This Crazy thing Called Creativity

If you have ever searched for your glasses while wearing them, left the remote by the toaster, or uttered the phrase, “no worries, I’m just making it up as I go;” then you are probably ready for induction into the Secret Society of Creatives.  

Somewhere between the 2 a.m. inspiration and the thought, “I’m not procrastinating, I’m researching”, creatives enter a time zone that has no official name. A place where writers swear they are almost done, until they re-read, and yes rewrite the same paragraph again. A stage built for three musicians somehow holds six, while the club owner leans in to say the band is too loud. At that moment, every musician wants to scream, “That's because we're a band,” still yet, they smile and turn it down anyway. Sound techs quietly become part wizard, while a stage full of musicians’ sigh when one (you know the one) interrupts with the phrase “can I get a little more… me in the monitor?” Actors rehearse conversations with invisible audiences, and dancers rethink their entire routine for the fifteenth time, because everyone knows the fourteenth time was “almost perfect.”  

Creatives are not always front and center. Many live behind the scenes making chaos look intentional. There’s the editor, proofreader and illustrator; the choreographer, screen/script writer, and director; the person who adjusts the lights to set the right ambiance; the sound tech who fights the inevitable piercing feedback; or the “Jack of all Trades” who fixes everything from a mic stand that refuses to stay upright, makes the emergency run for something someone forgot,  and serves as the unofficial encourager of the group that says, “We're good," despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Yet, somehow, 90 seconds later, it all works.

Whether writing, composing, playing music, painting, drawing, dancing, or any other creative field, “I’m done for the day” somehow turns into another 2, 3 or sometimes 4 more hours. “What ifs” appear when least expected or wanted, during sleep, showers, grocery store checkout lines, or right in the middle of conversations that have absolutely nothing to do with the project.   

In spite of it all, creatives keep going. Why? Because despite rewrites, broken strings, busted drumheads, paint-stained clothes, accidentally deleted drafts, or sprained ankles, there is always that moment when something finally clicks. A line lands, a sound fills a room, a scene breathes and a step hits perfectly on beat. For a brief moment, it all makes sense.