The well is everything you collect just by being awake inside your own life. Images, ideas, sensations, colors you didn't expect. A walk in the neighborhood. A museum visit. A dinner out with friends. A leaf you found, a comedian you saw, a cloud formation slowly passing by as you sit still. None of that is art yet; it's the raw material. It goes down into the well and mixes with everything else you've ever taken in, waiting for the day you reach for it.

I kept finding myself stuck in this murky realm of in-between — not quite enough energy or willpower to actually reach for it. Maybe next week, you know? What was holding me back from starting those things? Well…the fuel I was running on — chips, scrolling, inertia — wasn't exactly putting the pep in my step.

Inevitably, we can hit a wall, feel a bit flat as we march through the steps over and over. Creative work can fall into the same ruts as any other work in life. We can move on autopilot, pay too much attention to lists, timelines, schedules… and forget the joy and magic and meaning of what we're creating in the first place. Creativity needs sparks. And one of the fastest, most reliable ways to spark it? Pick up a completely different medium.