This is Day 18 of my 30-day blogging journey.
If you’re just joining the trek, Day 1 can explain more.
I don’t know when it registered for me, but I have a prime time of each day where I’m at my most creative.
It falls somewhere between my normal waking time of 345a and about 530a each morning.
That’s not quite two hours where my mind races about all manner of things: the next blog I want to write, what my next Instagram reel will be, the email I need to send out, the post I need to make to my clients, etc.
My mind starts going shortly after I have my first sip of coffee, while I read a few pages of a book, scroll through emails and messages from the night before, while I wash my face, brush my teeth and throw my clothes on to head to work and during the whole 20+ minute commute from home to the studio.
Some days are better and more fruitful than others.
I find that the more I create, the more ideas I tend to have.
The knife stays sharp.
The problem isn’t what do I have to talk/write about, the problem is: Which idea am I going to pick next?
A few days ago, I did something that I haven’t done in over ten years.
I wrote an original song.
Mind you, it was meant to be a joke for a post I did on Instagram, a very snarky take on carbohydrates dedicated to people who choose not to consume them.
It took me about 10 minutes.
When I was in a band, many years ago, that wouldn’t have been a big deal. Some lyrics just came to me quickly.
However, in that span of time since I haven’t been writing lyrics, I’ve still been writing.
And the biggest difference between creativity with a blog and creativity for a song is the fact that you generally want lyrics to have a rhyming scheme.
As we watch the demand for artificial intelligence grow, there are a lot of things that can be created through algorithms and data and trends.
It may become difficult to discern what’s created by (wo)man or machine.
Honoring my creative process is one way to keep alive something that is uniquely mine.
I’m going to talk more about this tomorrow.
In the meantime, pay attention to the times in your day when you feel the most creative; whether that’s 10 minutes or 110 minutes.
Guard that time and keep it to yourself.
Use the time to create without limitations and without judgement.
If you’re anything like me and random ideas pop into your head at odd times of the day, make sure you plug some notes into your phone before you forget.
My memory may not be improving over time, but my ability to create has barely lost a step.
(Photo courtesy of Nick Fewings)
