Does Creativity Beget Creativity?

(Picture of a magnificent lion at Chatsworth, England)

Yesterday was filled with creativity. I started the day with a good work-out (always helpful to get the brain cells moving), then came home and tackled my embroidery. I was immensely proud of myself for learning how to do the Lazy Daisy stitch, which I needed to know for the project I'm working on, and I spent an hour or so with that. Then I decided to get out my quill pen and ink and write a few letters.

A trip to Barnes and Noble and browsing the aisles full of wondrous books only made me eager to get my own book on the shelf, and I bought a desk calendar (50% off!) to help me get organized for the year. I came home, ate some supper, read a book, and then picked up my embroidery again. I can completely get sucked into it, and I love listening to music or old radio shows while I do it.

And after the embroidery came the writing. I was worried that the words might be a bit hard to come by like they were the previous day, but thankfully, they were not. In fact, my fingers were flying across the keyboard, ideas and images and dialogue springing to life underneath my fingertips. I wrote and wrote and pretty soon, I had written 2,000 words. And this time, they were 2,000 good words.

So it got me to thinking. Did my day-long creativity beget more creativity where my writing was concerned? Or was it just that I was in the creative mindset all day long and it was a natural leap to the writing?

I'd like to think that the more creative things you do, the stronger your creative muscle gets and the easier it is to write, to embroider, to knit, to paint, to draw. Maybe that's why it's harder for me to write sometimes after work during the weekdays because I have been stuck in "work mode" all day instead of "creative mode."

I know I won't be able to be creative all day, every day, but on the days when I can, I plan to make the most of it. :-)