A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.

-E.B. White

There might be a place inside your head where ideas dwell, but having nowhere to bring these to fruition is a creativity cruncher. Some people need sunshine. Warmth and brightness enhance their creativity. Others prefer cool weather. A person can waste creative energy, however, searching for that perfect climate, that perfect place or that perfect solitude. Compromise is necessary – and an ability to actually begin somewhere – wherever that somewhere might be.

I often find when I am writing or painting, that a vague, intuitive, unexpected, barely verbalized sense of possibility, becomes a catalyst to exploring and creating a new form.  “When I paint, I begin with a sense of what I want and then feel my way. My journey into fantasy is open-ended; anything can happen…I love not quite knowing my route – or what many of my paintings will become. I find it fascinating to venture into the unknown realms of my mind. It is such a journey of discovery.”

Creative stimulation can come from anywhere and at any time. What is important, is recognizing those intuitive glimpses of possibilities wherever you happen to be. Although, according to Professor of Clinical Psychiatry Silvano Arieti, it is desirable for the physical space in which you create to be “creativogenIc”- for you, what is more important, is giving yourself permission, in whatever environment you happen to be, to capture the essence of a stimuli, and if you do have the time, begin exploring its mysterious potential. If you do not have the time, save that creative exploration for later.

Finding your perfect, creativogenic environment, is secondary to cultivating your receptivity to creative stimuli – from wherever they might come – be it  from the world you know, the world you don’t know, or the world you want to know. So capture those gardens that bloom in your imagination and accept that the ideal space to create might be just where you happen to be. “More important than finding the ideal space, is finding what is inside your head, understanding your emotions and following your hunches.” (HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking)