Robert Frost gives us the beautiful lines, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.”

I come back to these words often, as they provide worthwhile, enduring challenges in the creative process.

* * *

How can we pour ourselves into our work? How can we open wide and give of ourselves, such that the reader is moved?

And how can we maintain life within our creative practice? How can we embrace discovery and play such that the reader is also surprised and inspired?

(Note that the “reader” is also the viewer, the listener, the consumer, the user, and the audience. It’s beyond medium. Beyond genre.)

If we approach our work with boredom, apathy, and dispassion, that’s likely to be what we will cultivate in those we seek to serve.