To Create Is to Discover

When I first started making Lulu Cinnamon, I had no idea I was creating the first chapter of a trilogy. To me, that is one of the most beautiful things about the creative process: creating is also discovering.

We often imagine that creating means having a perfectly defined vision and then executing it. But Lulu Cinnamon began in pieces: images, songs, characters, feelings and words that caught my attention without me fully understanding why. Little by little, I put them together, removed what didn’t belong and followed my instincts. It felt like carving a sculpture out of stone, slowly discovering the shape underneath.

Symbolism and mythology became the threads connecting those pieces. The Moon, light, night, death, birth, love, home… things that initially seemed unrelated started speaking to one another. And then, everything fell into place.

The biggest surprise came after I had finished. What I thought was a complete story turned out to be the beginning of something much larger. There was another chapter, and then another. I could surprise myself with my own work.

I think that is one of the great gifts of creating: you are both the person making the work and the person discovering it. A song can reveal a meaning you hadn’t noticed. A character can belong to a world you never planned. What begins as a story can become an entire universe.

I like to think of it as having control of the boat, but not the ocean. You can choose your direction, change course and decide which shore to explore, but you don’t know what is waiting beyond the horizon. That uncertainty is part of the adventure.

So I try to pay attention to whatever calls me: an image, a melody, a symbol, a feeling I can’t explain. You don’t always need to know where it will lead. Sometimes, “This interests me. Let’s see where it leads” is enough.

That is what Lulu Cinnamon has been for me: a creation, an adventure and a reminder that creating isn’t only about giving shape to what is inside you. It is also about discovering what is there while you create.

Keep your hands on the wheel, but look at the horizon, too. Trust the ocean. Everything falls into place. You just have to keep sailing.