The chap­ter The Ener­gy (In the Work) delves into the unseen but unde­ni­able force that com­pels artists and cre­ators to pur­sue their craft with inten­si­ty. It begins by explor­ing the ques­tion of what tru­ly fuels a creator’s ded­i­ca­tion, argu­ing that inspi­ra­tion is not sim­ply a mat­ter of per­son­al moti­va­tion but rather an ener­gy that emerges from the work itself. This ener­gy func­tions like an invis­i­ble cur­rent, pulling the cre­ator deep­er into their project, influ­enc­ing their thoughts, emo­tions, and even their sub­con­scious mind.

This cre­ative force is likened to love—an irre­sistible, mag­net­ic pull that refus­es to be ignored, com­pelling the artist to keep return­ing to the work. In the ear­ly stages of a project, this ener­gy acts as a guid­ing sig­nal, help­ing cre­ators rec­og­nize which ideas are worth pur­su­ing and have the poten­tial to sus­tain long-term engage­ment. As the cre­ative process unfolds, artists often expe­ri­ence moments where they lose them­selves in their work, for­get­ting the pas­sage of time, tun­ing out the exter­nal world, and ful­ly immers­ing them­selves in their craft.

How­ev­er, cre­ativ­i­ty is not a con­stant, and the chap­ter acknowl­edges that the ener­gy in a project fluc­tu­ates. Some days, the work feels effort­less, as though it has a life of its own, demand­ing to be com­plet­ed. Oth­er times, the excite­ment fades, and the artist strug­gles to recap­ture the ini­tial spark that once made the project feel inevitable. This ebb and flow of ener­gy is an intrin­sic part of the cre­ative process, and rather than sig­nal­ing fail­ure, it serves as a reminder that inspi­ra­tion is dynam­ic, requir­ing effort to main­tain and nur­ture.

When faced with moments of cre­ative stag­na­tion, artists must make a crit­i­cal decision—whether to per­sist and reignite the ener­gy or to set the project aside and chan­nel their focus into some­thing new. There is no uni­ver­sal for­mu­la for this choice, but the chap­ter sug­gests that revis­it­ing the ini­tial source of excite­ment can often help rekin­dle enthu­si­asm. Revis­it­ing ear­ly notes, reflect­ing on the orig­i­nal con­cept, or even step­ping away for a brief peri­od can pro­vide the clar­i­ty need­ed to decide whether the work still holds the same pull.

The rela­tion­ship between the artist and their work is sym­bi­ot­ic; the more atten­tion and ener­gy the cre­ator invests, the more the work grows and evolves. Just as a liv­ing thing requires nour­ish­ment to thrive, a cre­ative project demands care, time, and per­sis­tence. In return, the work itself gives back—it teach­es, chal­lenges, and some­times even sur­pris­es the cre­ator by reveal­ing new insights and direc­tions they had not pre­vi­ous­ly con­sid­ered.

This chap­ter encour­ages artists to trust the ener­gy that comes with inspi­ra­tion, rec­og­niz­ing that excite­ment is a pow­er­ful indi­ca­tor of cre­ative poten­tial. Where there is enthu­si­asm, there is momen­tum, and where there is momen­tum, there is the capac­i­ty for pro­found artis­tic dis­cov­ery. This ener­gy is not just about pro­duc­tiv­i­ty but about connection—between the cre­ator and the work, between the work and its audi­ence, and between the cre­ative process and the deep­er forces that dri­ve human expres­sion.

By embrac­ing the nat­ur­al fluc­tu­a­tions of cre­ative ener­gy, artists can cul­ti­vate a more sus­tain­able and ful­fill­ing rela­tion­ship with their work. Cre­ativ­i­ty is not about forc­ing inspi­ra­tion but about learn­ing to nav­i­gate its rhythms, to work with its cycles rather than against them. The most reward­ing artis­tic expe­ri­ences come from fol­low­ing the ener­gy where it leads, allow­ing both the cre­ator and the cre­ation to evolve in ways that feel authen­tic and mean­ing­ful.

Ulti­mate­ly, The Ener­gy (In the Work) serves as both a reminder and an invitation—to fol­low the pull of inspi­ra­tion, to trust the cre­ative force that emerges from the work itself, and to remain open to the jour­ney of artis­tic explo­ration. The ener­gy with­in a project is not sta­t­ic; it is a liv­ing force that grows, shifts, and trans­forms along­side the artist. When artists learn to rec­og­nize and nur­ture this ener­gy, they unlock the poten­tial for tru­ly impact­ful, res­o­nant, and endur­ing work.