Creative Community

I have started and re-started this entry, looking for my foothold among swirling thoughts. First and foremost is my great relief to have found some time to blog today. When I stop and just feel how elated and alive I am on the days that I write, I truly have to wonder why it is that I ever let anything else come between me and this time. The reality is that I do and then wonder where my spark goes after a few days of abstinence.

As mentioned in previous entries, working part-time has been an interesting aspect of my days and I have known for some time that it is not because of the work itself but because of the people I have the privilege of working with. I have grown especially fond of the brothers who purchased my old business. In conversations over the past week I have discovered the power of creative connection in business. It doesn't seem to matter what form our creativity takes, having a muse or a sense of connection builds momentum in incredible ways. Simple conversations spark renewed interest in long forgotten projects, sweeping change is born within minutes of being seeded in a conversation between creative souls and energy is multiplied exponentially. I can see how isolated I once was in attempting to keep my businesses going, growing and thriving. I didn't have a business partner to connect with. I never lifted my gaze long enough to cultivate a muse or seek a friendship that could fuel my business creatively. In the end, I dried up, lost interest and felt compelled to move on. I don't regret the decision as there were more factors at play. I did however have a moment of "what if?" yesterday as my friend pointed out what incredible potential we would have had to create together had we met at a different point in our business lives. No doubt we will continue to create together but in other ways. I'm happy to play the role of muse, devil's advocate, agitator and cheerleader as they move forward. The role of creativity in business is certainly under rated and yet that is precisely what entrepreneurial life is all about. And entrepreneurs need creative community as much as painter's, sculptor's, writer's and other "artists"!

My own longing for creative community when it comes to writing has taken shape as a near OCD-like affliction for checking and re-checking my favorite blogs! Of course all this clicking means that I'm avoiding taking any action in my own creative life! (I'll be adding this to my growing list of how to avoid writing!!) Like anything, I know that the quality of my creative life is intricately linked with my willingness to just participate. This week I took an unprecedented step of reaching out to a woman who I have admired as a writer and filmmaker. Risking rejection, full of tales about how boring I might seem to someone of such artistic merit I was so thrilled to discover that "yes" she was interested in a conversation. My community has grown by another.

This simply act of reaching out to expand my creative community has already sparked a whole new influx of ideas and we haven't even spoken yet! Participate, engage, connect - no matter how I say it, it all speaks of action that reaches beyond the limits of my own carefully circumscribed process. I pop out into a place I haven't been before and something opens up inside me seeking expression. I'm beginning to see the parallels between my experience in business life and my experience of writing life. This time I'm willing to lift my head, look around and to reach out for creative companionship - not just once but repeatedly.

"Where else", I find myself wondering. Where else am I part of a community that I have yet to recognize as both creative and holding exciting potential. Sitting in my OB's office today, I found out just how many women are thrilled to be a part of a conversation. Every experience I have had in this generally friendly office has been a row of women quietly waiting their turn., interacting only with the nurse and staff and then obediently taking a seat to wait for their name to be called. Today was different - I was different. I made eye contact, I smiled and I spoke and the room opened up. Suddenly there was a a camaraderie born of shared experience and a lightness in the room. My OB commented on how relaxed everyone seemed today and he moved from room to room with a smile on his face rather than the look of concern he usually wears. I'm not trying to claim any responsibility for anyone else, only that my own experience of this morning was infinitely more fun and I'm looking forward to my next follow up and the familiar faces in the waiting room as we mark our weeks until delivery. Creative community redefined yet again in my experience.

So where does that leave me today? With the recognition that perhaps community isn't something out there - its something in here. It doesn't necessarily invite you in but it does invite you take your place in it when you are ready. It is dynamic and takes its shape from who happens to be there, ready and willing to step beyond their own boundaries to merge with another. It goes its separate ways from time to time only to re-emerge in new shapes and forms. My longing for creative community as a writer and entrepreneur has to do with my "nose pressed to the glass" position of late. I've decided to take my place and to reach out to keep extending the community that I chose to be a part of, recognizing that while my creative process is one I do alone, it doesn't mean I have to move around in my world alone.