Guest Post: Creativity

by Jamie Campbell, in Guest (2 Comments)

This week we have a guest post from Jessica Peterson, writer of the wonderful blog A Word of Two, about a Word.

Having recently watched a video of a speech by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love), I have to agree that there are moments when it is our creativity that takes the wheel, sometimes even without our realization.

Those little moments of inspiration can pop up anywhere and at anytime, leaving you scrambling to find the nearest pen and paper in order to capture your thoughts. But what happens when you can’t find one or the other? Or neither? How far are you willing to go for that one little flash of fleeting genius? Are you willing to hold onto it, chasing it down until it’s yours?  Will you repeat it over and over praying that you’ll remember it later when you do find that pen and paper?  Or do you just let it go, hoping it will come back to you later?  But what if it doesn’t?  What if it rolls on to the next unsuspecting soul?  Would you be just as happy?  Just as long as such a beautiful thought managed to find it’s way onto paper, in order for eyes to devour it?

As a writer, (as I’m sure any person invested in any craft or hobby can relate), these are some of my most cherished moments.  Besides the thrill of chasing down that titillating tidbit, I tingle with awe and gratitude to think that I’ve been blessed with such inspiration.  There have been times when I’ve been so in the zone, completely unaware of where the words flowing through me, pouring out my fingertips, are coming from.  When looking back at passages that I’ve written in these trances I am surprised at the beauty of it all, the language, the flow, the emotion it evokes, and it almost seems as though it were a force even greater than myself that came from within in order to produce something so amazing.

It’s moments like these that make writing so exciting.  And although I don’t find myself actively awaiting another, I admit that deep down I’m left in eager anticipation, wondering when and where I’ll be hit with the next one.

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