Staying creative as a writer, musician or maker

This is day 29 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 28: “This is the day I fail”

Bob weir is best known for playing guitar in The Grateful Dead (and Ratdog as I mentioned in my blog about proposing), but he also makes hot sauce. Maynard James Keenan may be best known as the frontman of Tool, but he also creates music for A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. Keenan makes not only music but also he makes wine.

The idea that a musician has to stay inspired to create outstanding single after amazing album doesn’t mean that that same musician can’t open new pathways into inspiration by creating something outside of the music genre. An artist may similarly find inspiration for a painting from a poem. This idea is part of what I wanted to showcase with Target Audience Magazine, which is the marketing magazine I started in 2007 for artists to gain a sense of cross-inspiration as well as pointers for D.I.Y. marketing.

I still want to continue shaping the magazine as a resource for artists to learn how best to tap into the methods for inspiration and staying creative. It surely is easier said than done. When people ask Keenan where he got the idea to start making wine, while he has not one but three musical projects going, he says it came to him in a dream.

We artists, writers, musicians and makers need to hold tight to our dreams and stay creative despite the temptations to take the easy way out. Getting a job is not the same as working toward a goal. I sometimes worry about not being able to save for retirement, but the reality is that I love what I do so much that the only reason I would want to retire is because I couln’t complete my work. My husband feels the same way about playing and teaching guitar.

So, let’s learn from others in the creative world who have found outlets and entrepreneurial endeavors outside their regular mediums. Let’s work to stay creative and stay inspired by taking in all the things that bring us joy to create.