Creativity: The Transformative Power of Getting Lost
To be creative, one must become totally lost in his work. It’s almost a type of trance or hypnosis where you go to a place that is distant and beyond where you are in physical time and space. The obsession remains as long as the creative work is unfolding. Once it stops, though, it is almost as though memory forgets this project as you move on to the next.
Creativity is the journey; rarely is it the destination for those whose minds are truly lost in the process. Creating is fun, challenging, exciting. As I’ve often said, I write because I love to write; I do not write to be published. Getting published is a byproduct. I am most absorbed in my focus when I am working. I want to be pushed and challenged, and that comes from living within the fantasy. My brain and the chemicals secreted during the time of creation in my body nearly demand it. It is a natural high.
How do you find this place? Think of something that fills you with excitement today. Find a safe and quiet place where you can relax and let things flow. Let everyone know that you need your time. Then sink and get lost in your own wonderful thoughts. Let them flow from the deepest part of you, down your arms, through your fingers, and onto the screen. Don’t worry about what you write (all that will come later). Instead, just revel in the flow that comes.
I love the focus of being in the zone. The creative process for me begins with a goal, a specific goal that my mind can zero in on. My wife calls it tunnel vision. I get so lost that I forget myself, I forget my age-related pains, I forget my life-related problems. All I see is the one clear goal as I sink down into it. May you, today, as you write, get lost in that clear, deep zone that lies at the base of who you are, the place with the connection to all that is. Enjoy the moment, think of nothing else, feel the peace enfold you, lose yourself in the dream.
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