I was talking to my friends, Theo and Toby Page, recently about some scenes in a novel that I’m writing. I said that a particular character was running away with the story. Toby said, “What’s wrong with that? Why don’t you go where the energy is?” Now that’s an interesting thought.

I told Toby that the trouble is that I was very much drawn to the character who seemed to be taking my novel over. So now I’m thinking, well, why not go with the energy?

I think that’s what I’ve always done in storytelling and not been aware of it. I can still remember the first time I told a story called “Raspberries” publicly. It was told to the fifth grade in the Lincoln School in Brookline, Massachusetts. I’ll never forget the excitement in the eyes of the students as I leapt about the room and was lost in this story. That’s where the energy was. Creating is working with energy, and as they say in the Tao, go with the flow. Be like the water. Rush around the rocks.

Perhaps going with the energy applies to all of life.

Jay