Keep Going
10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
Book Edition Details
Summary
In the whirlwind of today's distractions, where creativity can feel like a distant dream, Austin Kleon offers a lifeline with "Keep Going." This is not just another guide; it's a manifesto for those who refuse to let their spark fade. Kleon, celebrated for his past wisdom on creativity, now shares ten invigorating principles to sustain your artistic spirit and embrace a life of enduring creation. Imagine a world where each day is a fresh canvas, where stepping outside for a breath of fresh air becomes a revolutionary act against the demons of monotony. "Keep Going" is an ode to the relentless pursuit of a meaningful life, urging readers to cherish the process over the outcome and leave a legacy of improvement. Whether you're a seasoned artist or someone seeking a creative outlet, this book is your companion in navigating the beautiful chaos of life with purpose and passion.
Introduction
Every morning, countless creative souls wake up to a world that feels increasingly chaotic and overwhelming. You check your phone, see the latest crisis unfolding, and wonder how you're supposed to focus on making meaningful work when everything seems to be falling apart. The creative journey isn't the heroic adventure we often imagine—it's more like waking up to the same challenges every single day, wondering if you have what it takes to keep going. Whether you're just starting out, feeling burned out, or somewhere in between, the fundamental question remains the same: How do you sustain a creative life when the world feels like it's working against you? The answer lies not in waiting for perfect conditions or finding some magical breakthrough, but in developing simple, sustainable practices that help you show up consistently, regardless of what's happening around you. This is about building resilience, finding beauty in ordinary moments, and remembering that your creative work matters precisely because the world needs more light, not less.
Build Your Daily Creative Routine and Bliss Station
A daily routine becomes your anchor in the storm of modern life, protecting your creative practice from the chaos of external circumstances. It's not about rigid scheduling or perfect productivity—it's about creating a framework that helps you show up consistently for your art, regardless of how you feel or what's happening in the world. Joseph Campbell introduced the powerful concept of a "bliss station," describing it as a sacred space and time where you disconnect from the world's demands to connect with your deepest creative self. You need a room or a certain hour where you don't know what's in the newspapers, what you owe anyone, or what anyone owes you. This becomes your place of creative incubation, where you can experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. Campbell emphasized that if you create this sacred space and use it consistently, something meaningful will eventually happen there. The beauty of a bliss station is its flexibility—it can be a physical space, a specific time, or both. If you share a tiny apartment with small children, your bliss station might be the kitchen table during their nap time. If your schedule is unpredictable, it might be a corner of your bedroom that's always ready for creative work. The key is making a daily appointment to disconnect from external noise so you can reconnect with your inner creative voice. Start by observing your natural rhythms and available time slots. Are you an early riser who thinks clearly before the world wakes up, or a night owl who comes alive after everyone else goes to sleep? Identify the pockets of time in your day and claim at least fifteen minutes for your creative practice. Create simple rituals that signal to your brain it's time to create, whether that's brewing a special cup of coffee, lighting a candle, or simply sitting in your designated space. Remember, the content of your routine matters less than its existence—what counts is showing up consistently and protecting that time as sacred.
Focus on the Verb, Not the Noun
Many people become trapped by job titles and creative labels, spending more energy trying to be "a creative" than actually creating meaningful work. The real power lies in focusing on the doing rather than the being, embracing the active process of making art instead of the static identity of being an artist. When children play and create, they demonstrate this principle beautifully. A two-year-old drawing with crayons doesn't care about the finished product or what others think—all their energy flows into the act of drawing itself. They're completely absorbed in the verb, switching effortlessly between different materials and mediums without attachment to results. This natural state of creative flow shows us what we often lose as adults: the pure joy of making things without the burden of identity or expectation. Artists who maintain this childlike approach to their work often describe feeling like they're playing rather than working. One street painter in San Francisco perfectly captured this when he said his art didn't feel like work at all—it felt like play. This lightness and detachment from results allows for genuine experimentation and discovery, keeping the creative process fresh and meaningful rather than heavy with pressure and expectation. To reclaim this verb-focused approach, try practicing for practice's sake without sharing or keeping your work. Write a poem and throw it away, take photos and immediately delete them, or draw something and erase it completely. Experiment with unfamiliar tools and materials just to see what happens. When nothing feels fun anymore, intentionally make something terrible—the worst drawing or most obnoxious song you can imagine. Most importantly, release yourself from the pressure of career labels and professional categories. Let others worry about what to call you while you focus entirely on doing the work that brings you alive.
