This lines strikes well, Duane: "rhythmic sacredness of daily ritual." I like that you use 'sacredness' to describe the daily ritual. Rather than simply being a routine task/ritual, there is a reverance and respect for it as part of the creative process. Well-said.
Thanks so much Neil! Daily routine and ritual are absolutely essential to my creative process. There’s no way I could do anything I do without them. With that being said, it’s the best and most sacred way I can approach both my making and the day.
I know it’s somewhat cliche, but I always remember Chuck Close’s quote, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” To me, that “and get to work” is the watering. My students often think inspiration is going to be shipped to them the next day air by the muse. Ha! I tell them inspiration takes work. Usually, it is the work. Input-output. It is the by-product of what we consume (music, books, movies, food, etc.) and the research we do if trying to solve a problem. It’s about knowing history and staying aware of what’s hip, now and wow.
Thanks so much for reading Bob! Great to hear from you again! Love that quote and I agree with it completely. Inspiration is culmination of tedious and monotonous effort. It’s slow and incremental. It’s not only planting and watering, it’s weeding and pruning. It chopping wood and carrying water as Dogen might say. What often feels like a bolt of lightning, out of the blue, has been a gradual accrual all along. Something quietly forming in the dark soil of ourselves, that finally blossoms and blooms. Thanks for such a great comment!
Thanks so much!! I’ve been experimenting with masking and spray paint, I’m really enjoy the effect, lots more to explore there I think! So glad this resonated with you, definitely something I needed to be reminded of. Most of these newsletters are notes to self, lol.
"We don't believe in carrying corkscrews. We believe in planting vineyards. And, we show up to water it everyday."
Beautiful Duane! Love that. Interestingly https://elifshafak.substack.com/ just posted about inspiration today. A touching post.
I left a comment, might as well put it here too!
Inspiration. Yes, it is really about opening your heart—unguarded, vulnerable, receptive. It begins not with effort, but with permission: the quiet willingness to be touched, to be pierced, to be moved by something greater than your own mind. This might come from a phrase, a glint of light on the floor, a memory, a gesture, a sound—or from nothing at all but a breeze that brushes the edge of your awareness and says, wake up.
It is a two-way street, but not a transaction. You must first become a vessel, cleared of noise and ready to hold something unknown. This requires trust, patience, and a certain inner stillness. You must be willing to receive and to not immediately respond. To live with the spark in your chest, letting it kindle and grow warm. To protect it, even from your own ambition.
For the true gift of inspiration asks to be nurtured in silence before it can be shaped into expression. It is a seed. And seeds do not flourish in haste. They ask for dark soil, for time, for the slow work of transformation. Only then can the response arise—not as a reaction, but as a deep echo, a call returned, a whisper woven into the fabric of your own being.
This is why the artist, the poet, the contemplative, lives in a state of listening. To be inspired is to be breathed into, and in return, to breathe out something that was never entirely yours to begin with.
This lines strikes well, Duane: "rhythmic sacredness of daily ritual." I like that you use 'sacredness' to describe the daily ritual. Rather than simply being a routine task/ritual, there is a reverance and respect for it as part of the creative process. Well-said.
Thanks so much Neil! Daily routine and ritual are absolutely essential to my creative process. There’s no way I could do anything I do without them. With that being said, it’s the best and most sacred way I can approach both my making and the day.
I know it’s somewhat cliche, but I always remember Chuck Close’s quote, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” To me, that “and get to work” is the watering. My students often think inspiration is going to be shipped to them the next day air by the muse. Ha! I tell them inspiration takes work. Usually, it is the work. Input-output. It is the by-product of what we consume (music, books, movies, food, etc.) and the research we do if trying to solve a problem. It’s about knowing history and staying aware of what’s hip, now and wow.
Great post. I think I’ll get to work.
Thanks so much for reading Bob! Great to hear from you again! Love that quote and I agree with it completely. Inspiration is culmination of tedious and monotonous effort. It’s slow and incremental. It’s not only planting and watering, it’s weeding and pruning. It chopping wood and carrying water as Dogen might say. What often feels like a bolt of lightning, out of the blue, has been a gradual accrual all along. Something quietly forming in the dark soil of ourselves, that finally blossoms and blooms. Thanks for such a great comment!
Incredible work!
Thanks so much Michele! I appreciate it!
"We don't believe in carrying corkscrews. We believe in planting vineyards. And, we show up to water it everyday." - I love this!
Thanks so much! Glad pulled the right strings for you too!
Love the first collage! Your words are always, always inspiring and on point.
Thanks so much!! I’ve been experimenting with masking and spray paint, I’m really enjoy the effect, lots more to explore there I think! So glad this resonated with you, definitely something I needed to be reminded of. Most of these newsletters are notes to self, lol.
I totally get that. Sometimes I feel like everything I write, I write to myself and for myself.
Super cool experiment!
Hard same! Thanks again!
I came straight into this post from (a well overdue) reading of Bachelard's Poetics of Space, a very natural theme transition of memory and ritual.
Thanks Nigel! Poetics of Space has been on my TBR list for far too long. I’ll definitely have to check it out soon! Thanks for the reminder!
"We don't believe in carrying corkscrews. We believe in planting vineyards. And, we show up to water it everyday."
Beautiful Duane! Love that. Interestingly https://elifshafak.substack.com/ just posted about inspiration today. A touching post.
I left a comment, might as well put it here too!
Inspiration. Yes, it is really about opening your heart—unguarded, vulnerable, receptive. It begins not with effort, but with permission: the quiet willingness to be touched, to be pierced, to be moved by something greater than your own mind. This might come from a phrase, a glint of light on the floor, a memory, a gesture, a sound—or from nothing at all but a breeze that brushes the edge of your awareness and says, wake up.
It is a two-way street, but not a transaction. You must first become a vessel, cleared of noise and ready to hold something unknown. This requires trust, patience, and a certain inner stillness. You must be willing to receive and to not immediately respond. To live with the spark in your chest, letting it kindle and grow warm. To protect it, even from your own ambition.
For the true gift of inspiration asks to be nurtured in silence before it can be shaped into expression. It is a seed. And seeds do not flourish in haste. They ask for dark soil, for time, for the slow work of transformation. Only then can the response arise—not as a reaction, but as a deep echo, a call returned, a whisper woven into the fabric of your own being.
This is why the artist, the poet, the contemplative, lives in a state of listening. To be inspired is to be breathed into, and in return, to breathe out something that was never entirely yours to begin with.
Wonderfully stated!