Much of my life has been spent trying to talk to God.
As a boy I used to sit on my bed and pray with my father. We said the Lord’s prayer from Mathew every night, side by side on my bed. And after that, my father tucked me in and turned off the light and I fell to praying my own prayers. I had a rhythm to it, a mental list that I went through every night. I prayed for family and friends first, before myself, so that God didn’t …

One pale morning so early that it was still blue outside, that moment when the blackness of night has faded before the moon, and the sun is only a promise yet some time off, I woke up and rested on one elbow. A girl slept quietly beside me, her face half buried in a pillow so that only her red lips, curved cheek, and strands of black hair crossing them both, were exposed. Other sleepers breathed heavily or snored nearby, propped in chairs or sprawled in sleeping bags. All of …

As a little boy I dreamed of being a brave knight.
To me, knights were real men. They were solid and strong, encased in shining steel and wielding swords that could wreak havoc upon a man. Nothing could harm them. They were invincible, at least the good ones were. They were noble and chivalric. They spoke poetry and rode into war singing battle songs. Little boys ran after their horses as they rode out to do battle with ferocious foes. Women swooned and batted their eyelashes. Other men respected them. Knights …

Whoever you are, whatever your preferred creative field, there’s one guaranteed fail-safe method for causing consistent, damaging and painful frustration in your creative life.
One absolutely, so-sure-you-can-bet-your-house-on-it, way of ensuring you wear your creative energy down to nothing, and pretty much completely destroy your current creative motivation, possibly for ever.
What is this terrifying monster?
What could possibly have such a powerful and devastating effect on our creativity that, if we choose to live by its evil ways we may as well have our creativity measured up for it’s coffin, and order the …