The Point of Being Creative

Why do we create? Why do we, as musicians, writers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, create things that weren’t there before?

The answer is so simple, yet so easy to forget.

We create to express ourselves. That’s it.

The point of being creative is to pour our souls out on a canvas, in a song, in a film, then allowing someone else to see or hear it.

Rick Rubin, a multi grammy award-winning record producer with an impressive list of collaborations, talks about this concept in his book “The Creative Way”. When I first read this over this past Christmas break, I was almost shocked. How could I have forgotten something so simple?

The reason I picked up the guitar as a child and started signing was to express my internal moods through the chords I was playing. I would learn song I liked, sing their lyrics, and sometimes make up some of my own. It was meditative.

It was just for fun, just to express myself.

It takes off a lot of pressure off with this in mind. I can tell myself, I’m not trying to write the next hit song or be the next best thing, I’m just trying to get some of my thoughts and feelings out. Also, it helps to know that what I write doesn’t have to make sense for anyone else but me.

As creators, we often tend to be our own worst critics. Like many musicians, I’ve often struggled with the lyrics of my songs more than the chord arrangements. I’m afraid to sound cheesy, uncool or naïve.

BUT…

That doesn’t matter.

My life experience is different from any person I’ve ever met, and the same is true about you. Some of the lyrics I’ve connected with the most were not written by award-winning musicians but by small indie bands. And I’m grateful that I discovered their music in this endless sea of new artists we have today.

The same could be true about my music. The same could be true about you and your art.

So, when writing your next song, just keep that in mind. The point of this song is to express something you feel, finish it, then letting others hear it. I think with this perspective, you may find that the pressure to write something “great” or “good” is alleviated.

Just write something for you.

Kim

(You can reply to this newsletter, if you have questions or a topic you’d like me to discuss, just ask!)