I first came across the idea of creativity as a well in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and it struck a chord. According to Cameron, our creativity is like a well that we can draw upon for inspiration and ideas. And yet, as with water, the well of creativity must be replenished or recharged. When we continue to draw on the well without replenishing it, eventually the well runs dry.
I’ve found this to be true in my writing. The times that I feel barren of creativity are times when I become so overly focused on deadlines or output that I hold myself hostage to the desk because I think that I haven’t done “enough” to “deserve” a break. The words shrivel away in response. And yet when I take time to replenish, even when it means time away from the desk (hint: it always does), the time upon returning to the desk is much more fruitful.
Just as our creativity benefits from replenishment, so too our energy, and our compassion.
For me, replenishing the well looks like going for a walk outside, reading a good book, playing with Dory, watching a favorite movie, going for a drive, naming five things that bring me gratitude. Drinking a glass of water. Are our bodies the embodiment of the well?
These last two years have depleted our reserves in ways we’re still beginning to fathom. With everything going on in the world, taking time to replenish the well can feel frivolous. But I’d suggest it’s exactly what we need to keep going right now. If we don’t refill the well, we’ll continue to run dry.
May you consider this an invitation to replenish.
With gratitude,
P R O M P T
What refills your well? What’s holding you back from replenishing? Where can you offer yourself permission to recharge? What’s one thing you can do to replenish your well today?
I N T E N T I O N S + A F F I R M A T I O N S
I am worthy of refilling the well. I am worthy of replenishment. I am willing to replenish the well.
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is, as you might glean from the title, filled to the brim with delights. I found myself slowing down to savor the delight of reading the book itself, and to savor delights in my own life.
R E F L E C T I O N S
GRATITUDE PRACTICE
Today I’m grateful for cozy weather, returning to a meditation practice, tree mugs, a new candle (evergreen + eucalyptus), and birdsong. What are you grateful for today?
D E L I G H T S
FILLING UP
Greeting this Douglas fir tree in the Bridgers is one way I fill up. I like to think that we’re befriending each other, because of the frequency of our visits, and because he always leaves me with a gift of sap scent when I place my hand where his branch has been cut.
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