Find Beauty in the Ordinary Through Attention
The ability to discover extraordinary beauty in everyday circumstances separates truly great artists from those merely seeking dramatic inspiration. This skill transforms not just your art but your entire relationship with the world around you, turning routine moments into sources of wonder and creative fuel. Sister Mary Corita Kent exemplified this transformative vision when she worked as an art teacher in 1960s Los Angeles. Inspired by Andy Warhol's pop art, she began screen-printing images from advertisements, street signs, and commercial logos—the visual pollution most people ignored or dismissed. Through careful attention and creative recontextualization, she transformed a Wonder Bread package into a message about communion, turned the General Mills "Big G" into a reference to God, and split the Safeway logo into two words that became a spiritual signpost. Her work demonstrated that sacred beauty exists everywhere if we develop the eyes to see it. Kent developed practical exercises to train this way of seeing, creating "finders"—pieces of paper with rectangular cutouts that simulated camera viewfinders. She would lead students on walking expeditions, teaching them to frame the world differently and discover compositions they'd never noticed. This practice of "cropping reality" helped them see beauty in the most mundane corners of their environment, transforming casual observation into active creative discovery. Cultivate this skill by deliberately slowing down your pace of looking. Spend five minutes examining something ordinary in your environment as if you're seeing it for the first time. Pick up a pencil and draw what you observe—not to create beautiful art, but to force yourself to really look. The act of drawing naturally slows down your perception and reveals details you'd otherwise miss. Take walks without destinations and allow your attention to catch on small moments of unexpected beauty. Practice the ancient art of slow looking, whether at artwork in a museum or clouds moving across the sky. Remember, your attention is one of your most valuable possessions—where you direct it determines the quality of both your art and your life.
Plant Your Garden and Keep Growing
Creative work follows natural seasons just like plants, requiring patience with cycles of dormancy and growth rather than demanding constant visible progress. Understanding this rhythm helps you stay committed during quiet periods and trust that unseen development is always occurring beneath the surface. After thirty years as a nun and teacher in Los Angeles, Sister Corita Kent moved to Boston where she spent her final decades observing a single maple tree outside her apartment window. She watched it cycle through seasons—full autumn leaves, bare winter branches, surprising spring blossoms that made it unrecognizable, and finally the familiar summer foliage that restored its true identity. This tree became her teacher about creativity and life, showing her that apparent death and dormancy are essential preparation for new growth. The harshest winters, she noticed, often produced the most glorious springs. Kent came to see her own creative life reflected in these natural cycles, understanding that periods of apparent inactivity were actually times of deep internal development. Like a tree that looks dead in winter but is actually beginning profound underground processes, creative work often requires invisible preparation before visible results emerge. This perspective helped her embrace uncertainty and trust in the timing of her artistic development rather than demanding immediate proof of progress. Begin by observing actual seasons in nature to recalibrate your sense of creative time. Draw the same tree weekly for a year, watch sunrise and sunset patterns, or follow the moon through several complete cycles. Notice how natural growth happens gradually, with periods of dramatic change followed by times of steady, almost imperceptible development. Apply this seasonal thinking to your own creative projects, recognizing that some ideas need long incubation periods while others burst forth quickly. Most importantly, plant seeds consistently through daily practice, trusting that patient tending of your creative garden will eventually yield unexpected blooms. Focus on being a perennial rather than an annual—someone who builds sustainable creative habits for the long term rather than burning brightly and quickly fading away.
Summary
The secret to sustaining creativity in our chaotic world isn't found in perfect conditions or magical inspiration, but in the simple commitment to show up every day and do the work that matters to you. As the book reminds us, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives," making each daily choice about attention and action a building block of your creative legacy. The path forward requires building protective routines, embracing the active joy of making rather than the static pressure of being, discovering beauty in overlooked corners of ordinary life, and trusting in the patient seasonal rhythms of creative growth. Start tomorrow morning by claiming fifteen minutes for your creative practice—find your bliss station, pick up your tools, and begin doing your verbs rather than worrying about your nouns, knowing that every day offers fresh soil for planting seeds that will bloom in their own perfect time.
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By Austin Kleon
