Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form.

become with originality. These days, I’m far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.

Einstein called this tactic “combinatory play”—the act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another.

Human beings have been creative beings for a really long time—long enough and consistently enough that it appears to be a totally natural impulse.

(because in the end, creativity is a gift to the creator, not just a gift to the audience).

It’s all just a game. A big, freaky, wonderful game. Which is fine, because the trickster likes freaky. Freaky is his natural environment.

(As Joan Didion said, “I don’t know what I think until I write about it.”)

People don’t do this kind of thing because they have all kinds of extra time and energy for it; they do this kind of thing because their creativity matters to them enough that they are willing to make all kinds of extra sacrifices for it.

But to yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.