The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie has announced that he has terminal brain cancer. And that the Hip will be doing one final farewell tour. This morning my good friend CBC radio talked about this iconic front man as a “compulsive creator”. I wonder – are most of us that way, only stifled?
Creating. Creating a work of art. Creating a garden. Creating a blog post. Creating a beautiful day. A beautiful year. A beautiful life.
Yesterday my friend Rebecca came over and we talked about the messages the world gives us – those weird and powerful cues we can tap into if we’re paying attention. She told me that for a few months some twenty years ago she worked with the Artist’s Way, a book and program designed to help you access your inner creativity. It suggests writing out three pages of stream-of-conscious thoughts every morning as a way to tap into your inner self (and makes of point of this writing being by hand). After doing this, Rebecca quit a job that paid well and made her miserable and started to pursue music.
How many times does the world need to give you permission to follow your passion before you do it? And does your ability to pick up on these messages fade the more you ignore them?
A word of encouragement: get in touch with your inner self. Create now.