How to be Creative

2015 march in Florence, Italy

I used to traveled back and forth to Europe. A lot. When I took this photo, I was on tour with my friend, the Traveling Professor. He wanted me to try out the idea of possibly leading an Ooh La La! Tour through Italy. This seemed like a strange fit for me, being know for all things French. But then, I had never been to Italy before.

And, I love traveling and so, I was game.

I had a lot of fun in Italy--Capri, Sorrento, Florence, Tuscany and Venice. A whirlwind adventure, full of glamor, beauty and for a bit of drama, in the form of some student unrest. A strike. A march. Some heated chanting. In Italian! In the moment, I felt a rush of inspiration--a kind of recognition of something that would affect to me on a personal level. Not then, but later, down the road in the future.

But, back in Florence, I had no idea what that something would be. Personally, I’m nervous in crowds. The last time I participated in a demonstration was in London in 1975 when I joined in on a Women’s Liberation Movement march starting in Hyde Park, proceeding to Piccadilly Circus. Still, I got that spark of inspiration, just like in Florence.

And now. All these years later, I find myself working on a novel involving a whole lot of marches and demonstrations--or manifestations--as the French call them. Since Covid’s magic wand swept me into an enchantment, I have been living in Paris. No, not physically. Physically, I’m here on a farm in Upstate New York. But in my imagination, I am in Paris and it’s 1968.

The seed was planted on that street in Italy in 2015. Or perhaps, it was planted in London, 1976. Then again, maybe the seed was planted in 1969, in the basement of a Congregational church in Westport, Connecticut when I accompanied my mother and her cousin to a women’s consciousness raising workshop.

In fact, all these experiences conspired to form my current Opus Magnum. It’s hard to know for sure, because the truth is the place where creativity is born mysterious.

Creative Friends--knowing all this, embrace the mystery of your everyday life. Follow your instincts. If something is fascinating to you, do not worry about why. Do not fret about how this will one day be useful to your life, your work. All you need to do is to live your life fully. Keep your eyes open. And plant seeds.

Love,

Jamie