February 27

Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and sur-M prise. All too often, when we say we want to be creative, we mean that we want to be able to be productive. Now, to be creative is to be productive—but by cooperating with the creative process, not forcing it. As creative channels, we need to trust the darkness. We need to learn to gently mull instead of churning away on a straight-ahead path. Hatching an idea is a lot like baking bread. An idea needs to rise. If you poke at it too much at the beginning, if you keep checking on it, it will never rise. A loaf of bread must stay for a good long time in the darkness and safety of the oven. Open that oven too soon and the bread collapses. Creativity requires a respectful reticence. The truth is that this is how to raise the best ideas. Let them grow in dark and mystery. Let them form on the roof of our consciousness. Let them hit the page in droplets. Trusting this slow and seemingly random drip, we will be startled one day by the flash of “Oh! That’s it! ”