What if creative malaise has crept into your life? Is it a form of illness, perhaps one of the spirit?

Creative health is fundamental to our spiritual growth. It might even be an essential attribute for humanity – a quality to be viewed as akin to either physical or mental health. Can’t an argument be made for looking at creativity through this lens?

The accomplished choreographer, Twyla Tharp, in her book, “The Creative Habit,” compares creativity to a muscle, something that must be flexed at regular intervals in order to have a chance at drawing from the well of inspiration.

Granted, some people are just plain naturals – their creativity is something that they lean upon in troubling times and auspicious times. It is a path they have chosen, at an early age. They find constant and abiding solace in creativity. But these people are the seeming lucky ones.

For most of us, creativity is a more elusive sort of energy. I used to ride a horse named Surfer. The name was apt. In horse-barn parlance, he was known as an emotional ride. You never knew what you were in for as you climbed into the saddle. Sometimes it was sheer misery. He tossed you around and then he would be liable to buck you off. Nothing would get him to settle down. But then there were other times when he was a sheer joy to ride. Those moments were worth the risk of broken bones. Creativity can sometimes feel the same way. Sometimes it is present and then other times it escapes us, and we find that our creative strength is sapped.

Follow Twyla Tharp’s advice – get into the saddle once again. Make focused concentration on the artistic pursuit a daily habit. You might have a disappointing ride, or even a wild one – turbulent and chaotic. But barreling through those sessions is the only way you can find yourself encountering true beauty, every once in a while. Show up for creativity every day.