The ONE Word All Writing Geniuses Believe In

What could that one word be? It must be a huge word. Superfluous, perhaps. Or inconceivable. Maybe that's why William Goldman gave inconceivable such prominence in The Princess Bride. Actually, that's inconceivable. He didn't know the one word. And it's a much smaller word than inconceivable anyway. My FIRST video, short and sweet, on my YouTube channel, takes a guess at it. And from the grave, hopefully Tolstoy will roll over (assuming he's face down) and say something other than, "Nyet." Check out the video here. If you like it (or not), start writing and maybe subscribe and we could end up as friends or at least agree to disagree. Over here, we're cheering for your creative process.

Michael J. Fox on CREATIVITY

If you have the blues amidst all that is going down these days, or whenever, I don't have the answer. But I like what the relentlessly brave and funny Michel J. Fox said here on CBC, and I will try and apply it.

Referring to his most recent book, Fox said:

"I mean, who knows why we do [create] these things. I didn't necessarily think, 'Oh, there's an audience for this [book]' or whatever. I just thought, 'I'm compelled to put this down.'"

Surely 99.9% of us are creating under that reality, so let's face up to it and create. Michael J. got creative despite advanced Parkinson's, a tumor in his back (thankfully benign) and a crushed arm. In fact, that was what he got creative about. Check out this video to see what your life can offer your creativity.

Then Fox says:

photo by Alan Light (he didn't say "photo by Alan light." I'm just giving the photographer credit). Micheal J. said the quote below.

"..I thought about the idea of the future, and then it came to me that the future is the last thing we run out of. We run out of breath. We run out of everything. Then there comes a point where we have no more future and that's the end of it."

"But until then there's always something in the future to be optimistic about, to look forward to. It may change our circumstances or it may not, but that will run out, so enjoy it while you have it."

How great is that to hear? I have to think that's both the truth and advice. What do we know beyond that last breath? Until then surely many different beautiful, sacred, banal, glorious things WILL happen. Finding optimism in the 'you never know' future is useful. It may even be a spiritual path. Who knows? It's the same for writing. You never know until you actually put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

So write or sing or paint and see what happens. See what happens can be the foundation of getting down to the beautiful creating. Or at least let's make it a a big part of it...

I see beautiful things happening. Yes.

Anthony Hopkins' CREATIVE Tip of the Day

I've heard lately some things Anthony Hopkins has said, and they've struck a chord deep within me and my journey/process. It was good and useful to read the following:

We are dying from overthinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It's a death trap.

Elena Torre photo

Yes, the mind can be a death trap, yet simultaneously full of beauty and offer possible escapes from the deathtrap—if only temporarily. Creativity is one of those escapes (with its own traps of ego and frustration). Therein lies a dilemma worth considering. Does it make you happy to create? Choose the path most joyful. Life and joy are precious commodities. Live as big as you can, express those secrets and desires and longings and aches in your body and mind. That might just make a first draft of something magnificent.

Enjoy and love your creative journey, love your strengths, accept your weaknesses, creative and personal, and carry on. Life is all we have and know. Hardly anybody actually cares THAT MUCH about what I'm creating (or ultimately anybody else, for that matter), so I have to keep trying to be myself. How about you? Be your creative self. People who have done more than I can ever dream of doing have been forgotten, and only died yesterday. Be free. Be free to screw up. Be free to take risks. Trust in the youth of your instincts. Love your kin and wider. Tae a deep breath and create.

Anthony Hopkins, for the record, is also an accomplished composer and a wild artist, or vice versa.

Create.