I've recently been reminding myself about why I wanted to write in the first place. A daily writing habit for the self is the goal - but, publishing and expecting an external reward is counter-productive at times.

Thus, I paused and found myself going back to two pieces. The title fuses quotes from two of my favourites, Kurt Vonnegut and Elizabeth Gilbert. It contains their meditations on practicing creativity for the self, and emphasises practicing your creativity without expecting an external reward of any sort.

Sharing my fav pieces on this topic:

1. Kurt Vonnegut's response to a letter from the children at the high school in 2006. Teaser excerpt to get you to read the original:

   • "Here’s an assignment for tonight...Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed.... Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell, show it or recite it to anybody. Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacles. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow."

2. Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic.

   I had a great many takeaways, but they mostly fall into 4 buckets:

   • "do not demand creativity to pay the bills", or

   • "trust that writing loves you back, so keep showing up for it".

   • "Take care of it (your creativity), and it will take care of you."

   • "follow your curiosity"

Hope these recommendations find you, and that they are useful.