Reading time: Less than 1 minute
This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a creativity book by Joel Friedlander….
I always had a great deal of respect for Joel Friedlander, a blogger, book designer, publisher and owner of the Book Designer website, who died of cancer May 7/21. His site still offers a treasure-trove of material for self-publishers.
In 2018, he published a book on creativity titled Meeting the Muse. The book is about the motives that cause us to be creative.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the book, from chapter relating to our unique abilities:
We take in a huge amount that never gets into our conscious mind. Unrealized perceptions, intuitive connections, unspoken insights—these all become part of an unknown country, our own unconscious—the “dark side of the moon.”
This is our curse—and our salvation, because in that underground world creativity runs strong, clear, and constant, even if it’s largely unknown. It is ready to come to the surface to be a source of inspiration for your work, for yourself, for your mission here on Earth, if you’re open to it.
Treasure the uniqueness of now: it will never come again. Even if you try to recapture it, the light will be different, what you ate last night will be different, the scene will have changed, and, above all, you will be different because you have no choice but to keep changing.
If you feel your muse is failing to show up, consult this creativity book for some extra inspiration.
An earlier version of this post first appeared on my blog on Sept. 24/18.
