I’m sitting in an Irish hotel room after a full Irish breakfast, rain and wind blowing outside, and warm lamplight fills the room. I don’t have anywhere to be until 6pm, and I got my gym workout and computer work done before breakfast. This is the first time on this Irish tour I’ve been able to find all necessary ingredients to sit and be creative. No schedule pressure, work pressure, or appeal of nice weather outside… all is finally quiet, internally and externally.

I consider myself an inherently creative person and feel lucky to have a life and career that offers me so many creative outlets, but maintaining creativity while traveling is a tricky thing. So much of it is dependent on headspace, environment, sleep, etc, which are much harder to control when you don’t have a home base or consistent routine. My ideas come to me in lots of forms and at very different times. Usually pretty inconveniently.

Get ’em while they’re hot

Go with me on this… ideas are jerks. Sometimes they fall on your head like bird sh*t; always at the worst times, and you have to drop everything to cater to them. Other times, when you want or need to be creative, an idea is like a stubborn, scared kitten who needs to be coaxed and coddled until she reluctantly tip-toes out from the shadows, and sometimes she doesn’t show herself at all. A life of touring created a need to become more aware of this process and develop ways to both accommodate the bird sh*t ideas and foster the kitten ideas.

Whether it’s a melody, blog post, painting, or lesson plan… usually  bird sh*t ideas will drop as I board planes, wait for coffee, or teach a clinic. I’ve learned to be vigilant and prepared to record them quickly and give them proper attention. If they show up, I want to be ready. Writing this blog has been helpful in becoming more aware of this process, because usually a whole post will spill out like turning on a faucet (my mom and editor thanked me for not continuing the poop analogy here.) It pours out complete with title, pictures, main ideas, etc. It will literally write itself in a matter of 10 minutes. Musical pieces are the same way. I’ll go from nothing to a whole track in the time it takes to hum the song. Other creatives will agree, most of the time ideas don’t come from you. You are simply a vessel, and it’s a role we have to take incredibly seriously in our lives. I’ve heard many tell a great Tom Waits story where a melody comes to him and he shouts to the sky “Not now! Can’t you see I’m driving? I spend hours in the studio every day, you can visit me then.”  I’ve joked with other musicians about the number of voice memos we have on our phones that are our sleepy voices singing softly at 3am, or singing in the car as we drive down the highway.

The urgency here is that if you don’t give them their proper recognition and documentation the second they come to you, they’ll be gone. Forever. The human brain is quite frustrating that way. Those song ideas will never still be there in the morning if you go back to sleep. Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) talks about ideas as living beings, who give you the opportunity to seize them, and if you don’t, they’ll move on to someone else. I love the demand for respect that this implies of our artistry.

Here’s how I accommodate my bird poop moments on the road:

• • Instruments out and available whenever possible

• • Music composition app or mini keyboard nearby (Garageband, EasyBeats, Korg NanoKey)

• • Note-taking app easily accessible (I swear by Google Keep)

• • Idea organization system (dropbox folders, color-coded lists, etc)

• • Journal accessible at all times

• • Colored pencils, drawing app, or photo editing app downloaded

When it’s not as easy….

Then there are the times when you’re craving some creative time, but the elusive kitten ideas aren’t coming. I find time spent creating to be very therapeutic, calming, and productive, so I make it a priority, but it’s not always easy to make happen. 

Turning Off vs. Turning On

I began to realize that a lot of my most elusive ideas would finally come to me in the shower, lying in bed, or on a flight, because it’s the only time I sit and do nothing for more than 10 seconds.
I had to acknowledge the difference between “turning off” and “turning on” my brain. Turning off means focusing singularly on something and allowing my personal thoughts to quiet, like reading fiction or watching a movie. While this time is very important, my most creative time requires the opposite. To turn on, I eliminate distractions and give my mind the space to go on its joyride. I have to actually let myself cross from “doing” to “being,” like intentional boredom. That’s where the reluctant kitten will feel safe enough to show herself, and I have the easiest time solving problems, writing tunes, and making big life decisions.  

I have a tendency to awake with anxiety in the early hours of the morning, when I am turning on just by lying in bed with no distractions. Now rather than fight it, I designate it as “creative time,” give it a topic, and put it to work. The hours between 4am and 7am now are my most productive, creative, problem-solving, and inspirational times because I allow my fast-paced thoughts the freedom to dart in every direction they need to, with instrument, journal, and note-taking app nearby. I’m convinced that when the rest of the country is quietly sleeping, it allows more creativity bandwidth. (Note: I don’t do this every day, and still prioritize sleep as much as possible! More on self-care here.)

Set the Stage

Sometimes the availability of my creativity is directly linked to my environment. I’ve referenced my HSP-ness in past posts (highly sensitive person), so small things like lighting, excess noise, clutter, vibrant colors, phone alerts, etc can be very distracting or uncomfortable. A pile of receipts on the desk or abrasive, fluorescent lighting could be the reason that the idea kitten isn’t showing up today. I’ve shamelessly taken loud paintings off the walls of hotel rooms or stood and waited for the “right” table to open up in coffee shops.

Here are my other tricks for fostering the creativity kitten: 

• • DON’T sleep next to your phone (I’m still guilty of this.)

• • DO sleep next to your journal
  • Prioritize it (My to-do list might include “sit quietly”)

• • Don’t buy wifi on planes or trains

• • Social media apps on second home-screen, or tucked in a folder. (They can be creativity killers, so I make them harder to get to.)

• • Create a visually quiet space (zip up suitcase, adjust lighting, tidy up clutter)

• • Face the wall or out the window

• • Noise-cancelling headphones

• • Get up early or stay up late (I’m convinced the world is quieter)

• • Cardio without music
  • Caffeine when necessary
  • Look for new or convenient ways to be creative. (I find photography and photo editing incredibly enjoyable, and it can all be done on my phone.)
    

If you’re into this, here’s more:

• Tom Waits and the Creative Process. Article by Hugh Garry 
• “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Message me. I’d love to listen and offer any personal insight.

Go Forth, drriifters 💙🌏💨
Diana