I may have answered this before?
The pic I put together for this post reminds me of Alice Cooper’s “Roses on White Lace,” even if I’m not sure they are, in fact, roses. The edits I made fit the song’s vibe.
But the lyrics to that are not the focus of this post, as amazing as they are.
I’ll include just a smidge, for color:
“…In my eyes, blood drops look like roses on white lace…”
Very goth-flavored rock.
Goodreads sometimes misattributes quotes. Nonetheless, I feel somewhat confident that they got Lady Gaga’s hot-take on creativity, correct. It feels like a very Lady Gaga thing to say.
“When you make music or write or create, it’s really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you’re writing about at the time. ” -Lady Gaga (supposedly)
I feel creativity like something in the blood, that needs feeding, needs expressing. It’s passionate and hot, and consuming.
When I neglect my creative drive for too long, I suffer for it.
There’s also a great quote on there cited as having come from Pearl S. Buck:
“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”
Forgive me if that one came from someone else. I did find it, however, very fitting. I’ve definitely magnified experiences as they occurred, in ways another person might not have. Some of that might be due to my mental health issues, but I think it’s also a matter of personality.
I think we’re all creative by nature, but maybe some of us rely on that creativity for balance, more so than others.
I’m not myself without it.
After a creative day, after making some kind of art or engaging in creative writing, I sleep more peacefully. Everything feels richer. I have an easier time tackling less pleasant to-do’s. Challenges seem easier to overcome. My attitude shifts toward the optimistic, the grateful.
I’m not sure I even have the language to describe all the ways it improves my life, and to what degree. Certainly, these words seem to be falling short.
But I guess I will let them suffice, along with the above quotes, so that I have a piece of the night yet leftover for myself.
All the Bright and Sparkly Things 
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