The Distractions of Being Creative – Part 3

I have been writing a series of blogs on what it is to be creative and what gets in the way. My focus is to find a way to incorporate creativity into every moment, challenging what it means to be creative, expanding it and celebrating it. I believe every human is inherently creative and gets to sculpt their life through thoughts, words and actions. To gain conscious control of thoughts and perceptions and be able to create within our life, be it physically, emotionally, vocationally, artistically or academically has far reaching effects over our personal journeys and the lives of those we interact with. Ultimately, we can begin to learn to sail the winds of life in a more harmonious way and affect change where we see fit.

In Part 1 I explored the daily distractions of life and the importance of finding silence and listening to our hearts when the distractions become too much. Part 2 explored the idea that every single thought, word and action we have is creative thus the importance of choosing our states of being rather than reacting. In this section I want to explore the idea of becoming vulnerable and expressing our feelings, mining them for inspiration, material and direction.

After I wrote the last post, I took my own advice. I sat and decided I was going to write a song. I have been putting this off for months. It never seems to be the right time. I always have other things to do, chronic back pain to deal with, other words to write, people to teach, gigs to arrange… the list is endless.

I sat and arranged myself with a pot of tea and a bowl of nuts. I tuned my guitar, strummed a few chords. Ate the nuts. Nothing. There were no ideas. I tried to finish an old song idea. Nothing. I played a few things I knew. Nothing. I began to get depressed. Outside the rain was hammering down. I had chosen to write a song and my well was empty before I had even begun.

That is when I really sat in silence. I noticed my feelings. I listened to my heart. I tuned into myself. I didn’t try and come up with a new song or finish something. I stopped judging myself as useless. I stopped expecting too much. In that space arose a block of feeling that I had been holding onto for a few weeks. Hard feelings. Painful ones. They were to do with the endless rain, my damaged back, the state of the world, the apathy and loneliness I sometimes feel. I allowed myself to be vulnerable for a few moments. I didn’t wallow in the feelings. I just watched them. I let them roll over me.

Suddenly I wanted to write about them. Or they wanted to write through me. These feelings wanted to be expressed. I put pen to paper and a line or two tumbled out along with a melody. A chord followed, then a verse, a chorus and within two hours I had a song. A complete song. There were some stop start moments for sure. I almost gave up. I almost gave in to the voice inside me that was trying to tell me I am rubbish. But learning to be creative is a holistic process. You have to employ all the tools at some point.

I kept coming back to the silence because I know the cocky opinionated voice inside of me is a distraction. I kept stopping and listening to my heart and my feelings. I kept choosing to write another line. I kept choosing to complete the song. I chose to do this until I had completed the song and when I got to the end, I realised it was not as hard as I had first thought.

There is a key. Begin to know you are creative and capable. Begin to know and recognise the distractions. Begin to know your heart. Begin to be willing to stop and find the silence. Begin to listen… to listen your feelings and heart. Honour them. Begin to choose a state of being and a direction. Begin to move.

This dialogue is not yet done. See you in Part 4.

You can listen to Matt Rivers’ new album Nature on Spotify or Bandcamp.