# get to work > Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. > > — Pablo Picasso > Ask anyone doing truly creative work, and they'll tell you the truth: They don't know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up and do their thing. Every day. > > — Austin Kleon > I think inspiration is overrated. I think work is what is important. You can only make music if you make music. You can only paint if you paint. You can only write if you write. In general, you won't get better at it, or at anything else, unless you do it. And so you do it. I think being inspired really happens in the midst of work, not before the work. > > — [Marc Weidenbaum](https://disquiet.com) Have to show up to the page, to the project, to the work. The ideas and inspirations come from that. You don't wait until the inspiration strikes to work. [[quantity leads to quality|Quantity leads to quality]] is part of this. Make a lot of things and the quality will improve as you go. _Add in story of the vases. I know I have the article somewhere._ Also, after your ideas arrive, you still have to do the work of proving they are right. You have to follow through with the inspiration to actually [[make the thing]]. > "Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it." > > — Madeleine L'Engle > Lucky opportunities tend to be stumbled upon, not handed out. > > If you're waiting for someone to hand deliver an excellent opportunity to you, it's unlikely to happen. But if you are exploring and moving—if you're in the mix and engaged—then you'll stumble upon many opportunities. > > The active mind comes across a lot. Keep tilling the soil and you will occasionally unearth something wonderful. > > — James Clear > Inspiration is merely the reward for working every day. > > — Charles Baudelaire > Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are. > > — Squire Bill Widener (_often misattributed to Theodore Roosevelt_) > You are not creative and then create something, you become creative by working on something, creativity is a byproduct of work. > > — [Jürgen Geuter](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tante_festival-crowd-boos-at-video-of-conference-activity-7175401061241778176-F012/): --- tags: #creativity #process home: [[! creative process]]