Comments on: Keeping Creativity Flowing

By: “Dance,” said the Sheep Man. « The Life of Keith

“Dance,” said the Sheep Man. « The Life of Keith — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:47:45 +0000

[...] Sara reminded me of one of my favorite books of all time, A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. I read this book quite a few years ago and followed it up with “Dance, Dance, Dance”, the sequel. In it, the main character is going through some rough times, and a mystical character called the Sheep Man (who talks without spaces between his words) appears and kind of helps him through it. I was going through a really rough point in my own life at that time, and this speech by the Sheep Man became my mantra. I knew that no matter how hopeless things seemed at the time, I had to keep “dancing” and eventually things would get better. If I gave up, I’d be stuck. “Dance,” said the Sheep Man. “Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays. Yougottadance. Don’teventhinkwhy. Starttothink, yourfeetstop. Yourfeetstop, wegetstuck. Wegetstuck, you’restuck. Sodon’tpayanymind, nomatterhowdumb. Yougottakeepthestep. Yougottalimberup. Yougottaloosenwhatyoubolteddown. Yougottauseallyougot. Weknowyou’retired, tiredandscared. Happenstoeveryone, okay? Justdon’tletyourfeetstop.” [...]

By: saragracer

saragracer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:09:02 +0000

Thanks for commenting, Travis. You should try his fiction too! :)

Sent from my iPhone so exuse the typos!

By: Travis Truman

Travis Truman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:46:09 +0000

I recently read Murakami’s running memoir and found it to be just the motivation I needed to continue to push myself.

Glad to hear that you and others have enjoyed his work as well.

By: saragracer

saragracer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:34:17 +0000

Thanks Jim. :-) I love the time to think. I don’t ever bring my cell phone because i don’t want to be tempted to check my message instead of let me thoughts flow…

By: Timothy Wakefield

Timothy Wakefield — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:29:56 +0000

What a great post. Running provides you with the energy to be creative, and it also provides you with time to think. Thinking seems to be a lot art among many people. Keep up the good work! I always look forward to your posts.

By: saragracer

saragracer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:28:07 +0000

Wild Sheep Chase or Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:51:50 +0000

tell me again, sara, which of his books should i read first?

miss you!