A clear mountain lake is before me, steep, rocky cliffs on 3 sides. I sit at the mouth of the creek, almost eye level with the lake, soothed by the gurgling water.

There is a breeze to keep the flies at bay, well, mostly at bay. I watch the colors as they constantly change with the ripples on the water’s surface, reflecting all.

As I look at the high cliffs above, I see a woman’s face etched in the rock. There is a patch of snow below her, melting and running down a tiny ravine in the rocks. I imagine shifting the water’s flow to run from her eye: melting glaciers and sea level rise.

I think about drawing what I see in front of me and in my imagination, but I just look. And write. Filling my creative well.

Filling my soul.

There is an Ebb and Flow to the creative life. We need time to rest, to gather imagery and ideas. They will come out when I’m back home in my studio this fall or winter. I Trust that when the time is ripe, the artistic ideas will come.

It wasn’t always so, this Trusting. I used to think ideas and inspiration were scarce, that they needed to be rationed. I lived in scarcity mode; afraid to share my ideas lest someone else do them first, or maybe do them better. In reality, when I lived that way, I rarely brought my ideas to life. I was too full of fear.

It took me many years of work and support to navigate through the dark and scary places within, to find my own self-worth, to realize that I belong. To cultivate connection with self and with others.

Connection is so critical for us humans. That is a piece of what I find in meditation, in writing, in the wilderness. Connection. A return to myself. The me that is always here, but sometimes buried behind technology and the busyness of daily life. That is why a daily practice of meditation, prayer, exercise, and writing are so important for me. They help me connect with myself, with the Universe, the One Song. And when I am connected within, it makes it all the easier to connect with my human family.

Returning to nature, especially when I carry all of my things on my back; especially in the pristine wilderness, far from cars and computers and distraction, fills me in such a deep way. Everything is slow out here. All there is to do is hike and play and meditate and eat wild mountain huckleberries and draw and write and rest. Just soak in the connection, the calm, the beauty, the place. Drink the clear glacial water and soak my feet in its icy coldness. Lose track of days and hours and minutes. And just BE.

What fills your creative well? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!