A thought struck me. That’s just what I mean. It struck me. As if it came out of nowhere to rest in my brain. That thought was, “Where do thoughts come from?” Or ideas? Or visions? Or dreams? I can look at a mass of sugar and fat and chocolate chips and tell you where chocolate chip cookies come from. I can plant some seeds and tell you where a zucchini comes from. But mental creations? They materialize from some immaterial world, sometimes in such vivid and marvelous detail. Are they planted there as a cosmic gift from a source not yet understood? I think so. My best writing and my best painting always seems to come from an idea not planted by myself.  

I was teaching art yesterday to this wonderful little child. She finished drawing and painting her rooster and then suddenly threw it in the air in this wonderful gesture of joy. THIS is why teaching art is a good thing. THIS is why creating art is a great big ditto. Wonderful. Good. Joy.  I honestly believe that any creative act elevates the spirit, be it painting, writing, gardening, scrapbooking, sewing, handiwork, batik, jewelry designing, home decorating, cooking, puppetry, teaching, carpentry, or any other thing that creates something out of nothing, requiring that most human of traits: imagination. Time taken to create comes back in unending waves of satisfaction. Creating is, indeed, joy.