Shower of Creativity

POD #8: A shower of creativity

Headed up Highway 71 past Joplin towards Kansas City going 75 MPH.  It is amazing the ideas that I have had on that stretch of highway.   I tend to be most creative on long drives.  There is something about the open road that clears my head and allows my creativity to flow.  I am thankful  that God invented that magic button that allows me to record verbally my thoughts and types the thoughts out for me.

I prefer to be in the car alone with my thoughts.  Even on long drive with my husband and children, I can find my creative thoughts – although generally I can not fully process them with others in the car.  On those rides, I generally keep a small notebook to jot down the general idea and hope that when I get alone I can process the thoughts out.

I find I am least creative when I need to give focused attention to someone or something.  Like when I sit down to write, and all of a sudden my children or husband want to talk.  It shuts down my creativity immediately.  It generally takes work for me to get back to the creative process.  Needless to say, my home is where I am least creative – unless I get to be alone or I’m in a group brainstorming.

My best ideas come when I can empty my mind of me and just be still.  Hence, why driving on the highway tends to get my creative juices flowing.  I am usually at mile marker 50 before I have emptied my random thoughts and can really start to be creative.

Another place I can be creative is listening to positive, encouraging music.  Music gets my creative thoughts to come forth.  There is something about praise and worship music that allows me to connect with my inner soul and move into a deep creative place.  Often in church, I have to sit down and write so I don’t lose the thought.

I can also be creative when I am in a group and we are feeding off of each others’ ideas.  The only problem I have in this arena is that if I put the idea out there, someone better capture it.  I will not remember the creative brilliance once the words escape my lips.  But bouncing off of others, I can get pretty creative.

I am most creative when I have a sense of calm and inner peace.  That  calm and peace may come from the repetitive thump of the highway creases against the tire.  It may come from a song that speaks to my soul.   It may come from the collaborative discussion of like-minded individuals.

When I am most creative I will have the pen to paper or fingers to the keys on the computers.  Words just flow, like water rushing from a shower head.  The creativity comes, it is released, and then it is gone, until the next time it is turned on.