Procrastination is not Laziness”, I tell him. “It is fear. Call it by its right name, and forgive yourself.

Writing is like breathing, it’s possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.

When we seek daily spiritual guidance, we are guided toward the next step forward for our art. Sometimes the step is very small. Sometimes the step is, “Wait. Not now.” Sometimes the step is, “Work...

Art is an act of the soul, not the intellect. When we are dealing with people’s dreams – their visions, really – we are in the realm of the sacred. We are involved with forces...

The reward for attention is always healing.

We have this idea that we need to be in the mood to write. We don’t.

Judging your early artistic efforts is artist abuse.

Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting is often...

Anger is meant to be acted upon. It is not meant to be acted out.

Being in the mood to write, like being in the mood to make love, is a luxury that isn’t necessary in a long-term relationship. Just as the first caress can lead to a change of...

Far from making me feel different and special, my [spiritual] experiences made me feel the same, ordinary, and interconnected. If I felt more spiritual, everyone else felt more spiritual as well. (276)

When you feel yourself to be in critical condition, you must treat yourself as gently as you would a sick friend.

Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.

Doing it all the time, whether or not we are in the mood, gives us ownership of our writing ability. It takes it out of the realm of conjuring where we stand on the rock...

Sometimes the dying live more fiercely and wisely than the rest of us. (146)

The doing of something productive regardless of the outcome is an act of faith. The doing of a small something when a large something is too much for us is perhaps especially an act of...

No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly...

I ask to be made beautiful like the trees are beautiful, each growing according to a unique plan. Lop off a limb and and the tree will accommodate it’s loss, still growing and still beautiful....

God does not give us more than we can handle,” I am told but I wonder if God doesn’t overestimate me just a little. Or perhaps, and this is likely, I underestimate God.

A career must be husbanded. Care must be taken. Everyday must bring some small bit of progress. How would an artist with any self-worth act? Act that way.

Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness

There is a treadmill quality to workaholism.

You do not need to work to become spiritual. You are spiritual; you need only to remember that fact. Spirit is within you. God is within you. (67)

If we are interested in a writing life – as opposed to a writing career – then we are in it for the process and not the product – for the body of work and...

Most of us are not raised to actively encounter our destiny. We may not know that we have one. As children, we are seldom told we have a place in life that is uniquely ours...

credit” must come from.

There is no fact, no detail of our life too sordid for God’s intervention. God has seen murder. God has seen rape. God has seen drug addiction’s and alcoholism’s utter degradation. God is available to...

log on” somewhere, and if it is only in cyberspace, that is still far better than nowhere at all. (264)

If we have plain old ordinary fear then we are within reach of a solution. Fear has been with humankind for millennia and we do know what to do about it–pray about it, talk about...

Creativity occurs in the moment, and in the moment we are timeless.

(50)

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.

Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite — getting something down.

The heart of creativity is an experience of the mystical union; the heart of the mystical union is an experience of creativity.

Basic Principles:1. Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.2. There is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life — including ourselves.3. When we open ourselves to our...

Those who speak in spiritual terms routinely refer to God as creator but seldom see “creator” as the literal term for “artist”. I am suggesting you take the term “creator” quite literally. You are seeking...

Serious art is born from serious play.

Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can.

We should write because it is human nature to write. Writing claims our world. It makes it directly and specifically our own. We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful...

I believe that what we want to write wants to be written

The need to be a great artist makes it hard to be an artist. The need to produce a great work of art makes it hard to produce any art at all.