Quotes and Thoughts on Creativity

I used to be an avid collector of quotes but I'm not so much anymore.  Occasionally, though, a quote or two will come along that I want to save.  I thought I'd share with you, too.

From Kevin Kelly at The Technium.

• You have 5 minutes to act on a new idea before it disappears from your mind.  [This is often true for me. A half hour goes by and I find I'm scrating my head trying to remember what that wonderful idea I had was.]
  
• When you are stuck or overwhelmed, focus on the smallest possible thing that moves your project forward.
• When you find yourself procrastinating, don’t resist.  Instead lean into it.  Procrastinate 100%.  Try to do absolutely nothing for 5 minutes.  Make it your job.  You’ll fail.  After 5 minutes, you’ll be ready and eager to work.
  

From Miss Mustard Seed, who shared these thoughts after a relaxing, creative retreat with a like-minded artist.  Of the experience she wrote,

    . . . it was a time spent mulling over little things in my business, simmering on new ideas and thoughts, and, probably most importantly, it gave me time to plug in to a lot of creative encouragement from authors, podcasters, and [her friend] Shaunna.  People spoke into things like time management, the energy required for good creative work, cultivating a flow of ideas, ways to prevent or deal with burn-out, some of the pitfalls of social media, failure, and more.
   It was all a good reminder that rest is a crucial part of work and input is every bit as important as output.”

I love this gentle reminder that creativity needs time, encouragement, energy.

--Nancy.