Let Creativity In
Creativity is all around us though only some choose to harness it. If you grew up in the USA, you probably finger painted or played with Play Dough as a kid. You may have squealed on the recorder in school or added some roads and homes in Sim City.
Sadly, it’s amazing how much “being creative” drops off the radar as people grow up. When I ask people what they look forward to, rarely does anyone mention anything creative.
I’m witnessing creativity relegated to the creative professional. This is wrong. I feel that consistent drops of creativity should be part of everyone’s life.
Recently, I did two completely separate creative endeavors and wanted to share them.
Theatre
Earlier this week, I went to see the 24 Hour Plays at the Urban Arts Partnership gala event. A billboard recap is written here for context. World famous (and not) actresses and actors were given a script less than 18 hours before showtime and had to perform in front of a live audience. The scripts were written less than 8 hours prior. The creativity that flowed from the stage was tremendous. There were six ten-minute-plays and each one was so different from the other. The takeaway: creativity doesn’t need a ton of time to plan… a fully written, learned, choreographed, and rehearsed play could all happen in under 24 hours.
Music
Over the past few months, the evening ritual when I’m home and not traveling is to give my children a shower at night. Each have their own separate showers so they do it simultaneously but when I’m helping my daughter out, we make up fun songs about our day or about a vacation. Recently, we have been singing about being a primary walker. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s the term used when you are being picked up from school instead of riding the bus home. You could be a primary walker for unlimited reasons but for us, it’s usually for attending acting class, doctors appointment, sports, or something else.
Over the past few months, my daughter and I have been singing the same song over and over again that we made up. I had the idea to take the lyrics of the song, refine them a bit, and give them to a studio musician to record and produce and turn it into a mastered version. I used Fiverr and found a musician in Spain who produced Primary Walker as a four minute song for under a couple of hundred dollars in 72 hours. I love the Internet and how it connects all of us. The takeaway: don’t let your knowledge boundaries stop you. There is always someone out therein the world who will help you become even better. Creativity knows no boundaries. Here is the song and lyrics if you care to listen/read.
Conclusion
Doing something creative helps inspire me. Whether I’m actively participating (creating music) or watching a broadway performance, I’m submersing myself into a new experience and surrounding myself in creativity. These are just two examples of what you can do. There are plenty more. Creativity is infinite. I find this helps me do better and hope it helps you too.
This post is written by Darren Herman, the VP of Content Services at Mozilla. While not skiing with his family or on cross-country flights to Mountain View (CA), Herman thinks about the future of content and it’s convergence with Madison Avenue. This post is his thinking and not one that is reflective of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @dherman76.
