Creativity is key to creating music
From A9
The creative spirits that leave the most indelible mark often move the most effortlessly. Navigating their medium with such ease, anyone could feel capable of writing a poem, painting a portrait or writing a song after watching their work.
For myself and millions of others, Johnny Cash remains an inspirational force that crosses all lines; genre, economic, political, etc. Part of what makes his work relevant decades later is how organic it feels. There’s no pretense in his works. In a 1989 interview with the American Academy of Achievement, his description of his creative process explains this organic unfolding of songs:
“Songwriting is a very strange thing as far as I’m concerned. It’s not something that I can say, ‘Next Tuesday morning, I’m gonna sit down and write songs.’ I can’t do that. No way. If I say, ‘I’m going to the country and take a walk in the woods next Tuesday,’ then the probability is, next Tuesday night I might write a song. Creative people have to be fed from the divine source. I do. I have to get fed. I have to get filled up in order to pour out.”
It seems Cash was taking his cue from the trees that surrounded him. They weren’t drought with anxiety about the right time to grow. However flawed or imperfect they are, they grow all the same. Often, many creative types are burdened by waiting until something is “perfect” before releasing it into the world. Perfection is procrastination of progress.
Among many avenues of the creative mind, there’s a duality that can be hard to balance. On one side of the street, dedication to our craft allows us to forge and sharpen our skills. Developing our internal barometer for when
that painting, song or sonnet is ready to be released into the world. The negative side, especially in this era of social media, is the constant comparison to other creative works. The entire world of recorded creativity, plus thousands of works being uploaded this second, is at our fingertips. This hyperbolically, hyperactive modern version of “Keeping Up With The Joneses” goes international with comparing one’s ability to anyone in the world. Allowing insecurity or undue pressure on many projects before they are fully realized.
Artist/designer Tee Mugayi in Medium described his process in the following: “In some instances, I would design one thing today and love it, but wake up the following day completely hating it, this would inevitably lead to picking it apart forcing myself to either redesign it if time permitting, or if it’s a personal project, I end up just scrapping it completely.”
That inner voice can lead us to putting our creative car up on blocks in our mental driveway. It’s not fast enough yet, the coat of paint is chipping, the seats are a little worn out. With this particular vehicle, getting it out into the world is the only way to discover what it truly needs. Seeing and feeling it out there driving through the rain, sleet and snow.
There’s some obvious remedies for the perfectionism. Limiting time spent on various social media apps never hurt anyone. In general, defying the stereotype that creative people aren’t regimented is truly the first step. Establishing some boundaries, time limits for certain areas, and breaking a task down into smaller goals is the foundation for flourishing creativity.
Legendary filmmaker David Lynch is a longtime advocate for a discipline and routine. Most notably, Lynch spent seven years writing movie ideas at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank. Every day at 2 p.m., he’d arrive, order a milkshake and fries and write down ideas/script notes on napkins.
As a creative person, it can be helpful to document our progress along the way.
Recording ourselves practicing music for example quells the fear/discomfort of listening to a raw, vulnerable version of our artistic self. It’s also a great way to reference how much growth happened over time. In what begins as an uncomfortable practice becomes an IV drip of confidence boosting.
It’s a tactile way to dismantle the self doubt that plagues us. Teaching that the only comparison to be made is with our own journey.
The greatest gift service to the creative life teaches us is the journey is more important than the destination. We learn so much about ourselves the more we dive into the craft. Understanding what really makes our brains tick, how we are wired internally, is vital to being the most faithful vessel for the songs, poems and stories living inside of us all. Being more authentic in our voice on and off the stage.
As the great music teacher Anthony Wellington once said, “I believe inside of every human there’s a great song, novel or movie. You better learn to tell it yourself or someone else will tell it for you.”