The phrase catches in the mind like a curious melody. Jumping from one thing to another, from a project half-formed to a spark igniting somewhere new. Is this the artist’s nature? The writer’s pulse? Inspiration stirs, and before the ink dries on one page, another vision demands its due. 🌈
At the desk, the lamp casts a golden pool of light. One manuscript sits half-finished, its edges softened by the weight of too many late nights. Beside it, a notebook, fresh, untainted by effort, tempts with the sharp clarity of a new idea. The hand moves from one to the other, restless, alive. This rhythm, this shifting current, defines creation. ✏️
A novel’s characters, half-formed, linger in the background, waiting for their resolution. But then, a sudden urge to outline a new world, a new cast of voices. It’s not abandonment; it’s momentum. Each thread, even if left hanging, leads somewhere, ties back to the unspoken tapestry of the whole. There’s no guilt in this leap, only the thrill of movement.
The question lingers, though: Is this procrastination? That familiar label, whispered by the disciplined and the wary. Or is it something subtler, something truer? Perhaps what appears as avoidance is a kind of trust, a faith in the organic unfolding of the process. Trust the pivot, the sidestep, the apparent detour. None of it’s wasted. The work finds its way. It always does. ✨
Deadlines loom, but the heart doesn’t clock in. It beats on its own time, obeys its own rhythm. The structure of any project, a story, a life, can’t be hammered into shape by sheer will. Rules and frameworks serve as scaffolding, sure, but the real architecture rises from intuition. Like a vine seeking the sun, it twists and turns, unconcerned with symmetry. ☀️
The unfinished manuscript stares back, patient, its spine unbroken by the weight of expectation. It waits as the hand sketches notes for the new idea. Words flow, not for an editor, not for a reader, but for the creator alone. This act, this intimate conversation between the self and the page, holds its own worth. The joy of crafting, raw, unfettered by approval or outcome, is the purest form of expression. 📚
Creation thrives in its own freedom. To chain it to outcomes, sales, acclaim, even the approval of one’s inner critic, dulls its spark. The novel, the painting, the melody, each exists for its creator first. The rest follows, as it should, in its own time. Even money, that ever-present specter, bows to the genuine flow of creation. There’s no need to chase it; it will find its place, trailing behind the energy of true work. 🚀
This isn’t to say discipline has no place. There’s a joy in the ritual of showing up, of putting pen to paper, fingers to keys, day after day. But discipline serves, not rules. The writer leads; the process follows. And sometimes, the process means abandoning one trail to blaze another. The detour isn’t failure; it’s part of the map.
Imagine this: a story’s arc stretches before you like a winding road. You travel it step by step, but the destination remains unseen. Each chapter builds a bridge to the next, even when you veer off course to explore a hidden path. The exploration enriches the journey. And when you return to the main road, the view is broader, the story richer.
Deadlines and expectations knock at the door, relentless and steady. But the creative soul doesn’t answer to their call. It knows the truth of its timing. What’s meant to be will come through in its season, ripened by trust and nurtured by the absence of fear. The novel unfinished, the poem half-written, these are not signs of failure. They’re part of a larger rhythm, a cosmic choreography that unfolds beyond our grasp. 🌟
Du coq à l’âne. The phrase loops back, a gentle reminder. Follow the thread of excitement wherever it leads. Dive into it fully, take it as far as it will go, until the spark fades or transforms. And then? Let it guide you to the next horizon, unburdened by expectation or regret. This is the essence of creation, to trust the leap, to treasure the process, to honor each step as its own form of completion.
The desk grows quiet as the night deepens. The unfinished manuscript, the fresh notebook, the scattered pens, all tools of a sacred craft. The work, in whatever stage, is whole. Creation is divine, a mirror reflecting the infinite within. And so, the hand moves once more, shaping, weaving, leaping, du coq à l’âne, crafting a story that’s as much about the journey as the end.
#CreativeFlow #TrustTheProcess #WriterLife #Inspiration #DuCoqALane #ArtistryUnfolded #SacredCraft
Amara Hartwood’s Official Website
Leave a comment