I find that I am happiest when I am extremely creative and active. One thing that I don't think people realize is that routine can be a big part of creativity. I think that having a routine or even the word "routine" has a negative connotation. People think that having routine means not having spontaneity. When I am not in a routine, I'm not able to be as creative. Of late, I have been traveling quite a bit and haven't had enough time to spend on Hubski, enough time to spend on making music, or enough time to spend podcasting and reading. As a result, I've not been as fulfilled as I normally am. I have some more travels planned for the next few weeks, then after that I have resolved to fall back into my normal routine. I miss it. I can tell when I have not made music in a while, because the tips of my fingers on my left hand start to soften. I like it when they are calloused, calloused fingers make a happy me.
I totally agree about routine. Routine is the infrastructure of our lives. Our society more or less works when the infrastructure of plumbing, hydro, law, emergency rescue, education, transportation, health care, food supply, and so on are all in place. In a war, the first thing to go is the organized infrastructure. I think sadly about the siege of Sarajevo, Iraq, New Orleans during Katrina, and on and on. Routine keeps our personal infrastructures in place to allow more spontaneity and creativity everywhere else. Lots of questions come to mind: Who maintains the infrastructure in your lives? How fragile is it? What can you do to prop it up? Nice to be chatting again tng. As the theme of this thread suggests, your response has sparked my creativity around the topic of "creativity and routines."
Are you back in CA or still traveling? How was the trip? Was it inspiring?