The Creative Process

I don't know anything about the "creative process." I read about it. I try to learn how others get creative and the methods they use. Some use music. Some go on retreats. Others seem to have creativity oozing out of them. Me? I don't have a process. I wish I could put on some cool tunes, light a candle and let the ideas just start flowing out of me, but it just doesn't work that way.

More often than not, I just need to try to go to bed at night, and then the ideas start coming. Sometimes I even wake up in the middle of the night and have to write things down. Sometimes a broad idea, sometimes just a phrase, sometimes I just lay there and think for hours at a time.

A few things I have learned along the road I'm on:
1) write it down right away. I'm terribly lazy and I always think I'll remember it later, and don't have to stop what I'm doing immediately, but the thoughts never come back the same.

2) see what others are doing. I was completely against this six months ago. I wanted my ideas to be my own and not someone else's. I was concerned that I would see or hear about something someone else did, and then it wouldn't be an "original" idea. I wanted all my creativity to come from my own inspiration. Call me Narcissus. Wait, no, don't call me that.

3) have someone to talk to. I love talking about music, sermons, theology, drama, etc. It can be hard when I think I have a fun or exciting idea and there is no one around to share it with. There are two different people I like to bounce ideas off of. The one I go to first mostly tells me all my ideas are great, and gets me pumped up and excited about them. Then I go to the second person who is able to see flaws in my ideas and knows how to draw out other ideas and develop them.

4) don't be scared/take risks. Easier said than done. I have never been a risk taker. As much as I may enjoy getting onstage and performing, I greatly dislike putting my ideas on display. Scary. I much prefer whispering ideas to someone else, and letting them carry out a vision. Sunday we had a good day. We had a contemporary choir. We pushed on the music a little. We started using some new teams. Everything went off pretty smoothly (except when I briefly turned out all the lights by accident). But I was terrified and lost sleep the night before. I won't even describe all the things I imagined could go wrong. I'm a faithless wretch. It was never in my hands to begin with.

5) pray. That's a "give me," right? Seems so obvious. But it makes a true difference. I'm seeing changes left and right to the point that I am getting excited to start praying about things to see what God will do.

Hmmm...maybe I am starting to have a process after all. I'm still not really sure I know what I'm talking about. This is what I think I know right now. I'm sure it will be different in six more months. Our team has had a few wins. We have had some failures. But I'm having fun and growing in God. It just gets better and better.