Worth reading: 33 Ways to Stay Creative. You don't have to agree with them, but they're worth reading.
I ritually seek out creative stimuli and kick-starting literature the way other people seek out other self-help material. Some of it's crap, like Caffeine for the Creative Mind. That book is full of sappy humor and self-admiration, but there are also a few gems in the heap. And even the dopey exercises are worth putting real effort into because they are exercises. They're not interesting, but they are as useful as a martial artist throwing 100 perfect punches at a padded wall.
I mean, it's the new year. The start of this arbitrary temporal bracket is an excellent time to reassess and form plans. There's nothing stopping us from doing this at any point in the year, of course, but the sense of a period of time ending and a new one beginning gives us a nudge to rethink our lives. It's a natural human function: end-of-year celebrations are ancient and global. Humans have always gathered around and expressed appreciation for their relationships, braced themselves for the responsibilities and opportunities of the new year.
As I was blessed to be born into a surplus society and first-world nation (and everyone must remember that this was solely a random result: we did not deserve to be born here, no one deserved to be born elsewhere, and nobody is of more worth for being born one place over another), it is my luxury to mull and muse about creative exploits rather than repairing my house or foraging for the next meal. It benefits no one for me to neglect the gifts of my environment, but instead is a slap in the face to anyone who lives an "I would if I could" life. So I think about cultivating my creativity, manifesting it. This year is going to be my year to focus on writing, getting published. I have terrible follow-through: at the start of this new year, I'm going to rectify that.
Thanks, everyone, for reading. I'll try to make this place more worth everyone's time—that's part of my writing goals.
May the conservatives learn compassion,
May the liberals learn loyalty,
or, failing these,
May the end be swift and painless,
Christian
