Feed the Beast
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 3:53PM 
Creativity is like sex.
The more you engage in it, the more you want to do it.
On an old episode of "Grey's Anatomy," two characters (Izzy and Alex) sleep with each other and are suddenly enmeshed in desire. The more sex they have, the more they want. Izzy describes it as "feeding the beast" that had been sleeping quietly until she woke it up and fed it. Now it wants to be fed all the time!
Yes, creativity is like that.
I'm not talking about unhealthy addictions here. And I realize that your relationship with sexuality may be completely different than how I'm using the analogy. If the sex talk freaks you out, just discard it and think of something else that is part of a healthy self-feeding loop, like a runner's high or the craving for fresh fruit once you get a taste of the summer's first crop. Desire sparks desire. Creativity sparks creativity. Ideas spark more ideas.
Creative droughts can make us feel like we'll never write/paint/sing/knit/photograph again. But the more we immerse ourselves in creative pursuits, the more paths we see to pursue.
Here's to feeding your inner creativity beast, one little morsel at a time until it's joyously ravenous.
Reader Comments (7)
This is reminiscent of some of my favorite female writers- D.L. Sayers and Madeliene L'Engle would stand and cheer your post. I stand and cheer in their absence.
yep.
love that.
here's to it. (and lots of deep breaths)
(P.S. - Hi! I have finally found your site here - I have just been visiting the ones that come up on bloglines - but you had moved so you weren't coming up anymore - but here I am!!!)