“I live by the ocean, and this is not by accident. Something deep within me responds to water, and one of my favorite ways to spend time is sitting at the water’s edge, watching the incoming waves crash against the shore and then slip back out to sea. The rhythm is mesmerizing and calming.

Nature has often been a helpful metaphor that has affirmed over and over again the natural ebb and flow of the creative cycle. Dormancy and activity. Hiddenness and visibility. One thing creativity is not is a machine. It is far too nuanced for that. Of course, it is possible to make it into a machine, and there are people who do. But that process then becomes something quite different. It is no longer Art with a capital A. It may still be something creative or inventive, but a different mechanism for producing has taken over. So when I talk about the cycle of the creative flow, it is with Art in mind that I do so.” . . .

Read “The Ebb and Flow of Creativity,” an excerpt from The Reluctant Artist by Karen Kinney, exclusively in ALOVEDLIFE volume 4, a timeless bookazine by Absolute Love Publishing featuring stories on Intentional Living, Elevated Action, Conscious Connection, and Sacred Self Care. Learn about all the editions here.