everyday creativity

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of local business leaders about everyday creativity.  It was so much fun!  Aside from performing some of my songs, I had the chance to speak to these folks about embracing creativity as a part of everyday life.  

I thought it might be a good idea to share these ideas in my blog as well.  So here goes... 

No 1.  CREATIVE THOUGHT CAN OCCUR ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.  BE READY.

Most of my creative ideas start with a flash of inspiration, typically, a word or a phrase.  Occasionally a melody or rhythm jumps into my brain.  We're all different.  Your spark may be a picture or something else.  No matter how the spark starts, the question is:  What do you do with it?  Often times, ideas come to me at the most random moments - while I'm grocery shopping, driving in my car, showering, even while I'm sleeping.  So for me this means grabbing a pen and paper or, more likely, my iPhone and writing down those words or recording that melody.  I almost never have luxury of working on the thought right then and there.  I do that during my scheduled writing time (we'll get into that later).  I've learned that I really can't trust my memory and you probably shouldn't either.  Always, always, always record your ideas and keep them in a place you'll be able to find later.  For me it's a lovely little app on my phone called Evernote.  Choose whatever works for you, but whatever you choose, use it!

Next time I'll share some of the things that inspire my songwriting.  That should be interesting : )  In the meantime, I hope something in these words helped you in some way.  And if you have other tips, please feel free to share them : )