"Live, So You Can Do" ((Inuyoko Mass #31))

"Live, So You Can Do"

by Inuyoko

Originally read in deoch 217 on the 8th sun of the 5th moon.

((01/15/2026))

Hello, everyone. My name is Inuyoko T’Alveni. I am a Priestess of this Shrine, and a member of its clergy since deoch 53. Last double-moon, I shared a short poem that I wrote with you, and spoke briefly about not being afraid to try new things and put yourselves out there in an attempt to be creative. Today, I’d like to expand a bit on creativity, and discuss how we can protect our spark, not simply always try to burn it at its brightest.

Creativity comes in many shapes and forms for each of us. Often we associate it with things like drawing and painting, music, or literature. But there is the potential for creativity in so many places in our lives. A clever gift for a loved one can be an example. Or the crafting and telling of jokes. Even as recently as the beginning of the last cycle, a college work by Turo called “How to Roast Your Fellow Aislings,” treated the art of banter and playful insult as an artistic act of creativity, and emblematic of Deoch’s spark. Regardless of where you find your creativity focused, it is an indispensable part of who we are, and it nurtures us and our lives here in Temuair. Where it is absent, it is sorely felt. But it is not an endless font. Many folks, from Kedian to Landon to Merisa and many others have warned us of the dangers of trying to treat it and ourselves as such. Like trying to harvest lumber while never planting more trees.

I have made the mistake myself before, of sequestering myself away within the walls of the shrine, or amongst the stacks of books in the library. Writing, reading, trying to pull inspiration from my own mind, or from the aether, for days or weeks on end. Alone time to process things is important, but ask yourself this: From what experiences was I trying to draw upon? Old memories? Also important, but they become obscured by distance over time. No, in order to create, one has to live. One has to feed the spark new experiences and interactions like kindling. Day-to-day ones like a new hunt or quest, as well as novel events. If ever there was a more clear difference between us and our Mundane siblings, it is this. Eeva may not have much desire beyond her routine activities in the inn. Dar may be ever-consumed by his research, never straying from it. But we can make each and every sun a unique one if we wish to. And indeed, we must if we want to save the capacity within ourselves to do more focused creative work. It is why, even with something like these Masses – consistent, predictable…I still try to make each and every one new. And that’s also why we are here today, rather than at the shrine. Sometimes just a little change of scenery is enough to get the creative juices flowing.

The last thing I’d like to say is that if you or someone you know does find themself dealing with this burnout – this *ennui* as Merisa calls it – it is not a moral failure. We all experience this dream in different ways. But though our experiences differ, we are all subject to the same cycle, eventually succumbing to some sort of ending. We always hope that as we or others wake up, or dream in this world for what may be the last time, that there is a new spark persisting for them wherever they may be. If you achieved anything – if you made a friend, took a class, mastered a path, or whatever else – then I believe it is all worth it, and Deoch is proud.