Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Blank Page as Sacred Space

The first thing I do upon waking these days is launch Birdhouse on the iPhone and write tweets. I face the blank page with complete trust in the Creative Source. Being still, waiting for ideas to emerge and transcribing them is a cycle of contemplative prayer.

Where do ideas come from? In one sense, they can be viewed as emergent manifestations of the brain. But beyond the dance of neurons there is a greater mystery. I call her my Muse.

If the idea is appealing to you, please give it a try and let me know how it goes.

3 comments:

Zha Ewry said...

The page of writing every day meme shows up in places like The Artists Way. First thing, or last, at some regular time, I find reserving time to listen to my inner muse deeply rewarding.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's words, sometimes it's drawings. From me, it comes about sometimes with stillness; other times with physical movement. Still other times in conversation (talking to the blank page...kinda like your post of a while back describing how Tom Waits would talk to his muse while he drove). The process itself is fascinating, isn't it? And has quite a life of its own...quite dismissive of any attempts to control it.

Botgirl Questi said...

Zha: I came inches from doing an Artists Way class with Sophrosyne a while back, but ended up not being able to fit it into my schedule. With all of the demands for time and attention, I've found that I can always take fifteen minutes before rolling out of bed.

Michele: It is a fascinating process for sure! Making daily space for that kind of writing has taken off what had been an almost continuous nagging itch to be creating stuff.