This was a great read - really captured the vibe of that Swiss lake house and the intellectual hothouse it must have been. Whew - to be a fly on the wall during some of those conversations! And my goodness, at 18, I could barely figure out how to rent an apartment for myself or structure a college book report. What a crew.
Thank you Rebecca!! Truly, what an atmosphere, and the deeper I dug into the scene, it just kept making Mary's achievement all the more stunning. It's good to parse the ingredients— makes me a fervent believer in hothouses at any age, may there be many for us all
Loved this read, you really brought the ver creative waiting concept to life through the Mary Shelley & Lake Geneva example. It’s inspired me for my own creative journey. Plus I’m a sucker for anything involving the Romantics or the Victorians, takes me back to being a keen and green English literature undergrad!
Thanks Emma!! Feels like there's some extra connections to those time periods going on right now, and it's pretty delicious to revisit. Sending good for your creative journey in the new year
I’d read the account, but not the waiting. I had a waiting of one week when I found an unexpected effect doing a physics demonstration before a group of physicists. After the”lamp lit” I expanded the demonstration, a common one, but at a much reduced energy.
It’s the silences and the pauses that birth true creativity and inspiration. How many of mankind’s greatest were made during a sabbatical or pandemic year due to quarantine.
Great post; I liked the difference between waiting and hoping. I always tell my writing students not to stress over “waiting,” but to remain engaged creatively in some way while they wait. “Good things come to those who wait.”
But the post displayed an image for a new movie which I could not find mentioned in the text.
Thank you John, sounds like your students are lucky to have you. The image used is a vintage postcard painting, I can't find an artist attribution for it. Separately the essay mentions film adaptations - Diablo Cody wrote the script for 'Lisa Frankenstein' and the other is Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Poor Things'
Thanks for your response. I hadn’t considered the senior Darwin as the influence you referenced — a few years since I read Frankenstein, yet it remains IMO, one of the great novels of the Industrial Revolution, perhaps even more relevant than ever.
Loved this, especially the emphasis on creative waiting. I remember once having to write an analytical essay for a European History class and wanting so badly to write something excellent for it. I couldn't come up with any ideas immediately to the prompt given for it. But I felt something was brewing. I had read what I needed to read. The thoughts were there but they weren't yet ready. This wasn't about procrastination. I felt similarly to how you describe Mary. So I went for a long walk and during the walk I began to sense the ideas moving into place. Once home, I wrote that essay in one go. This is creative waiting. It is how we get the higher level work from us. We let it brew. We don't push it aside but we let it do its thing unconsciously. And when it's ready and we are ready, it will strike. By the way, the teacher praised that essay I wrote for its excellence.
Beautiful Autumn, love your sketch and lucid observation of this generative moment!! And wonderful that you sensed the brewing, that intuition is such a big part of being able to tend to one's creative process
What a wonderful story. And I love what you take from it, the art of creative waiting. I tell my students to ignore the popular advice that one must "write every day" to be a writer and talk about it in the post "Waiting for Words: Why Patience Matters More Than Habit." Creative patience has sustained me during the years between books, and the weeks when the writing is completely "unproductive." https://caffeinatedwriter.substack.com/p/waiting-for-words-why-patience-matters
As a computer person I found this interesting since Lord Byron was the father of Lady Ada Lovelace, who working with Charles Babbage wrote some of the first "programs" for an analytical engine. Even though she never got to put her programs on a working version of the analytical engine (or its simpler difference engine cousin) over a hundred years later when the difference engine was finally constructed in London, the programs worked. To honor her work, a programming language was named "Ada".
Thank you Jon for mentioning this connection! Yes, it's fascinating that Lady Ada Lovelace was Byron's daughter, and that her work sprang in some sense from this familial background in poetry and philosophy
Since Anne Isabella Milbanke (also known as "Lady Byron") was only married to Lord Byron for a year, and had custody of Ada after they separated, I think that she had much more of an influence on Ada than Lord Byron did. Lady Byron was a force unto herself, as you can read on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Byron
I am told that Lady Byron was the one who guided Ada in her study of mathematics, something a bit unusual for a young woman in those days.
As a computer person I found this interesting since Lord Byron was the father of Lady Ada Lovelace, who working with Charles Babbage wrote some of the first "programs" for an analytical engine. Even though she never got to put her programs on a working version of the analytical engine (or its simpler difference engine cousin) over a hundred years later when the difference engine was finally constructed in London, the programs worked. To honor her work, a programming language was named "Ada".
This was a great read - really captured the vibe of that Swiss lake house and the intellectual hothouse it must have been. Whew - to be a fly on the wall during some of those conversations! And my goodness, at 18, I could barely figure out how to rent an apartment for myself or structure a college book report. What a crew.
