"Why didn't I think of that?"
Because you're not crazy.
Well, that's a bit blunt and over the top, but it makes my point rather concisely.
Many truly gifted actors and other artists, I think, come up with the performances and ideas they do because they literally don't think quite like most of the rest of us. Evidence of this is voluminous. Several magazines and TV shows owe their existence to this phenomenon. Just think about how many times you've read about something someone famous has done or said outside of their professional lives and thought to yourself, "That's not normal. Why did they do that?" I think it's for the same reason they are able to awe and amaze us in their work. They are, well, not crazy exactly, but not exactly sane either. I also wonder how many are self-aware in this regard, and if they are, does it matter?
All of this led me to reflect on my own bouts of creativity. For me they frequently come at emotional high or low points. I don't think I'm at all unusual in that. There are probably a couple bazillion songs or poems that were written by someone madly in love or despair. (Or both.) It's just that in the past, my low days were far too deep in the shadows. So recently when I've tried to write, my mind has had a tendency to drift toward those shadows. Back towards a place where I must not allow myself to go.
And so the page sits empty.
But not forever. I've concluded that if I am strong enough to see the shadows and steer clear of them, I'm strong enough find a way to live and create without them.
Yes, that's means I'll be here more often.
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