Creativity Tips: In the Mood

There are many different kinds of creativity. In my world, these often fall into two categories: professional and personal.

Professional creative activities include my client work. I don't wait for "the mood" to strike before I do these. Or, perhaps I do, but the work mood strikes every day. Deadlines -- and paychecks -- inspire me.

Then, there are those other creative endeavors. You know, the sock monkeys. I have a list of five or six people, including Mary, waiting for their monkeys. There's the T-shirt quilt Kate expected for college graduation. Yeah ... no. Hell, I haven't finished the baby quilts for Kate and Mary yet.

My point? When it comes to personal creativity, I do what I do when I want to do it -- and that's fine. I will get the monkeys and quilts done, or I won't. It's not brain surgery.

This blog falls somewhere between professional and personal. For a long time, I considered it an important daily deadline. Then, I didn't. Now ... well, I'm still not interested in adding another daily deadline to the schedule, but I do feel I have new ideas and stories to share.

Frankly, I also miss you. (Sidenote: Never start a sentence with Frankly... or To tell the truth... or To be honest ... because it implies the rest of your comments have been bold-faced lies.)

This realization came to me recently in a meeting. After my portion of the session ended, there was no graceful way to leave. So, I doodled. What came to mind, unbidden, was a list of blog ideas:

I'm a writer. Not a photographer.
Don't judge me.

You know what this list means to me? The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many blogs. Expect to see a bit more of me in the days ahead. No promises, and I could always get a headache. But at the moment, I think I'm in the mood.