Dedication to the Mundane

I used to think inspiration had to come out of nowhere, singing at full volume in a burst of fireworks like Katy Perry did at the Super Bowl.

Maybe for some people. For me this rarely happens. 

My friend Amanda uttered a marvelous phrase on New Year’s Eve. We were drinking champagne and talking about this very magazine you are reading. 

“Creativity and inspiration come from a certain kind of dedication to the mundane,” she said.

Those small repetitive practices we do each day without the promise of reward or recognition? They are the secret sauce.

The writer sits down to her habitual morning pages at 6am not knowing what will spill from her pen onto the page until it begins to move. 

The dancer laces her dream-worn toe shoes in a studio with no audience day after day, and begins her pliés.

The musician draws her bow over scales until their familiar melodic patterns become as smooth as her breath. 

One day a flower blooms and the whole world thinks it’s a miracle. The gardener who spends every day of his life pulling weeds and watering knows that it is indeed a miracle; one born from dedication to the mundane.