I read something a few days ago about the four stages, I guess you could say, of the creative process. I wish I had saved the link so that I could repost it and everyone could read it. If I find it, I’ll be sure to do that. But as I read it, one of the things that struck me was the idea of immersion. In other words, if someone is a creative person, and they want to create things, then the first step in the creative process is to study the medium of your preference.
There is no room for the causal creative if one ever hopes to do something great. Being a musician means that I immerse myself in music. I listen to it, I study it, I practice it, and then I make it. Choosing to be an artist, to exercise ones creativity and do so with excellence, means becoming a nerd to the thing that you love to do. Not just being content with liking to paint, or to play music, or to take pictures, but investing and pouring yourself into it. And this applies not only to what we would usually consider to be creative mediums, but really to anything that we are passionate about pursuing.
Let’s take NASCAR for instance. My brother-in-law works in NASCAR, and he views cars in a totally different way than I do. He is at the pinnacle of his game, and has worked for the biggest names in racing. The way he approaches his job reflects that. When I (or really, most people for that matter) see a car, I think…steering column, gas tank and change the oil. He sees it differently. He and the people in his industry analyze every aspect of the cars that they work with. They get to know every part of it. They know what every part does and use that knowledge and passion for what they do to make the best race car they can. And as strange as it may sound, the way he does his job is graceful and artistic. He does his job with excellence and passion, and there is an art to it. There is something to be said for that.
Most people hear a song and to them it’s something to listen to, something that plays on the radio, something that makes them feel a certain way. For me, it’s a blend of notes and chords and theory and lyrics and ideas and images that all form together into something beautiful. I can’t help but analyze it and figure out what makes it work, and at the same time, challenge myself to create something better than I have before. To push my own abilities and perhaps even do something that hasn’t been done yet. Sometimes I wish that I could approach creative things in a less critical way, but it’s just the way God wired me.
We can only begin to create great things by first becoming students of the things that we love. We have to become experts in our fields. That takes an investment because we will never really reach a point of knowing everything. I believe that the people who do the best things are also those who recognize how little they actually know. We must be committed. We must be in it for the long haul.
God created us to do excellent things. Whether it be working on race cars, or making music, or writing, or whatever. That doesn’t happen if we only half-heartedly pursue what we love. Whatever it is that you love to do, do it with passion and a desire for excellence.
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