3 Things Your Creativity Desperately Needs from You
**NOTE: This post is Part 7 of my current series Essential Skills of a Modern Day Film Composer. If you are just now joining the series, you can catch up by visiting the links below.
- PART 1: How to Write Three Minutes of Music Per Day
- PART 2: What Directors Want From Their Composers: The Hollywood Directors
- PART 3: VIDEO: Letter from a Hollywood Director
- PART 4: How to Conquer the Spotting Session
- PART 5: What Directors Want from Their Composers: The Indie Directors
- PART 6: How to Identify and Handle Criticism
Most Creatives agree that we are our own worst enemies when it comes to a creative slump—that our own thoughts, doubts, self-pity, distractions, negative feelings, and unmet desires about our art will keep us from achieving completion quicker than anything else out there. Identifying these enemy combatants can be tough, however. Sometimes they are obvious: An open window with a bouncing basketball ringing in your ears while you are trying to write the next great American novel. Other times, they are tougher to nail down—they creep around, waiting for the right time to show themselves, in the corners of your own past failures. Sometimes they are only noticeable when someone makes an off-hand remark that pokes gently at the self-doubt you harbor in regards to the limits of your own artistic ability. As commercial artists—those who strive to fashion something that was once not there for the enjoyment of others and ourselves—we can be our own creativity's Grim Reaper, or we can be its greatest cheerleader on the squad. Unfortunately, quite often… we'll be the ones in the corner with our hooded cloaks and scythes, thank you!
What Kills Creativity?
We could blame that on a number of seemingly deserving variables, but let's be real: It's due to what we've allowed to filter into our process. If someone once told us that we sucked, we hear that, and what we do with that information what we will. Discard it? Maybe. But then, were they right? Maybe I do suck! What then? On the contrary, if you heed that counsel, then you must admit that you do, to whatever degree… Suck… And therefore, you need to either change something, or just quit calling yourself an artist altogether. Neither approach seems like a fun one.
3 Things Your Creativity Desperately Needs from You
Support
The creative process demands support. It needs an environment that encourages growth—an untangled and unrestricted ecology in which it can flourish and derive the nutrients for its very life. There are two important elements necessary for any thriving support system: Places and people.
Places
Getting the tone right in your creative environment is critical. It's really your creative sanctuary, yet that sanctuary does not have to be a set place. Instead, it could simply be a set of self-defined parameters that are present, enabling your best, uninterrupted creative flow. On one end of the spectrum, that might be your home studio. At the other end, it could be a private villa in Tuscany. For me, it is "light". That's it. I have a hard time working in dark, dungeon-like places, which is why you'll often find me running off to places like the South Pacific or a place like Buenos Aires to work on my most critical creative endeavors. But the locale really doesn't matter. What helps you create? That's the real question behind your environment. The what. Is your environment a place full of the things that inspire you creatively? Is it a sanctuary of peace and creative inspiration, or does it scream things at you, like, "Clean me! Organize me! Air me out! 'Light' me! Vacuum me!"? If so, you might look at either A) Doing some of those things before you know you are going to be in creative mode, thereby eliminating those distractions, or B) Hiring it out to be done for you. (Contact me if you need help with that. I can show you how to outsource anything in your life. No shit.) How it gets handled is unimportant, but the identification of the obstacles in your environment that are inhibiting your creativity is a task you cannot afford to put off. True—some people thrive in chaos. I get it. A great creator told me once, "It's impossible to be creative and tidy at the same time." When I observed some of the masterpieces she was able to turn out in her creative space, I absolutely believed her. For her. Now… What about you?
People
How about the people in your life? They are just as much a part of your support system as the place where you make your stuff is. Do they help or hinder your creativity? Changes with people are obviously harder to make—you can't just throw them out like moldy cheese or re-arrange them like bad feng shui. But you can limit their access to your creative environment, and that's exactly what I would suggest you do. Make some hard and fast rules that apply to people's coming and going in your creative sanctuary. Make sure that everyone understands them and abides by them. Explain that you need set boundaries in your creative process, which includes time away from all distractions.
Most Creatives who are dealing with struggles at home talk to me about their relationships with those closest to them, usually their mate or spouse. Mates often find dealing with their Creative significant other a torturous process. That's because art, by its very nature, relies heavily on "scarcity" and "limitations". That doesn't jive well for someone depending on you for a large portion of their personal security. However, in order to be a fully-functional Creative, you must have an environment where you can feel safe to fail as well as succeed. There needs to be balance in that, as well. Think of it like this: Your Creative environment is a bank account. You have a certain ratio of available resources to needs that must be met. You must learn to genuinely and sincerely invest in your mate as much as possible, so that in turn, they may invest in you when you need them to. It's a give and take. No Creative can expect to be unconditionally supported without first having built up some equity in that support account. Here's the trick to that: When you are available, be there! Don't come to "family time" with your mind somewhere else. That's not playing fair. They've held up their end of the deal. You need to also.
