Who gets to see your creative process?

The other day I took a brief sabbatical from my obligations, posting a line from the poet Mary Oliver on my cottage door. 


I’d scrawled her fierce incantation in bold magic marker:  
"Don’t bother me.  I’ve just been born."

  
What's involved in this act of self-creation? 

You begin by making time to be. To follow hunches or write down your dreams.  Pick up your paints and play with the color green.  Read poetry with abandon.  Dance barefoot in the moonlight. Tell your story to a grove of trees. 

There's a letting go that precedes this sudden burst of artistry. Quite simply, Late Blooming requires us to relinquish those relationships that diminish and distract--to stop being so easy going and polite and cultivate creative ruthlessness.  

No apologies! No distractions! No to the soul-drainers, the wishy-washy, the un-committed, the folks who always hedge their bets. (Really? Are these the people you want to hold your tender, newborn self?) 

And what about all those energy sappers?  The friend who wants more time than you can give, the relative who relies upon your kindness but secretly resents you for it. the colleague who forgets your name when its time for handing out the credit?  What do these people matter now?

When you fall in love with the creative process, you will have little patience for sullen, the ungrateful, the whiny and the disaffected and feel personally affronted by those who can't commit.  The creative curmudgeon in you says: Waffling is a vice for the young and uninitiated.  It’s not a badge that proclaims your open mindedness.  

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.”   That’s how Henry Miller saw it with his keen night vision. You're all in, no matter what the risk.

Late Blooming is a wild fling with the unknown.  A passion that grabs you by the shoulder when you least expect it saying, "Time to change your life."  So welcome this affair.  Don’t pull away from it.  As to the rest, allow yourself to say, Good riddance and goodbye! 

Today's assignment:  Do one activity you love and rarely have time to pursue. 

Decide who and what you're going to invite across the threshold of your life.

And for extra credit, break a rule.  Stand in the middle of a great cathedral and dare to pierce the silence with the power of your song.