a honey cake my mother has been making for decades without changing the recipe. When I thought about how to improve on it, that idea came up and now she’s absolutely thrilled. We literally had an awakening while eating it.

So although it’s tempting to force oneself to be creative, I find that creativity doesn’t really go away. It tends to flow into other avenues in life. Coming up with cooking ideas, home improvements, interior design or even witty and funny conversations with people are expressions of creativity.

So one thing I’ve learned is that guilting myself to write isn’t helpful in bringing out the best of who I am. That creative energy doesn’t have to end up in one place and I find that feelings of guilt or shame won’t create a work of profound genius unless it’s applied towards a tragic or melancholic means of expression. I like to think that in dark times, we need light and so all we can do is wait for the recognition of an opportunity to do just that. The Muse will show us the way when the time is right.

Thank you again! Cheers!