"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it."-- Anais Nin

I'm right there with Anais.  She demands that the act of creation elicit feelings of aliveness in the artist because only work done with energy and intensity can communicate those feelings to others.
I'm reminded of a story I heard once about an artist and his client.  The client admired one of the artist's paintings but the artist loved that piece so much he refused to sell it at any price.
"I can make you a copy." he offered.
The client agreed, but when he returned to the studio some weeks later and saw the new painting he was disappointed.
"I don't know what it is", he said, "for even though this painting is identical to the original in every way, it lacks something. It's just not as good."
"There's a reason for that." explained the artist. "This painting is a copy, the original is art."