Drum roll please….. Wanted to share my new logo. SO EXCITING! Thank you to the talented Jason Hill, who worked for a good, long time helping me figure out this whole identity thing. To check out his stuff, click here. I hope you guys like it, and look for new merchandise soon! On a different note, I wanted to share a few thoughts should you feel stumped in your creative process. We want to create something meaningful, beautiful and that will resonate with others. We want to change the world around us and not just be here as a meaningless vapor. Whether we use art or music or film as our medium, we have a need to make something with value and significance. I know the feeling of being stuck in a rut, writing the same song, painting the same piece or making the same film. Here are some things I’m brainstorming for ways to get out of the rut, so I thought I would share…

1. To get out of the rut, get out of the routine. Go to a movie on a Monday night or meet up with someone you hardly ever see. Drive a new way home from work or listen to a totally different genre of music. Giving your system a little shake can cause some things to get dislodged and tumble out.
2. To get out of the rut, let yourself play. Instead of writing a song, just play with some chords on the piano or write a funny poem to loosen up those muscles. Sometimes creative play can help you relax and not make you feel so bent on writing the next big hit, the next great American novel or being the next Picasso.
3. To get out of the rut, think of a different process you have not yet tried. For example, maybe as a songwriter, I could take all the best lines from my last 10 songs and see what kind of song I might create from that. Or instead of sitting down at the piano, maybe I could just take a walk and start singing a melody to create something. By doing things another way, you might get a different or even better result.
4. To get out of the rut, get out of yourself. A great way to have some ideas come to you might be actually “not” thinking about it. Go try something new with a different group, get involved with others, socialize, volunteer or host a gathering. By thinking about something other than yourself and your creative “problem,” you might actually solve that pesky thing.

So, go on creative ones or even those who often claim they just “aren’t really creative,” and try one of these four options to get the creative juices flowing. You might be pleasantly surprised and impressed at what spills out. If you have other things that have worked for your creation process in the past, feel free to share them below!

~lme