This is a great description of the creative process written by Kate Wenner.

Once when I was quite young Einstein gave me a compass as a present. He told me about his first compass and how it started him thinking about the magic of the universe. When he gave me my compass, he explained that what it did was make an invisible force of nature apparent to the human eye. And then he told me that I also had a compass inside my heart, and if I could learn to feel it, it would help me know what direction to go.