“The Rut.” That phrase has so many meanings. For hunters, that means the time of year when the female of the species signals she is ready for breeding and is on the lookout for a mate. It also denotes someone or something is in the doldrums and living life in the same groove as the day before and the day before that. A seemingly opposite connotation to the previous definition of the phrase, “The Rut” does not have to be looked at in that way.  When we see ourselves working into that lifestyle of doing the same thing every day, it can be the very opportunity to change it.  If you can see it, you can make the change. I have found myself in “The Rut” recently, but with the help of my wife and my friends, it has become fertile grounds for creativity and a renewed sense of aspiration.

For the past 2 weekends, we were fortunate to have been in the company of very creative, talented and artistic friends. From cartooning, graphics and writing to watercolors, singing and songwriting, our weekends have been blessed with being among folks we are very lucky to call friends. Being in the moment with such wonderful company not only inspires the soul but rekindles the fires lost to everyday life, drama and banality.

Personally, I come away with a joyous heart at the fact I have been around people that not only inspire me, help me to aspire to something and to recharge my batteries and lighten my heart with their presence. Not only are they gifted artistically, but as wonderful friends who take time from their schedules to spend it with me. These are good people with good hearts.

I find myself inspired in 3 ways; by wanting to find something I can do creatively, to try something along the same lines as I have been inspired by or feel I can maybe even do better things than what I have seen. To work creatively, I may want to try something in the same vein as what I’ve been charged by like drawing, painting or singing.  I may want to readdress a particular art form in which I have participated or perhaps take on something I’ve never done before but am inspired by someone else’s work.

In any instance, when the creative fertility begins, it is imperative to strike at the moment. This perpetuates the drive to carry forth and experiment or even dive into the process and allow the mind to expand in the possibilities of where the art can take you. I have always been a person that finds roadblocks to these creative moments because I spend too much time trying to analyze the technical side, the business side the side that quashes the creative process and stymies the progress. When this begins, speculation and procrastination infiltrates the mind and the creative juices dry up and tell me it’s probably good that I didn’t waste the time and money to get going. But this time, I am not going to let it happen.  I enjoy being amongst those that inspire me and I wish to once again be more than their friend, but to climb from the “rut,” and be a peer.