After I finish a novel or a short story, I feel drained. It takes everything out of me. My faculties are worn out, and my creative and intellectual energy are depleted. It feels like there’s nothing left to keep me on the path of writing.
But in time, I come back to writing. A new idea crops up in my mind, and so does a renewed burst of excitement.
The whole creative venture repeats itself, and at the end of it, I’m drained again. But I’m not drained forever, because in a few hours or days, my vitality builds up, and so does the will to be creative and productive.
It’s hard to explain, since it would be more logical to stop wearing myself out. Take a vacation–a much needed break.
Of course, all of us need a break to renew our energy, to keep from burning out or giving up. But the real question is: why do we continually invest ourselves in projects which wear us out?
There’s a spark in us that motivates us to innovate, create, write, paint, etc. This spark renews our energy–our will. It doesn’t ever seem to stop. We can never be content with what we’ve made. It would be much easier to be content with our accomplishments, but each spark reinvigorates us, and we strive for more.
Fallton Havenstonne 