“Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred.

What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all.

We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits.

We are terrified, and we are brave.

Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege.

Only when we are our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us.

Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I

promise- you can make anything.”

– Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic – Creative Living Beyond Fear.

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I have a creative soul.

I have spent my entire life living creatively with a force beyond my control. It can be relentless and often demanding at times, frequently pushing me to reach beyond my comfort level, but thankfully, I have graciously learned to accept and embrace its intentions instead of always fearing them.

As much as I have given the creative content of my artwork over to my inner child, the direction it takes is guided by this insatiable force. The more I feed it, the hungrier it gets and the more it demands of me.

This I believe to be a good thing, for I feel the ground beneath my feet is leveling out. There seem to be fewer potholes for me to stumble into or roots to trip me up – the path has become clearer, with fewer boogeymen along the way.

These are the types of books that I unapologetically read to nourish this creative force within me and to ward off the creative boogeyman.

Occasionally, I will share excerpts from these books (like the one above) that have inspired me, with the hopes that maybe they may inspire that creative force within you as well.

Happy reading!