Welcome back dear friends and creative folk to another installment of "Notes on a creative life."

OK, where the heck has he been?" you're probably wondering as you read this e-mail... As I said in my last installment a few months ago, I'm back in the throes of freelance life once again, and living in Austin, Texas. But in my eagerness to make this visit into free-lance-land profitable, I forgot something really, really important ­ to leave myself time to do the things that I most enjoy. Like writing "Notes."

I was reminded last night when I got together with a dear friend I haven't seen in some 26 years. Dean Sluyter was in Austin on one leg of a promo-tour for his new book, "The Zen Commandments," published by Tarcher/Putnam.

Back in 1973 when we met, Dean was a teacher of Transcendental Meditation teaching meditation classes in the New Orleans area. I was a new meditator, setting up lectures for him in my hometown of Thibodaux, trying to introduce others to what I felt was a good thing.

In talking to him last night, I was inspired with how Dean has taken the wisdom of the Eastern view of enlightenment, of "waking up" to one's own divinity, and interpreted it into common, everyday experiences that touch you right where you giggle. He has a real gift for mixing ancient wisdom with the ingredients of our daily bread and giving everyday experiences a fresh, more fulfilling flavor. It's satisfying reading.

My talk with Dean inspired the subject of today's "Notes" as well. Perseverance. Continuing to do what you love to do even when it's not supporting you. Even if there's not a standard job title for whatever creative thing it is that you feel called to do.

Like Dean. It's obvious to me that he is a gifted teacher. Actually he does teach high school English at a New Jersey private school. Dean took the high school teaching job in the early 90s when he realized that teaching meditation didn't provide a sound financial base for raising a family. Still he was teaching. Using the same mental muscles and skills as when teaching meditation. He was simply applying his skills to a different subject. Literature.

Being a wise teacher, Dean knew that you can incorporate the concept of greater mindfulness and awareness into any subject, whether it's English lit or quantum mechanics physics. In time, he developed a course he called the Literature of Enlightenment program that examined the lives of great writers and the qualities that made them creative and great. The lab part of the class was meditation. This gave the students a basis for experiencing the growth and expansion of creativity and awareness in their own lives while they studied the lives of creative writers from Shakespeare to Bob Dylan.

Persevere. Keep looking for ways to use your own creative skills. If you absolutely can't find a way to use what you do in your daily work that supports you, then do something outside of work to flex your creative muscles. Or, look around for another job that will let you use your creativity and get paid for it. Creativity is a muscle. Use it and it will grow stronger. In time it may grow strong enough to support you.

Yeah, there's always that "support" aspect of life. Dean and I talked about that as well. Since we've both had books published, we know the reality that being published doesn't translate into immediate wealth. The vast majority of authors get a relatively small advance before their book is released, and rarely earn anything more off the sale of their book unless it really takes off. Instead, you use your book as a stepping stone to something more. The credibility and notoriety you gain helps you earn money in other ways -- for Dean it's speaking engagements, and classes.

Perseverance. Overnight success never is. Keep doing whatever it is you love to do. Do a little bit each day. It's the doing that is important. Because in the doing is the joy that waters the roots of your life's purpose. It'll grow. Maybe not overnight, but in time. Work those muscles and keep looking for the thread that's sticking out of the tapestry of your life that will lead you to the next thing.

So, dear readers, I'm back. I apologize for the time apart. And I've got lots of things to write about... Next on my list is how to price your creative service or thing that you create so that you honor your creativity...persevere. Keep creating.