“Watch for those sparks!” This is usually stated in a warning tone, but I’m encouraging you to hear it as an imperative. Fires, and creative fires as well, all begin as a spark...and they are easy to miss.
Kate's turn:
I won’t belabor all the reasons we might miss them; I’d rather highlight how to capture them, so we can kindle that creativity.
My friend, who claims she has no creativity in her, said she wants to paint a wall in her home differently. Now THAT is a spark. She can go with that, and see where it takes her.
Another friend says she absolutely has no time to be creative; life is full already with commitments. But when I visited her home, I saw that huge spray of tropical flowers arching from her countertop. Now that is kindling her spark, for what is possible at this time in her life.
I’m keen on watching for sparks in my watercolor creativity as I’m consciously kindling that avenue. But I almost missed the spark that invited me to create new images in how I teach energy medicine/qigong. I am always trying to improve ways to help people connect with the subtle energies, and cultivate them on their own. So when some images drifted through my random thoughts while I was walking this morning, they were ignored. But when they drifted back again for a second pass in my own qigong practice, it struck me that my Muse was offering me a spark; this time I paid attention and jotted it down to kindle it later.
Get Fired Up:
I always carry a small spiral memo notebook to jot down my sparks. They seem to appear out of the blue, when I’m immersed in another train of thought. But jotting the essence of the spark helps me recall it later to develop more.
And I watch for times that I get delighted by something I see, hear or read….it’s usually an indicator of my Muse, tickling me to pay attention. Things I love, and that I love enough to be delighted by them, indicate a passion, a spark for a passion, waiting to be kindled and expressed through me. For example, when I walk in the morning light, the shadow of a palm on a home with a beautiful plantation staircase ALWAYS delights me; I LOVE the entire scene. And after viewing it day after day, I think I just have to capture the essence of that beauty and delight in a watercolor.
How are YOU going to “Watch for those sparks!” ?
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