Tuesday, May 15, 2007

creative process

When people ask me, "What do you do?"...
I sometimes think a moment before I answer.

What is it that I do, anyway?

Well - I read.

I read a lot.

I read, and I read - and then I read some more.

Then when all of it finally sinks into my head,
when one and one finally actually DOES equal two,
when all of the information finally jells together..

THEN... finally...

I write.

In between all of this - I goof off.

Or at least that what it must look like to someone
on the outside.

I love to bake bread - I've been kneading and baking
bread since I was a teenager.
Bread requires patience.
It demands touch, and shouldn't be rushed.

Kneading and baking bread seems to feed a different
part of my creative soul. Something about the process
actually helps me to think.

Good bread is thick and crusty, and it screams of twisted, ancient
pathways, hidden away somewhere in the Euganean Hills in Northern Italy.

I've never been to the Euganean Hills, nor have I even traveled to Italy.

But the name rolls of my tongue, and when I pull off a chunk of my creation...

I am there.

There are times when the right words seem to hide from me.
When that happens, the best solution is to take a break.
Taking a bit of time away from the words
seem to give my brain time to connect all the dots...
if something doesn't work right, doesn't want to fit together
my solution is to cook a pizza at the highest temperature possible,
or a loaf of bread
or maybe create a different flavor of biscotti.

I do that...then, zap!

The words will magically reappear.

Man, I love when that happens...

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