Stimulation
Creativity also needs to be stimulated. You've heard it said that "one cannot create in a vacuum". That's debatable, but I personally believe there is a kernel of truth in that statement if you are willing to find it. You have to feed your creativity in order that it might self-germinate when you need it to. Again, it's an equity thing. I've spent time with countless Creatives who were all worked up because they'd hit a wall. Almost always, the root of their problems tracked back to them not regularly stimulating their creativity. They were so consumed with output that they forgot about input. The same danger can be applied to almost anything—cooking, but not eating; running, but not stretching; planting, but not watering; working, but not vacationing. You have to build back in what you've taken out. Creativity doesn't regenerate without an assist from its creator. You have to prepare and plan for times that you can set aside to stimulate your muse.
How do I stimulate my creativity? I read. I cook. I travel. I listen to podcasts and audio books. I journal. I go to the movies. I attend concerts. I take walks. I do whatever feels refreshing to my creative side. Sometimes, I just sleep—because it's what I need. I can feel it in my body. I can feel my thoughts slowing down and my creative engine stalling out. I know I need to shutdown and get some rest. The Creative Flow is a very physical state of being. You can determine a lot by listening to your body. You might have been able to stay up and pull those all-nighters in college, but now in your forties, your body will warn against that. It will tell you, "Hey, listen. If you do this, you know the consequences you'll have to pay." But you don't listen. You tell yourself, "Yeah, but I have a deadline. I'll sleep when I'm dead." So you push through… and three things suffer: Your body, your mind, and your work. (By the way, the whole "I'll sleep when I'm dead" thing? Yeah. Great concept for a Warren Zevon tune, poor concept for an artists's way of life. I hear it said a lot in creative circles, which immediately tells me what kind of person I'm about to deal with: A stupid one.)
Avidity
For it to really pay off for you the way it wants to, Creativity must be embraced with avidity. You may have never heard that word before. Avidity. That's because people don't use it much anymore. And that's because there isn't much avidity in what people put their minds to these days. It means zeal. Absolute devotion. Extreme interest or enthusiasm. Not just mild interest… extreme interest. Avidity is when you attack something with everything you have. An "avid" user.
I took a karate class for a short time when I was in grade school. Our sensei was a very stereotypical martial arts instructor. A real Mr. Miyagi kind of dude—honorable, calm, and steady. I'd never experienced that sort of soothing aura from a "sports coach" before. Usually they screamed and yelled until they were blue in the face, got mad at referees, and threw shit across the field like toddlers who don't get their way. Infants in Dockers. Not this guy. He was quiet, calm, collected. Never raised his voice. Never got upset. There was a really cute girl in the class who was a total ass-kicker. Her name was Hayley, her hotness amplified by the fact that she could probably annihilate anyone in there with her pinky finger. One time she was sparing with a guy named Kimo, who was a few belts up the food chain from her. We were all watching from the sidelines. Kimo, afraid of hurting a girl, was patty-caking his way through the sparing session, when all of a sudden, our instructor reached out and gently pushed him from behind, knocking him off-balance and sending him face first into the mat. As Kimo lay there—probably at once confused, pissed, and embarrassed—our normally quiet and calm Sensei yelled at full volume, "THERE IS NO HALF-ASS HERE! GO WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART, OR GO HOME!"
That's precisely what I want to yell at people who call themselves Creatives, but are pussy-footing through their creative careers. "There is no half-ass here! Go with your whole heart, or go home!" Why subject yourself to the life of a Creative artist if you aren't into it with all your heart, mind, soul, and body? Believe me, there are far easier ways to earn a living… And far more lucrative ways, too! For crap sakes, go do one of those! Make it easy on yourself. You cannot be an effective artist and come at your creativity with a half-assed attitude. If you think you are ready to launch, but your attitude is half-cocked, believe me—you're not ready.
Here's a confession you won't find many creative advocates saying: I get really frickin' tired of having to convince people that they have what it takes. Really tired. I get sick of believing in people more than they believe in themselves. It's hard to sustain that belief for someone who consistently refuses to step into the role they are destined for. So you know what? I don't do it anymore. If you don't have it in you to believe that you can be a successful artistic businessperson, then I'm not your guy. I don't have that kind of time. And if I did, it wouldn't do you any good anyway! You don't believe in yourself, so what can I do for you? Until you believe in yourself, there is nothing anyone can do for you, say to you, or give to you that will make one iota of difference for you. It's like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. It's futile.
Until you start believing your own press, nobody can help you do what it is you want to do. (And yes, you will need help.) You must be unabashedly in love with what it is you do. If you aren't, your lack of avidity will be obvious to everyone. It is clear than Jimmy Fallon attacks his job as host of Late Night with a fierce avidity. Donald Trump, however, sleepwalks through his job as host of his show. Maybe that's why it's on the bubble!
What's Your Take?
What do you think about this stuff? How are you supporting, stimulating, and attacking your creativity with avidity? This is a conversation we are having. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these issues, but I’d also like to know what other kinds of things you are dealing with as a Creative Artist. Please leave a thought or a comment in the box below. Names are optional, but I’m interested in continuing the conversation with you, so consider leaving your name if that’s interesting to you. Thanks for stopping by!
