When are you creative?

When do creative ideas come to you?

I am a minister, and I am intrigued about how Christians view a creative moment versus a non-Christian. Often I will hear a non-Christian artist talk about how creative ideas come to them. For example, Kid Rock's said his hit song, All Summer Long, came to him in the middle of the night. I've heard various artists in different genre's say similar scenarios. The creative moment came at odd times. The moment came while talking on the phone, in the shower, in the middle of the night, a dream, driving in the car. In a sense the creativity came in the margins of life.

When I hear Christians talk about creative moments in the margins of time I hear the phenomenon described as a coming from God. God talked to them. God gave them a word and the like. To me it sounds like a creative spark that many non-Christians describe happens to them.

While I believe creativity is from God (that's another post), I don't believe God has limited creativity to us Christians. I think it is a gift he has given to all mankind. He has given all of us the ability to be creative. The point I'm making is the sun shines down on all of us.

I digress.

You need to keep track of when your creative thoughts come to you. If they come to you in the shower then get some soap crayons and write in on the wall. if they come to you in the car get a voice recorder to record your thoughts. If they come to you in the middle of the night then have some index cards on the nightstand.

Pay attention to when you are creative and have a method of recording your thoughts. You will find out that you might be more creative than you thought. Plus, in order for you to be more creative youneed to create margins in your life where you can have unprocessed thought. Creativity seems to come in moments of non-productivity, loose concentration, and pondering. In fact, research has shown that the greatest leaders carved out time to just think about things. This carved out time is what gave them opportunity to solve problems and catch visions.

When Creativity Goes Bad

Have you seen the 80's movie "DUNE?" It is a horrendous movie. Based on the book of the same title (which is a masterpeice), the movie does a horrible job of managing the delcacies of the plot. Lots of work into the set to have a creative design but it looked pitiful on screen. It started out to be a very creative work, and it didn't work.

The problem is every time it's on I watch it. It's like trying to look away from an accident on the freeway. I can't help myself!

Sometimes creative ideas don't work. It will look good on paper. It will look good while you set it up and prepare for it, but when you actully put it out there, it falls flat on it's face. I've had many a message that never got off the runway.

This is the underbelly of creativity. If it works you are brilliant. If it doesn't you can feel like a failure.

I was watching that "America's Got Talent" show last night and there is some truly creative acts on the show. I think of the violinist group in particular. They combine hip-hop and classical music in a brilliant manner. In the same regard I've seen people mix genres to their horror, like Pat Boone's heavy metal remake album. Eww!

That's the nature of creativity. Sometimes you fail. Sometime you win. The problem is you don't know until you try. My advice, try and keep trying. Learn from your failures. Let them influence your successes.

Creative ideas don't just come once in a while. They come in a flood of bad ones and a person that doesn't give up.