MSEL: Staying with problems longer

The following is from my July newsletter, and I liked it so much that I wanted to share it this week, particularly because I’ve been printing and sewing like crazy this week to get orders out and prep for Renegade…

Every time I sit down to write my monthly newsletter (or even a blog post), I wonder what I have to say that is interesting and new.

I ask myself if I should even bother sending a newsletter if I have nothing exciting to say. I was telling my friend Liz this, and she responded, “Jen, the discipline of writing your newsletter each month *is* the important thing.”

I think we often don’t create because we feel we don’t have anything to say, or we’re feeling uninspired. But sitting down and pounding something out regardless is every bit as important (many would say even more important) than being inspired.

One of my favorite Einstein quotes is “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s that I stay with problems longer.” Dr. Einstein was, of course, being overly modest, but there’s a huge kernel of truth in that. It’s not that one artist is more talented than another; it’s that one artist has the discipline to show up to work, even when her creative well is empty.

So, that’s what I have to say this week. If you want to create, do it. And keep doing it. Don’t worry about what you have to say. Stay with your “problems” longer, and your muse – and your genius  will eventually show up.