self expression

When we speak, we use the breath in our lungs to give our thoughts a physical form. The sounds we make are simultaneously our intentions and our life force.

• Introducing a long delay between when you do the work and when it is shown to the world. Annie Ernaux writes about this in A Simple Passion, a memoir about how she becomes obsessed in a banal way with a man who is having an affair with her—the thought that others will read th

When you find yourself blurting out questions you've never asked before, questions that provoke you and possibly even scare you, be thankful. You are exiting your conscious mind and probing the unconscious. As the questions get more and more profound, your probe is going deeper and deeper into the many layers of information that are unseen but alwa

By completely absorbing our attention for a short and magical spell, it can relieve us temporarily from the dreadful burden of being who we are. Best of all, at the end of your creative adventure, you have a souvenir—something that you made, something to remind you forever of your brief but transformative encounter with inspiration.