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Musings

The Act of Creation

Not everyone has the inclination or ability to create great works of art. Many people can play musical instruments, and some can write music as well as sing or dance, but not all of us can perform.

 

The fact is many of us are without creative talent. We can hum in the shower, and create rudimentary drawings, and that's it.

 

But this doesn't stop us from being creative beings. We strive to create, to express ourselves, and we often want others to consume our art, to acknowledge and enjoy it.

 

I have felt this desire my entire life. As a child, I immersed myself in drawing pictures, coloring, writing stories, taking photographs, and later, as a teen, writing poetry. I had no choice but to express myself, but for decades I denied that writing was the correct outlet for me.

 

I convinced myself that I could program software, release it, and that people would buy it, use it, and provide feedback so I could improve it. I tried for years to succeed at this, but I just didn't have the chops to write great software.

 

So I returned to writing. It wasn't like I had stopped, but I had given up on my dream of being published.

 

In late 2023 and early 2024, I sorted through all the poems I had created over the last few decades, graded them, and decided which ones to release. I published a book of poetry called When I Flew. It was a good book but didn't have a catchy cover, and it had limited success.

 

I unpublished not just that book, but several others, and decided to take publishing seriously. I found a great editor, someone I trust, and worked with her to refine my poems. I found someone to create an appropriate book cover and illustrations, as well as the entire book design, and I plan to publish the book we created together on October 1, 2024.

 

It's a book of dark themed poetry called In Letting Go.

 

How about you? Do you draw, or sing, or take photographs? Maybe you sew, or knit, and create all manner of home crafts?

 

Where do you expend your creative energy?

 

Please comment to this post or e-mail me, contact me on Facebook, or Instagram. I'm also available on YouTube.

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