Just Do It! That Nike TM phrase is my Soul’s reminder to “get moving! already.” Sounds more like a Yiddishe mama, nu?

But jumping in to the keyboard without an “assignment” from an editor just seems so lame – so self-serving.

I have nine columns and stories to research, schedule and write before I’m deep into winter skiing, and this blog on creativity just seems so beside the point – especially when I have so many “real” writing gigs to do.

At the same time, I just love this consciousness loop focused on creativity itself. It’s like a beloved domesticated wild animal, a lion say, that pauses in its life tracks just to touch base with me – its adored compadre in Life’s endeavor – just to rub noses or foreheads or a scuffle-hug before going about the business of marking territory, reading the news of competitors and checking on the herds in the veldt.

I confess, however, this very focus on creativity is highly distorting – each look there can be explosive – creating and destroying in the same glance.

Artists of all stripes complain about creative ambiguity as a part of their process. Writers of course call it writer’s block, painters call it petrifying (see Julie Gilbert Pollard’s post, The Exhilarating and Petrifying Act of Making Art, reply-feb51c797261027a-112332_HTML-252877073-1302102-688@artists-hub.com).

Creative block is just part and parcel of human creativity – and the more you produce, the bigger the creative abyss. But what a wonderful conundrum to wake up to every day.

The hardest part, however, is remembering that everything we experience in daily life is a product of our choices, whether it be focusing on daily soap operas or World War theaters. I actually still balk and resist this metaphysical truism so oft repeated through various incarnate and discarnate entities.

When things are good, they are very good and I take credit for all of it. When it’s bad, it has nothing to do with me – I’m a poor empty bag blowing in the wind, “Oh woe, alack and alas.”

But the good, the bad and the sad is a tale for another blog post. I’m feeling particularly competent this morning and have people to see and places to go. So until next time, good creating!