When Creativity Compounds

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time writing.  More than I ever have before.  And I don’t think that’s separate from my photography at all.

If anything, photography has fueled it.

On mornings when the weather cooperates, I’m out at sunrise with a camera.  On colder days or late at night, I’m at my desk writing.  The two have begun to feed each other in ways I didn’t expect.  Seeing more carefully during the day seems to loosen something when I sit down to write.  Writing late into the night sharpens the way I notice light the next morning.

Creativity, I’m learning, isn’t linear.  It compounds.

Over the past year, that compounding has surprised me.  I now have two self-published books behind me.  Two novels written as part of a planned trilogy.  I’m actively seeking an agent for the first novel and outlining the third.  None of that came from forcing output.  It came from allowing my mind the space to stay in a creative posture.

That posture feels very different from how I lived for a long time.

There is still fear present.  I won’t pretend otherwise.  Leaving consulting behind came with real financial anxiety.  I’m aware of my bank balance in ways I never had to be before.  Those thoughts still surface, usually uninvited.

But alongside that fear is something I haven’t felt in years - expansion.

I feel expressive.  Curious.  Attuned to the present moment.  More alive to the world around me than I have been in a long time.  Photography has slowed me down enough to notice.  Writing has given those observations somewhere to go.

This morning, standing near the water at sunrise, I realized that creativity doesn’t drain you when you honor it.  It multiplies.  The more attention you give it, the more it gives back.  One form leads naturally to another.  One quiet moment opens the door to many.

I don’t know exactly where all of this is headed.  But I do know this feels like growth rather than escape.  Expansion rather than avoidance.  Presence rather than distraction.

For the first time in a long while, I feel aligned with how I spend my days.  Even with uncertainty in the background, I feel grounded in the act of creating.

That feels worth trusting.