Creativity and language
The more creative types I meet, the more I notice the statistical significance of 2 things:
That highly creative individuals seem to struggle with expressing themselves in spoken language…..and….
Creative acts such as songwriting, movement, dance, poetry, storytelling, etc., act as essential support vehicles for creatives to discover, shape, and find out how to use spoken language in intentional and meaningful ways.
I had a wonderful chat today with artist/producer/transformational embodiment practitioner, and Write Songs You Love Program alumni, jANiCKA about exactly this.
She shared a fascinating story about how a songwriting prompt gave her the opportunity to explore language and the narrative she had with her Mother, and how sharing it led to a heart warming shift in their relationship.
Click or tap on dance master jANiCKA, below to listen to her story, and much more 👇🏻⬇️:
As someone who has now been a performing songwriter for over 20 years, and host of a podcast that talks all about meaning and stories behind songs, you might assume I’ve always been outwardly expressive.
This is not the case.
I struggled…a lot….for many years.
English was my worst subject in high school, and my consistent substandard grades almost prevented me from being accepted into any post secondary education.
I never could have imagined, of all the things I could do in my life, that songwriting and using spoken language would have the largest and most positive influence on my health, the quality of my relationships, and my career.
It actually frightens me to think of where I would be without songwriting as a tool to help me learn how to speak in the world, and jANiCKA’s story really reminded me of that today.
All that to say, if you ever feel like you are lacking in your ability to express, instead of being hard on yourself, consider leaning more into your creative outlet.
The words will come.
They get more clear when you share your creativity.
And your relationships (with yourself and others) will grow in important ways.
So go do the thing, however you do it. I can say from experience that chances are, it’ll lead to a song you love ❤️.
P.S. And if you need any kind of theme song to get you in the mood, just go listen to jANiCKA’s badass song “Get It Off Your Chest,” on repeat!
P.P.S. If you’d like to find out if the Write Songs You Love Program would be a fit for you, reach out here to book a call to chat: