Eddie Vedder, the Nappy Roots and Ideas.

I once read a definition of creativity that changed the way I live.

That is a big sentence but I think the definition is worthy of bigness. Here is what an unnamed writer once said:

"Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye."

That is, being creative means you fill your head with millions of different ideas. You read magazines and watch movies and have long conversations and read bathroom walls and disclaimers on sneakers and stare at trees and listen to the logic of little kids and look at limericks and listen to songs from Sweden. You put everything into a jumbled, tangled collection of colors and words and shapes and sounds into your head.

And then you have the discipline to see the relationship between previously unrelated things. With your eye, you create new connections between different things that are not used to being connected. Like GI Joe characters and versions of the Bible or a scorecard and how much product worship leaders put in their hair.

That is what I try to do when I write and it starts with the gathering of ideas.

Here is a brief list of some of the things I will put in my head today:

The line, "The truth is generally seen, rarely heard" from the book, "The 48 Laws of Power."

The description of a writing journal called the "BBlessing" in the magazine, Men's Journal.

A video clip from the Onion titled, "Tiny dog has been barking non stop for six years." (Best line was that the dog "surpassed the previous record, which was 8 minutes.")

A few dozen magazines.

The song "Good Day" by the Nappy Roots.

Every conversation I had

The song "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace.

The video I have posted below.

Lots and lots of other things.

And I don't know if I'll ever use any of them. Maybe in a month I'll do a post about how being happy is a decision sometimes (Nappy Roots) and when I am, my happiness is undeniable and raises more faith based conversations than all the Bible verses I sometimes force our coworkers (Law of Power) and that in the video, Elisa's lyrics feel spiritual but not as much as Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam when he sings what sounds like a confession to the father in the prodigal son story:

I swear I recognize your breath.
Memories, like fingerprints, are slowly raising.
Me you wouldn't recall for I'm not my former.

Or maybe I won't use any of it, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I've filled my head. There are more notes in my instrument, more ways to fill the page, more colors with which to paint.

So the first thing I suggest is that we all fill our heads with the pure and the beautiful and the interesting.

p.s. This is in response to the questions I get from people that are curious about "how I do what I do." I am by no means wise or tall, but this is what I do, so I thought I would share.