I’ve been reading some good books on songwriting lately. The Craft and Business of Songwriting by John Braheny states, “In order to operate at peak performance during the creative process, you should be motivated internally by the spirit of play and exploration and forget about what anybody else might think. You’ll have plenty of time to worry about others’ opinions later.”
I have to agree, andВ it seems thatВ this truthВ applies equally to almost any creative pursuit. We should be careful to guard against motives that distract us and keep our hearts from enjoying the process of creation. If we start to work from other motivations, we can short-circuit our creative mind. Enjoyment in the process helps improve the outcome, helps intensify our creative abilities. Of course, there are later parts of the creative process that require discipline as well, but if we do not allow ourselves to play for the enjoyment of the creation, we could limit ourselves and stifle our work.
Come to think of it, keeping an attitude of play is important for many areas of life, or perhaps all of them. 
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What are some of the creative pursuits you enjoy? Are you able to keepВ a playfulВ focusВ for your initial efforts? Any tipsВ for the rest of us onВ how that works best for you?В Also, if you’d like to check out some other great posts on arts and culture, head on over toВ Watercooler WednesdaysВ on Randy Elrod’s blog.
Every Sunday I act in skits at church. This past Sunday we did a skit in front of 300 people. It was all Ad-Lib. I was reminded again how much I love the fear and joy I get from doing this. It’s one way I sharpen my creativity. When I can make an entire room laugh out loud, it is pure play to me.
I am a vocalist (as well as freelance writer) and this made me think about how it is when I sing in front of the church. I think some of the play has been lost. I am very focused on having my voice last over 3 services, sometimes that’s 14 or 15 songs in three hours and the play, the fun, just scurries into the corner to hide. Thanks for reminding me that everything should be fun.
Creative pursuits…hmmm…I have recently begun to enjoy cooking – used to see it as a chore, now I see it as a chance to be lost in the wonder of creating something. It’s all about the wonder and exploration for me – that also applies to worship leading, music writing, blogging – when you look at the clock and realize you’ve been at it for a couple of hours and you are immensely satisfied with the journey, the process you’ve just been engaged in…whimsical, magical, playful moments can’t be planned and executed by using a formula – for me they happen when I’m swept away and caught up in a moment, a thought, a tangent, a chord, an intense thought. Not allowing reality, time and space to interfere in the creative process is really important. Becoming intensely aware or color, shape, sound, texture, smell, and allowing myself to take it all deeply in and respond to it.
As a keyboard player, my best creative times are when I sit down in front of the piano with no agenda, and just lay my hands on the keys and see what happens. 90% of the time, it’s just for my own enjoyment, but some good songs have come out of it…
Oh my goodness…creativity. I LOVE writing poetry, baking, cooking, sewing, singing, violin(ing).
I need to remember to make TIME to have fun–ejoying the simple things in life and spend time PONDERING. 
So much fun!!!! Have you checked out Jesse’s recent blog entry? http://www.awakeu.com/wordpress 
Enjoy. He’ll be home soooooon!!! 
Got to this posting party a bit late..
I don’t like how hard it is for me to play, but it is. I don’t like that feeling that everything has to serve a function – sometimes even play feels like it has to do something.
I guess if that’s what it takes to get me to do it, so be it.
*sigh*
Hey Jonathan! Where were you this week for WCW? Missed ya. I hav been keeping up on Twitter a little bit and saw that you had a great evening on Friday I think it was. I like your writing, but especially love the way you live life, it seems genuinely exciting, all the time!
I fully agree about being aware of your motives. I can sometimes be unaware that my motives have gone awry until I notice the quality of my work suffering.