Stuff Yourself

"If you stuff yourself full of poems, essays, plays, stories, novels, films, comic strips, magazines, music, you automatically explode every morning like Old Faithful. I have never had a dry spell in my life, mainly because I feed myself well, to the point of bursting. I wake early and hear my morning voices leaping around in my head like jumping beans. I get out of bed to trap them before they escape." -- Ray Bradbury

I try to read 60 books a year. My buddy Bob Tankersley and I came upon an article many years ago that suggested making yourself a reading list comprised of books from many different genres to broaden your scope. We have been keeping these lists for several years now, and I find that I can consistently read 4-6 books a month. I have five favorite categories...(1) British Mystery, (2) Memoir, (3) Books about art & creativity, (4) Spirituality and (5) Business. I also read 3-4 magazines a month and get the NY Times on the weekend.

This is important first of all, because I LOVE to read. It is a great stress release and allows my mind to wander. Second, as Bradbury mentions in the quote above, it is all grist for the mill of my creativity. I keep a journal filled with notes and ideas and clippings. This is an idea the great imagineer McNair Wilson helped me with. Sometimes I write 'journal entries', but more often than not, it is filled with other 'stuff'. Stuff I may never 'use', but may lead me to my next great idea.

I find that whenever the creative well does seem to be running dry, the reason is that I am not putting new tobacco in my pipe. So, out I go to the front porch swing and start reading, listening and watching, and boom, the creative flow starts gurgling again.

So, if you are stuck today, go watch a movie, or read a magazine, or just sit around and daydream. True, you don't have time for it. Or better yet, maybe you don't have time NOT to do it!