Creativity

Readers of PSACOT who have checked out my poetry and listened to my songs may disagree that I’ve been creative lately, but even Babe Ruth didn’t hit a home run every time at bat.

Which is to say, I know my output has been uneven, but overall it’s been good, and frankly the quantity has been surprising.

It is not unusual for youth to be a time of prolific creativity, during which some people do their best work. After all, most Nobel Prizes go to work done before the age of 30, no matter the age of the creator on receiving the award. I could receive the Nobel Prize for literature—if every other writer on Earth died.

Before my 18^th birthday, I wrote radio scripts, short stories, poetry and a novel. Unlike Mozart, my youthful efforts will not be in circulation several centuries from now. Any discoveries of lost manuscripts (like Vernon Jones, Super-Scientific Detective) are more likely to occasion drinking games than worldwide celebration.

I chatted recently with a man who has been listening to my music, and who flattered and surprised me by comparing one of my songs to Your Lying Eyes. He said he felt he could never be that creative.

Everyone can be creative if they write about something they love. I write songs about Vicki and prose about myself.

Of course it’s not just what you love, sometimes it’s what you hear. This essay stemmed from the chat with my “fan.” Taylor Swift says she wrote Welcome to New York after hearing a friends say “I’m better in New York.” One lyric in my songbook, You Affect Me, stemmed from a comment made a half-century ago. So, you never know.