Creative Generosity

Hello Friends,

It’s a cloudy spring day in Portland, Oregon and the birds are chirping and cawing away. Whether sunny or cloudy, I love the light in spring. No matter what is going on in my life or in the world, when spring arrives I pause. Breathe deeply. Smile.

Spring is such a generous time. Nature bursts around us, offering beauty, offering fresh scents, offering the promise of new growth, of food, of laughter, and moments of deep content.

All of that is offered… but are we open to receive?

The most creative people I know are amazingly generous with others. They gift time and money, advice and insight. In their own creative abundance, they have learned to share the wealth. They pay it back and pay it forward out of the sheer joy and satisfaction that creativity instills.

When we are as wealthy as the earth itself, why would we not share the seeds and flowers and fruits we ourselves have partaken of?

Nature is generous. We can be, too.

I’ve written about creative generosity before—speaking of Keith Brymer Jones—and am thinking about it again today because author Brandon Sanderson did a generous thing yesterday.

If you don’t know, Sanderson is a popular fantasy author who loves his fans. His fans love him, too. He’s currently breaking all records with a Kickstarter campaign. That’s a long story, and I’ll let you look it up.

But yesterday? He and his team combed through Kickstarter and backed everything in publishing, including some of my friend’s campaigns. I’m in the midst of launch prep for my second Kickstarter right now—look for it April 5th—and this thrills me. I love seeing authors be generous with each other, and help build excitement for each other’s work.

Generosity seeds more creativity. Every time we share a beloved song, or story, or artwork, creativity rises. Every time we cheer on a friend, we get a chance to smile.

So today? I’m wishing you some creative generosity. I hope you have one person in your corner, cheering you on. I also hope you get a chance to pause, smell some flowers, and smile.

blessings — Thorn

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