Carmina proveniunt animo deducta sereno

[LorettaYoung]

I agree, absolutely. V difficult to produce anything requiring skill, in a state of semi-hysteria. V unlikely to produce much of interest if one's life has been like a lump of dough. I wish I could quote stuff like that at the drop of a hat!

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I would think the Ovid quote should reasonably impress.

Though not entirely antipasto I believe that we all make our own contributions to the maximum of of our ability whether we realise this or not. I am always charmed and encouraged by the maxim (anon) that states:
"If a man has been a herder of goats all his life and you give him LSD he will hallucinate about goats".
Isn't that just the way of it?
Best,
tectak

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Well, there are degrees of a calm mind. There have been times in my life when it was enough to see an image, imagine an interpretation of it and I had no need to actually produce anything: Calm mind, no art. There were years when I amused myself making up poems in my head with no desire to write them down, no art. It's the communication that makes it art, without that need to communicate, no art. I still made stuff, I craved crafts more concrete than words and pictures.

During times when my mind was more stressed out, it could go either way, produce or not produce, it varied.

Right now my mind is a strange combo of calm and hypersensitivity. Valuing words over something more utile is a surprise to me. I don't expect a masterpiece, I'm just amusing myself.

So to answer your question, I don't have a clue.
I'm sure art comes out of all sorts of things, variable for each person and each state of mind.

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I am learning this to be very important; not only do we need this calm to write and think; but to learn technicalities of form; the process of conforming an overly imaginative or emotive mind to concentration would take practice.
I really appreciate and need this message; but I'm sure I would not hallucinate about my job! Thanks, Loretta