Thank you Rebecca!! Truly, what an atmosphere, and the deeper I dug into the scene, it just kept making Mary's achievement all the more stunning. It's good to parse the ingredients— makes me a fervent believer in hothouses at any age, may there be many for us all
In those days childhood was very short marriage was early; she was very mature.
wow
💜
Loved this read, you really brought the ver creative waiting concept to life through the Mary Shelley & Lake Geneva example. It’s inspired me for my own creative journey. Plus I’m a sucker for anything involving the Romantics or the Victorians, takes me back to being a keen and green English literature undergrad!
Thanks Emma!! Feels like there's some extra connections to those time periods going on right now, and it's pretty delicious to revisit. Sending good for your creative journey in the new year
I’d read the account, but not the waiting. I had a waiting of one week when I found an unexpected effect doing a physics demonstration before a group of physicists. After the”lamp lit” I expanded the demonstration, a common one, but at a much reduced energy.
Wow this is amazing and I really needed to hear it! Gives me inspiration not to worry and to employ this myself
Thank you Steph!!
What a great read, thank you
Thanks so much Anna ✨
It’s the silences and the pauses that birth true creativity and inspiration. How many of mankind’s greatest were made during a sabbatical or pandemic year due to quarantine.
Two related reads:
The Power of Free Time: https://pearlleff.com/the-power-of-free-time
Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/good-ideas
So true Isa! And thank you for these excellent recs
This is such a good essay to read - creative waiting, indeed! Thank you.
Thank you Margo, really appreciated!!
Great post; I liked the difference between waiting and hoping. I always tell my writing students not to stress over “waiting,” but to remain engaged creatively in some way while they wait. “Good things come to those who wait.”
But the post displayed an image for a new movie which I could not find mentioned in the text.
John Kachuba
Thank you John, sounds like your students are lucky to have you. The image used is a vintage postcard painting, I can't find an artist attribution for it. Separately the essay mentions film adaptations - Diablo Cody wrote the script for 'Lisa Frankenstein' and the other is Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Poor Things'
Loved this account ...thank you ...
Thank you Georgia! 💜
First time came across such concept. Thank you, really helpful.
Thanks so much for the read Ahmad!!
A fun read! thanks so much!
Thank you Bruce!
Thanks for your response. I hadn’t considered the senior Darwin as the influence you referenced — a few years since I read Frankenstein, yet it remains IMO, one of the great novels of the Industrial Revolution, perhaps even more relevant than ever.
Much appreciate your comments Wen. And yes, her work is more relevant than ever!
Loved this, especially the emphasis on creative waiting. I remember once having to write an analytical essay for a European History class and wanting so badly to write something excellent for it. I couldn't come up with any ideas immediately to the prompt given for it. But I felt something was brewing. I had read what I needed to read. The thoughts were there but they weren't yet ready. This wasn't about procrastination. I felt similarly to how you describe Mary. So I went for a long walk and during the walk I began to sense the ideas moving into place. Once home, I wrote that essay in one go. This is creative waiting. It is how we get the higher level work from us. We let it brew. We don't push it aside but we let it do its thing unconsciously. And when it's ready and we are ready, it will strike. By the way, the teacher praised that essay I wrote for its excellence.
Beautiful Autumn, love your sketch and lucid observation of this generative moment!! And wonderful that you sensed the brewing, that intuition is such a big part of being able to tend to one's creative process
Reminds me of the snake dream. Kekule! (Which has recently been seen as hiding plagiarism or a joke.)
What a wonderful story. And I love what you take from it, the art of creative waiting. I tell my students to ignore the popular advice that one must "write every day" to be a writer and talk about it in the post "Waiting for Words: Why Patience Matters More Than Habit." Creative patience has sustained me during the years between books, and the weeks when the writing is completely "unproductive." https://caffeinatedwriter.substack.com/p/waiting-for-words-why-patience-matters
It is just so when you have any problem to solve. Sit quietly with it and your brain will come up with the goods.
A great read..
Thank you Claire!!
As a computer person I found this interesting since Lord Byron was the father of Lady Ada Lovelace, who working with Charles Babbage wrote some of the first "programs" for an analytical engine. Even though she never got to put her programs on a working version of the analytical engine (or its simpler difference engine cousin) over a hundred years later when the difference engine was finally constructed in London, the programs worked. To honor her work, a programming language was named "Ada".
Thank you Jon for mentioning this connection! Yes, it's fascinating that Lady Ada Lovelace was Byron's daughter, and that her work sprang in some sense from this familial background in poetry and philosophy
Since Anne Isabella Milbanke (also known as "Lady Byron") was only married to Lord Byron for a year, and had custody of Ada after they separated, I think that she had much more of an influence on Ada than Lord Byron did. Lady Byron was a force unto herself, as you can read on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Byron
I am told that Lady Byron was the one who guided Ada in her study of mathematics, something a bit unusual for a young woman in those days.
As a computer person I found this interesting since Lord Byron was the father of Lady Ada Lovelace, who working with Charles Babbage wrote some of the first "programs" for an analytical engine. Even though she never got to put her programs on a working version of the analytical engine (or its simpler difference engine cousin) over a hundred years later when the difference engine was finally constructed in London, the programs worked. To honor her work, a programming language was named "Ada".