Going With the Flow

I talk a lot about energy flow. I am constantly endeavoring to catch my creative energy at its peak, to understand it, to use it and live with it. This is what an artist must do.

We don't learn about our own energy by doing what others are doing. It takes incredible focus to home in on your own source. What truly feeds and energizes you? What wipes you out? More than likely, you don't follow the crowd.

Indeed, artists are unique. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written about the paradoxes of the creative personality, and first on his list is the way creative people channel their energy. Csikszentminhalyi explains that creative folks "control their energy; it's not ruled by the calendar, the clock, an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries."

One area I'm constantly monitoring is online activity. Contrary to much marketing advice, I am choosing to do less and less with social media. When I frequently Twitter and post and update my Facebook status, my energy springs a leak, or two, or three.

By contrast, quietude fills my creativity. I can almost hear the gentle splashing as my pool of quiet swells and overspills with ideas and strength and ability and stamina.

Week by week, month by month, we can find new ways to work with the energy we have. What are you learning about your own energy lately?