Back in high school and college, I wrote a lot of music and lyrics. In hindsight, I cannot recall whether I worked hard at it or if it came pretty naturally, but either way a decent amount of tunes were written. And at least some of them didn’t suck. But the last decent song I wrote (at least in my opinion) was late in 2003. And I don’t really know why the writing stopped.
With the impending birth of The Tobe, I started blogging late in 2005. A case could be made that the blog became the creative outlet I was missing for those 2 years. And I’ve blogged pretty regularly ever since, although I’m not sure how “creative” it is. I’d have to lean on opinions outside of my own brain for that verdict.
I started Twittering about a year ago, and I really like it. (I thought I would hate it, but I don’t, at all.) Unlike the blog, I’m extremely limited in what I can say there with character restrictions. In some ways, I think it forces creativity with the mandatory succinct-ness. Forces me to choose my words a little more carefully. But again, I’m not sure how “creative” it really is.
I say this all because I feel like I’m starting to become braindead. Not like I’m literally entering a vegetative state, just that the creative juices seem to very rarely flow anymore.
Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. I produce/arrange/lead worship services every weekend, and that definitely requires non-accountant brain functions.
But I used to be more of a dreamer. I used to get crazy wacked-out artistic visions, be them musical or visual or conceptual, and that is rarer these days.
I want to get it back. That creativity is something God created me with, and I’ve neglected it.
There is an ebb and flow in my book. I love to write (anything) but my songs remain inside. I can truly appreciate the gift God gave you for music (and putting lyrics to music). He didn’t give me that. Good luck and may He give you some new songs! Can’t wait to hear them.
I can relate. I think busy-ness gets me off my creativity. Just going through the days that are full can leave me without having taken time to be creative in my writing. That’s why I try, when I think about it, to be creative on my blog at times. But I do wish I did it as frequently as I used to. Being the parent of little ones can take up a lot of brain energy! 🙂
I find that I have to force myself to be creative within my talents. Sometimes it works out well, other times it doesn’t. One thing is for sure, if I don’t *make* time for the experimentation, it simply will not happen.
One area for me is cooking. I don’t actually enjoy cooking from a recipe, but I know new techniques, flavor combinations, etc. come from trying new dishes. Trying new recipes also takes more time than cooking something I am already familiar with. There is a period where I have to fish for feedback from the Guinea pigs (family, house church, game-night crew, etc.), evaluate the data and adjust the concept. Eventually, I have a dish with my own twist.
We are not always going to *feel* creative, but if we don’t press our talents we will not get the juices flowing. And we all want more wine than whine, right?