It is probable that these self-disclosures, frightening
though they are, will lead to the building of a real
relationship, one in which the participants are free to be who
they are and to become what they wish. This possibility is
what makes the risks of self-disclosure and true intimacy
profitable. In order to have a real relationship with our
creativity, we must take the time and care to cultivate it. Our
creativity will use this time to confront us, to confide in us,
to bond with us, and to plan.
The morning pages acquaint us with what we think and
what we think we need. We identify problem areas and
concerns. We complain, enumerate, identify, isolate, fret.
This is step one, analogous to prayer. In the course of the
release engendered by our artist date, step two, we begin to
hear solutions. Perhaps equally important, we begin to fund
the creative reserves we will draw on in fulfilling our
artistry.

Filling the Well, Stocking the Pond

Art is an image-using system. In order to create, we draw
from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is
ideally like a well-stocked trout pond. We’ve got big fish,
little fish, fat fish, skinny fish—an abundance of artistic fish
to fry. As artists, we must realize that we have to maintain
this artistic ecosystem. If we don’t give some attention to