06/02/2025
Eight years. That’s how long I’ve been writing professionally. When you’ve been at something for nearly a decade, you must discover creative ways to maintain your spirit.
I’m using spirit as a catch-all here. Give it whichever name you prefer. You might call it energy, intention or excitement.
When discussing spirit and its influence on the work, I like to use the metaphor of your grandmother’s treasured recipe that never quite tastes the same when you attempt to make it yourself.
You follow her pretty cursive handwriting to a “T”. You don’t deviate in the slightest from her careful instructions. You read and reread the ancient piece of paper so many times that you can recite it by memory. Yet, it never tastes the same.
While you can replicate your grandmother’s recipe, you can’t replicate her spirit.
It’s the spirit in the work that resonates with readers, admirers and patrons on a soul level, one can’t be replicated by other creatives (alive or artificial). It’s the spirit that makes you impossible to compete with.
However, like any advice that has ever been given, this is easier said than done. As you mature creatively, you rely less on emotion and more on discipline.
This is necessary to create good work, consistently. However, you can’t allow your discipline to erode your spirit. Your work will lose its charge, its juice.
To maintain my spirit, I turn to small totems, trinkets and tokens:
A sterling silver cross––that my mother gifted to me eleven years ago––reminds me to have faith.
A small golden frog with green jeweled eyes––that my grandmother left behind––reminds me to never take for granted the sacrifices she made when immigrating to this country.
A heavy rock covered in three kinds of quartz––that I dug up while working an odd job to pay the bills long before my writing could––reminds me of the jewels hard work can bear.
Occassionally, I add to my collection. “
What’s your spirit totem? To finish the story cole@coleschafer.com