her mountain

When Cinderella gave out the passes for being courageous and kind, I put my hand up and pleaded, “yes, please”. I have been enchanted by creativity from a very young age. From the oranges we stuffed down my brother’s leotard as we created a family performance (please don’t read this bro), to the days I stepped onto the stage as a five-year-old blasting out my own rendition of “My favourite things.”

Enchanted by the process.

Enchanted by the produce.

Enchanted by the mountain view.

I think I quite possibly could be the biggest creative, idea junkie there is. Finding and discovering the brilliance of an idea is my absolute thrill. A walking creative encyclopedia that is overwhelmed by the beauty and simplicity of imagination.

I am totally the product of my beautiful Mum’s passion for everything new. She is a problem solver, an idea keeper, a follow through-er. No matter the problem, she throws creativity and applies her imagination to come up with the solution. I grew up with an idea junkie, who passed on her love of idea collection to her children.

The stories, the costumes, the enchanted evenings sitting waiting as my hair was braided and my lines rehearsed. When she drove me to dance classes and waited outside with the gaggle of women, hoping that their little person was delighting in music as much as they did.

I learnt the flute, the piano, the guitar and that was all before high school had even dawned. My dancing repertoire included Jazz, Acro, Musical Theatre, National Dancing, Ballet, Tap and Contemporary classes.

The enchanting beginnings of creativity start in the warm bed, surrounded by pillows as we read books to fall asleep. The ideas are fostered when we stop mid-sentence to give voice and applause to the violin that is hiding the background of a song.

Gilbert says it this way;

“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

I want to say a huge thank you to my Mum. She offered me the poisoned apple of creativity and I have never been able to run far from it.

Gilbert supposes that the universe plants ideas and seeds deep within us and asks us to excavate out their beauty and I disagree. I think there are role models in our early stages of development, that teach us to dig beyond the places that “normal” suggests we take and dares us to climb mountains.

There is a small group of people who dance upon the mountain of creativity because they take the time and the energy and effort to seek out the view. The view of inspiration, the mountaintop experience of actually pulling something off, the pure exhilaration of seeing your creative dream come true.

Enchantment is just the beginning my creative friend. That is the dance, that is the tease, that is the possibility…

The one who wins is the one who climbs the mountain of that idea. The one who wins is the one who takes the seed and plants it deep in a soil of hard work and tears. The one who overcomes is the one who allows that idea to grow, by nurturing, loving and loathing its very presence in our body.

That my friend is the brilliance of the mountains that we seek. Take that idea, take that enchanted moment of conception and nurture that baby. Grow it my friend and do something that your future self will thank you for.

Capture it.

Grow it.

And climb that bloody mountain.

The view on the other side is not one that many people can say that they have actually felt the satisfaction of.

Here is my book club question.

“What mountain would you like to climb? a book, a business idea, a singing lesson, an instrument?”

Till we meet again fellow inspiration seeker.

Thanks for checking in on my book club journey

Amanda