An Ode to the Creative Self

As I’ve alluded to a few times, I’ve been on a writing hiatus of sorts. You might be on one, too. Perhaps you’ve been stalling on tackling that passion project you’ve cared about, or the New Year’s resolutions you set in January...which was nine months ago (I’m still not over it being September already.)

I’m here to say that I get it. There are so many things competing for our attention, and resistance really loves to get in the way of what we love to do.

For me, resistance loves rearing its ugly head every time I sit in front of my keyboard. It sounds like this nagging little thought: “Well, I write and write and edit every day at work; I don’t want to spend my free time doing the same thing.” (I’m my own worst buzzkill, I know). This pesky sentiment, which likely has been the thing masking my writers’ block, has kept me creatively dry for a good few years now.

However, I’m here to say that there is hope. It’s never too late to get started.

How did I come to this dewey-eyed conclusion, though? Through some much-delayed spring cleaning (yes, I know it’s apple cider season.)

When I was cleaning through my laptop’s exceedingly cluttered hard drive a few nights ago, I found several of my folders from college.

Allowing myself a walk down memory lane, I combed through course notes, syllabi of old, and several manuscripts. Like, a lot of them. As an English major, much of my years at university involved writing and rewriting drafts of short stories, poetry, nonfiction and more. With emotions split between curiosity and trepidation, I went ahead and clicked through the different documents.

I laughed and cringed… a lot. I had several drafts from fiction courses, and dozens of pages of scrapped ideas and threads of potential (ask me about my CIA phone-tapping story one day). I left feeling inspired and on fire again. How could I improve upon these manuscripts? Maybe I could revisit them, now that I was slightly older and — hopefully — a little bit wiser. What once was left in a box in the corner of my mind was being dusted off and reexamined.

Is there a creative pursuit that you’ve put aside? I encourage you to take a look and see if there is anything you can do to revisit it. You’d be surprised at what you are impressed by. Or, better yet, you’re cringing just enough that you’re motivated to go and improve your work.

Ultimately, life is too short to wait around for the right idea to come along. Every single day is a gift, and we are not promised tomorrow. Take a look back at the things that you’ve worked on, and let that be a launchpad for your goals. You’ll be surprised at the inspiration that follows.

Everyone has that spark of creativity within themselves. Have you tapped into yours recently?