Creativity Hits

It’s funny how some words can have both the original meaning as well as the opposite meaning. I tell my husband he’s “bad” all the time, but almost always with a “I think you’re so sexy” smile. At some point, young people started using “wicked” as a term that means “really cool.” And when I was thinking about creativity this week, I realized that the word “hit” has both a positive and a negative meaning.

I added some writing workshops from past Romance Writers of America conferences to my iPod and I’ve been listening to them while I run in the mornings. They have been creativity “hits” at the beginning of the day – like a caffeine hit, giving me an extra boost that gets me all excited. I come home and hurry to make notes before hopping in the shower.

On the other hand, my creativity has taken a bit of a hit from having company for the last two weeks. The kind of hit that knocks you down. I’ve been busy trying to catch up on sleep, bill paying, and laundry from a month overseas, and trying to do as much sight-seeing as can be done with my mom in between rain storms. It’s nice to spend time together, but it’s exhausting to try to cram so much into such a short time and still try to get some work done.

By the time my mom goes home, I’ll have had a great visit with her but I’ll be eager to start catching up on my writing and other work. It occurred to me that the best way to stay “up” while not being able to work much is to keep listening to these workshops. I’ll get the endorphin rush from my morning runs and a creativity hit from the great writing workshops. Now that’s a routine I can look forward to!

What about you? What gives you a positive or a negative creativity hit?