Brenda Ueland on Creative Work

I think there is something necessary & life giving about creative work. A state of excitement. And it is like a faucet: nothing comes unless you turn it on and the more you turn it on, the more comes.  But this joyful, imaginative, impassioned energy dies out of us very young. Why? Because we do not see that it is great and important. Because we let dry obligation take it’s place. Because we don’t respect it in ourselves & keep it alive by using it. And because we don’t keep it alive in others by listening to them.  You must practise with all your intelligence and love. A great musician once told me one should never play a note without hearing it, feeling that it is true, thinking it beautiful. Writing, the creative effort, the use of the imagination, should come first of some part of everyday of your life. It is a wonderful blessing if you will use it. You will become happier, more enlightened, alive, impassioned, light hearted & generous to everybody else. Even your health will improve. Colds will disappear & all other ailments of discouragement & boredom. – Brenda Ueland