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.
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!
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.
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.
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".
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.
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!
Wow this is amazing and I really needed to hear it! Gives me inspiration not to worry and to employ this myself
What a great read, thank you
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
This is such a good essay to read - creative waiting, indeed! Thank you.
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
Loved this account ...thank you ...
First time came across such concept. Thank you, really helpful.
A fun read! thanks so much!
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.
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..
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".
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".