Are You Using Up Creativity?

Is it possible to run out of creative juice?

Photo by Dragos Gontariu on Unsplash

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

— Maya Angelou

Who would have thought that creativity is endless? At the beginning of my writing journey, as a teenager, I used to write down my ideas as soon as I got them in my head. I continued to do it till I was in my mid-twenties. It was only later that I realized, that there was no need for me to panic.

Today, I know that the more I use my imagination and creativity, the more ideas I receive from the universe. There seems to be a cosmic universal bank of creativity and ideas, which is limitless. I remember worrying that I would not remember the great idea I got in the morning. I had to write it down. Today, I do not worry about losing ideas. In fact, when I do get an idea and there are so many during the course of a day, I put it at the back of my mind.

I allow all my ideas to ferment, like wine, and when they are ready to be developed into poems, stories, or articles, they come back to me. Those “seed ideas”, are so much more developed and readier to be sculpted into new presentations. I enjoy doing this and you should also try this experiment. When you get a new idea tomorrow, put it at the back of your mind, do not make any notes. Just say to yourself, “I store this idea, and it will come back to me, when it is fully formed.” After a few days, the idea will come back to you, and you will be able to write it almost immediately. This requires a bit of practise, but it does work, believe me.

I have written over 3,500 stories here. This morning, I saw the quote by Maya Angelou and knew that what I always believed was true. You cannot use up your creativity. The more you use your mind, imagination and creativity, the more you will have come to you.

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"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." - Maya Angelousubstack.com