We all feel a touch of envy when we see an exceptionally gifted person doing something amazing.
Whether it’s Messi doing his tricks in the Camp Nou, or a seven-year-old boy who sells out his paintings in minutes, we admire creativity.
But we are often wrong about it.
It’s easy to make a snap judgement that these people are successful because they are naturally gifted. That they are just lucky. But there is always another side to the story.
Creative People Work Really Hard
We often put ourselves down because we don’t have the talent of other people. But talent just means something that comes easy, a head start on the rest of the pack. The truth is, even talented people still need to work really hard to become successful.
They also know something that many people forget: creativity is not something that only a select few can enjoy, but something that we can all learn.
As John Cleese so eloquently put it: “Creativity is not a talent. It’s a way of operating”
Creativity is not magic, but something tangible. It is not something that a few fortunate people have and the rest of us lack, but something that we all have.
You’re more creative than you realise – you just need to know what that ‘way of operating’ is.
It’s All About the Muse
In your case, you want to create music.
But you keep telling yourself that you do not have the creativity of Maceo Plex, Stephan Bodzin or Jimpster.
So how can you get into the right way of operating? It all comes down to your muse.
What is a muse? You could also call it your inspiration or your stimulus. Everyone has one (you have one too), and when it visits it provides us with our creative ideas.
A muse is not something that needs to be taught … but you do need to know how to best take advantage of it when it visits.
Your muse may visit you more regularly than others, providing you with a regular stream of creative ideas to develop. Or it may not. What you need to worry about is what to do when the muse turns up at your door.
Making the Most of Your Muse
When your muse visits, it may provide you with nothing more than a shadow of an idea, an abstract form that you need to work with. The question you need to be asking is whether you have the skills and the tools to turn your idea into reality.
Like dreams, creative ideas are slippery. They seem clear one moment, then they disappear without leaving so much as a trace.
To take a musical idea and develop it into a full track demands knowledge, focus and a well-practiced workflow. But no matter how much you tell yourself that you don’t have it in you, that you don’t have the creativity to produce regular finished tracks, I can tell you that you do.
All you need is the right tools and the right mentality.
Develop Your Way Of Operating
Learning a new way of operating can help you to take greater advantage of your muse when it visits – and this can be taught.
This ‘way of operating’ is something you can learn, develop and improve. Your creativity is something you can work at.
With the right skills and the right mentality, you have unlimited potential!
