Signposts and Guides for the Creative Life

I think there are more people who go on vacation this last part of summer than any other time of the year.  Several of my friends are away or planning for trips in the next few weeks.  So this quote from Brenda Ueland, journalist and author of the book If You Want to Write:  A Book About Art, Independence, and Spirit seems like an appropriate one.

" So you see, imagination needs moodling - long inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering."

I read of friends switching up what they're doing to take a break from their main tasks; I do this myself.  Too much painting, I'll head down to the kitchen to cook up some of the vegetables from this week's farm share.  I'll go spend some time with the grandchildren and enter their worlds of play.  I'll go online to read or write or clean up old files.

Less often, I'll actually allow the luxury of a good dawdling day.  But vacation - ahh - none of the distractions that beckon us.  We can sink into uselessness, eat when we want to, go for a walk or not, read, look at the ocean or the lake or the sunsets.   For days.  Sometimes it takes a while for the brain to settle down, to reach the idle stage.

And that's when the imagination has a chance to shine.  You come back from vacation rested and energized - but also with such exciting ideas that you can't wait to get to work.

May you find your moodling time in these last days of summer.  And may you allow yourself mini moodles throughout the year!