No matter where your ideas come from or what they look like, they all eventually pass through a particular aspect of yourself: the editor, the gatekeeper. This is who will determine the final expression of the work, regardless of how many selves were involved in its construction.

Whatever you choose, it’s helpful to have fellow travelers around you. They don’t have to be like you, just like-minded in some way. Creativity is contagious. When we spend time with other artistic people, we absorb and exchange a way of thinking, a way of looking at the world. This group can be called a Sangha. Each person in this relationship

This energy is not generated by us. We are caught by it. We picked it up from the work. It contains the charge. A contagious vitality that pulls us forward.

A way to practice keeping a clean slate is to avoid looking at the work too often. If you finish a section or come to a sticking point, consider putting the project away and not engaging with it for a period of time. Let it sit for a minute, a week, or longer, while you go get lost. Meditation is a valuable tool for hitting the reset button. You

it’s helpful to remember that the challenge is not that you can’t do it, but that you haven’t done it yet.

This is not a direct correlation. It’s a fluid relationship. When learning a new language, you may be able to ask a question, speak a beautifully memorized phrase, or accidentally say something humorous. At the same time, you may feel unable to share bigger ideas, more nuanced feelings, and express the full extent of who you are. The more we

An idea gathers energy, building charge, yearning to be embraced. We can hear it, see it, imagine it, but it may be an inch further away than we can currently reach. As we trace back over it, again and again, more and more detail comes into focus and we become wholly consumed.

This cycle of practice and adaptation creates multifaceted growth. You are building concentration and focus, and training your brain to learn more effectively. More easily. As a result, other skills are lifted as well.

It’s commonly thought that achieving artistic mastery means working tirelessly. This is true. But it’s only half of it. There may be benefit in taking breaks, in stepping away and returning at a later point. Whether when practicing your instrument or over the course of your life’s work, recovery at the opportune time will cause greater leaps in