Nurture Your Creativity

As a creative type person, I naturally find ways to flex my creative muscles in ministry. But, like all jobs, there are weeks in my church schedule when the phone calls, spreadsheets, and administrative elements of work can just take over! It can bog me down; make my creative muscles atrophy if I’m not using them regularly. It is precisely at these times when I need to read this post.

As an artist, musician, designer, writer, you must NURTURE whatever sparks your creativity.  This is vital to keeping your thoughts and ideas fresh. I “attended” (via webcast) the songwriting conference called Song Discovery in the Round last week.  Joel Lindsey’s presentation really got me thinking about some big questions. What puts me in a creative mood?  What really inspires me?

Of all the thoughts and advice he gave, this list of things jumped out at me.  I want to share what I wrote down and received from his talk.

In order to nurture your creativity you need to do 7 things:

1)    You need time to do nothing. You need to pencil in or put on the schedule time to do absolutely NOTHING!  Joel suggests planning a weekend retreat for yourself. No family, no adventures, no cell phones, no internet – just time to think and write. You must find a space to completely unplug.  Get all the world and stress out of your life. He challenged all those who are rolling their eyes at this idea that if getting better at your craft is that important to you, then you CAN’T NOT do this.  Even if you can only block out an entire day – you must get to a space to do nothing.

2)    Pick a place that inspires you. Is it being near water?  Go there.  Is it in the mountains?  Load up your jeep and go.  Maybe you have a quiet place at your church or a park. Maybe you have a room at home that is filled with art and photos of things that spark your creativity. Spend some time looking at those things that stir up passion and ideas in your soul.

3)    Eliminate stress. It seems to be implied from the first two points, but you must get rid of everything that causes you stress.  Does driving stress you out?  Then don’t do it. Hole up somewhere and don’t leave.  If you have to go, then bike!

4)    Read. This point can’t be emphasized enough! “If you are a writer, then you have to be a reader!” (my loose paraphrase of Stephen King). There are words on a page that spark creativity in all kinds of directions in your mind. Keep a notebook, pen, or highlighter with you whenever you read. This can work for movies and music too! You ever tried keeping a notebook and jotting idea in a movie theater?  Try it!

5)    Write. Doesn’t matter what you write at first. It could be in your journal, a letter, or even forced writing.  It may be that all you write down on a page is… “I can’t think of anything to write, so I’m writing these words down until something happens, etc…” It is a discipline like this that helps you break through writer’s block. It stretches those creative muscles that may be a bit weak. You may find that it takes some time before the water begins to trickle, run, and then pour out of you!

6)    Conversation. Every person’s story is a song idea or picture or painting just waiting to happen. Spend lots of time listening to people’s stories and sharing your own. You might be surprised that God works through these moments to give you a special gift!

7)    Surround yourself with what inspires you. Buy and hang art in your office and home, hang photographs whether you bought them or took them yourself.  Surround yourself with things that help you get in a creative place.  Spend time looking at them, drinking them in. Your surroundings will either encourage your creativity or take it away.

Remember, your creativity is not a light switch! It’s not something you can just turn on and off whenever you need it. You must warm up like you are getting ready to run. You must stretch those muscles in order to leap into a creative space. You must give yourself the time to get there. And these disciplines are a great way to engage your creativity and “prime the pump”.