Persistence, Patience and Personal Integrity

All the year-end news stories are about what has been big this year, what "blew up." So many things that no one could have imagined a year ago and no one will remember a year from now. But these are the things that have made conversation this year, so they are temporarily news. 

I am reminded of how many conversations I've had with fellow musicians and business people about how we can "blow up." We want to figure out how to become the topic of converstion, to catch the wave of a current trend or maybe start a new one. 

But I am struck by the temporary nature of it. If we are trendy, what will we do 5 or 10 years from now? I feel the desire to slow down and to find what I believe in strongly enough to fight for it through thick and thin. What is there in myself that is uniquely me? What is true about my art and my personality? What will I keep doing whether it is fashionable or not? 

I must seek these parts of myself. The parts that are true, that are strong, that are unshakable. I must be patient, persistent and true to myself. 

Limitless Creativity

I often wonder about where creativity comes from. Why does it come so naturally to some, especially children, and not to others. Is it a skill? Is it a gift from some unknown being? Even defining creativity is a challenge. Is a painter more creative than a scientist? A musician more than a politician? Every line of work requires dealing with unforeseen situations and coming up with brand new solutions. That is the very definition of creativity: making something that was not there before. 

Mystery. A deep, bottomless well. If creativity comes from within us; if we know the boundaries, then we can be certain that it is limited. That it will run out someday, perhaps soon, perhaps a long time from now. But if we acknowledge the mystery of creativity, if we are humble about its origins, if we do not claim to know where it comes from or how, then it is boundless. It is a product of the universe. It is limitless.