As AC/DC sings, “For those about to rock, we salute you.” I say, rock out and be free.
Creativity is about controlled freedom. And it’s about controlling freedom. Organizing it. Curating it. And it’s about being free from control. All of that at once. As paradoxical as that sounds, that’s a key in being successfully creative. I’m my most creative when I’m the least encumbered by my surroundings, so much so that I can control them.
Huh?
Let Freedom Ring
So often, we are held back. Insecurity reigns when freedom should be ringing. Insecurity is fear. Fear of what? Our fifth grade teacher rebuking us? Not being good enough? Being caught as a fraud? Poor spelling?
Let your hair down.
When clients struggle creatively, I tell people they need to rock out. Rocking out doesn’t necessarily mean, as this young man in my photo is doing, turning up the loudest music possible. It does mean celebrating the moment and getting into a zone where anything can happen. It doesn’t mean flagrant randomness. It means that anything can happen, but the artist only picks the best of those choices and shapes them and directs them to meet his cause.
When writing a speech for American Speechwriter, I have to find that kind of freedom. I’ll go to my basement studio and turn on old familiar music. Might be Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, or any number of classic rock pieces, as well as classical, jazz, Broadway show tunes — whatever fits what I’m feeling. I might jump on the treadmill, dance (yes, seriously, graceful or otherwise), and / or sing along. This is especially true when I need to write an inspirational or personal speech like a wedding or funeral address. I know my craft but I need to feel the heartbeat of ideas.
For those of you who understand… that is, for those about to rock, I salute you.
I’d love to inspire your group with creativity develop ideas and tools.
photo: copyright 2019 Anthony Trendl
