It began in earnest, I think, when I offered Maria the use of the Studio Barn at Bedlam Farm, when we were just beginning to friends. Then we decided to sponsor an art show at nearby Gardenworks, and we invited Mary Kellogg to come and read poems from her wonderful newly published collection “My Place On Earth,” which Maria edited and to which I contributed some of my first photographs. We were beginning what has evolved in a wondrous and very beautiful Circle of Creativity, the lighting of the creative spark in ourselves and in many of the people around us.

I saw it Sunday when George Forss, Donna Wynbrandt, Maria and I were putting up our photo show at the Open House Cafe, the very creative creation of my friend Scott and his wife Lisa, both artists in every way. Scott is intensely creative about the cafe, from the way the food is made and arranged to the fresh flowers to the art on the walls. When I think of the photo show, I think of this creative circle, each one feeding and nourishing the other,  you can actually feel it in the room, in the pictures. No egos, no conflict, just a bunch of connected creative people gathered in a circle to create light and joy.

My circle is widening. There is Scott, there is the Open Group At Bedlam Farm, a miraculous gathering of creative spirits. Scott is going to make a song out of some of my poems. I see the circle every day in Maria’s work, as she connects with the creative spark far beyond our small farm. People send her vintage hankies, old fabrics, they tell her she has inspired them to start blogs, make art, return to quilts, sketch.

Every day I get similar messages, people telling me they taking photos, firing up websites, writing short stories and poems. This circle now includes the Open Houses at Bedlam Farm, where hundreds of people come and join the circle, celebrate creativity, connection, the love of animals.

I see that creativity is infectious, it spreads, I said it spreads like a virus, but Maria said spreads through the power of its own energy, and I think this might be true. For me, for us, creativity is not something squeezed into life when we aren’t busy making money, it is life itself, the point, not an amusement or diversion.

I am learning that creativity is a powerful force, it infuses hope, quashes anger, spreads joy and connection, finally in my life, a circle I am proud to join and be a part of. When people see this circle, they see something that speaks to them, that is a part of them, they just know it, they want to join. This is a new idea for me, a new realization. The creative spark is a sacred spark, unleashed it warms the soul and frees the spirits too often trapped within us by the challenges and pressures of life. When I look at the news from Washington, I don’t see a city gridlocked by conflicting ideologies, I see a city devoid of creativity, for there is nothing less creative than anger, conflict and judgment. Perhaps one day an artist will slip through the monstrous corporate political machine and open up some hearts and minds.

I am just awakening to the power of this circle, to its scope and power, sometimes you just can’t see things that are too close. People like George Forss and Maria and Scott Carrino – me too, hopefully – are prophets of creativity, it is the torch that lights the path wherever we walk.