From Wislawa Szymborska‘s Nobel Prize in Literature Lecture, December 7, 1996: I value that little phrase “I don’t know” highly. It’s small, but it flies on mighty wings. It expands our lives to include the spaces within us as well as those outer expanses in which our tiny Earth hangs suspended. If Isaac Newton had…
I discovered these “principles of creativity” on a handout I made for a workshop I led ten years ago (yikes.) In any case, I believe they still hold up: Creativity comes from the heart. Our hearts are what inspire our creativity. Listening to the heart’s wisdom, we have the courage to do something different, try…
David Lynch, the legendary director of many noteworthy films including Elephant Man and Eraserhead, was once asked by Terry Gross on Fresh Air what he does when he makes a movie. After a long pause he replied, “You know, when I’m making a movie, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Of course there is something…
In the 1920s, Lincoln Steffans was a history student at the University of California Berkeley. As a freshman, he became engrossed in history and read everything he could find on the subject. It soon became clear to him, however, that these scholars of history did not agree. He discovered that history was not a set…
The artist Paul Reynard was asked before he died, “What is the place of art in contemporary life?” He responded, “The question could well be formulated as ‘What is the place of love in contemporary life?’” I’ve always loved that statement–it says so much. I’m also enthralled with his writings on the creative process. He…
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