Inspiration

This post is an exercise in discipline. I'm reading a great book right now called Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle. The subtitle is Reflections on Faith and Art. It is one of those books that is jam packed full of so many nuggets of wisdom that I must read it very slowly, so that I can digest it paragraph by paragraph.

One of the things she talks about is that the role of a writer (or any artist, for that matter) is to be a servant of the work. Often, the work created by the artist is far greater than anything the artist really was capable of. Still, the job of the artist is to be disciplined about doing the work, even when there is no great inspiration--the idea being that when inspiration strikes, you will be ready for it because you will already be in the trenches, accustomed to the discipline of your artform.

It reminded me about my acting school days in NYC, and how the first rule of theatre (and acting school) is to show up on time! Get there! Be present! ... And it's amazing what can happen once you get there.

Reading about this came at just the right time. I don't feel particularly inspired to write about anything in particular today, but here I am...writing anyway...and as Providence would have it, I have just published my 300th post.