How to find your Hum and meet a Heffalump
I want to start by sharing that I had the Most amazing weekend at the Bluebird studying lyric writing with Pat Pattison.
(I've now given away 2 secrets in this letter, 1. I like Winnie the Pooh and 2. I am a nerd - my idea of a fun weekend is doing songwriting exercises?!?!)
If you are writer and you have not heard of him? He is wonderful, inspiring teacher with a lot tips, exercises & books to help you improve you craft and tap into your creativity.
I knew it was gonna be fun when he mentioned my pal, Pooh, on Saturday.... The important part of the story is when Pooh says:
"Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you." Winnie the Pooh
What does that mean? Essentially if you want to find your "HUM" (translation: poetry, music, creativity) you have to go to the places where your HUM is going to hang out! For some it's grabbing a charcoal pen /sketch paper and heading to draw the colorful characters downtown. For others it's a quiet room with a guitar. The point is that unfortunately your HUM doesn't always know where to find you, BUT you can make its job easier by going after him and being in the places where he is most likely to appear!
If we want to be creative we need to do the things and go to the places that stimulate our creativity.
I love art museums! It's something non-musical-verbal-yoga that opens my mind!
Think of 3 spaces/activities right now where you can find your HUM, your inspiration to create? (Kitchen? Garden? Poetry book? Baseball Game? Practicing your instrument?) Sometimes, there's also a value in doing something that clears our mind. This opens our creative channel to new inspiration.
When I said HUM, the first thing you thought was a song, and as I began to personify (give human-like qualities to) the HUM, you said, aaaaaahhh - she means my creative voice. (unless you just kept reading because you were scared that I was off my rocker ) What did I do there? I was inspired by Pooh to open my mind to something that might not make sense, aka - BE SILLY (that's also a favorite past time)
I mean, Heffalumps are imaginary elephants. Pooh never actually sees one. BUT imagining their existence takes him on lots of Creative Fantastic adventures. That is the magic of childlike imagination. Creativity doesn't have to "right" sometimes the best chords/words/colors/flavors we find are those that we accidentally come across because we miss the "right" one. Our adult brain would have told us not to ever mix those 2 colors, words, melodies, ingredients - but our child brain is open to saying, "hey! What might happen if....... Ex: I mix marshmallows with sweet potatoes? (yum you now have sweet potato pudding!) But the adult brain may have prevented us from going to that creative place because it seems too illogical or it might break a rule.... Kids don't worry about that kind of stuff they just follow their HUM and CREATE!
Look at the magic of AA Milne (author of all the Pooh Books) and the decades of wisdom and joy he has shared with people. The concept and characters came from using his son's stuffed animals (pictured to the right) to make up bedtime stories.... What if Jim Henson had stopped himself from imagining that pigs and frogs could perhaps sing? (or fall in love?) You get my point
Embrace your child like sense of wonder, take chances! And frequent the places where your HUM hangs out! You might be amazed at what appears!
OH and
If you meet a Heffalump along the way? Take a picture, I for one, would love to settle this debate once and for all! Because actually, I do think they exist... ;)
In the meantime....
"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Christopher Robin to Pooh
Love, Light and Heffalumps,
Meredith Blis
(I've now given away 2 secrets in this letter, 1. I like Winnie the Pooh and 2. I am a nerd - my idea of a fun weekend is doing songwriting exercises?!?!)
If you are writer and you have not heard of him? He is wonderful, inspiring teacher with a lot tips, exercises & books to help you improve you craft and tap into your creativity.
I knew it was gonna be fun when he mentioned my pal, Pooh, on Saturday.... The important part of the story is when Pooh says:
What does that mean? Essentially if you want to find your "HUM" (translation: poetry, music, creativity) you have to go to the places where your HUM is going to hang out! For some it's grabbing a charcoal pen /sketch paper and heading to draw the colorful characters downtown. For others it's a quiet room with a guitar. The point is that unfortunately your HUM doesn't always know where to find you, BUT you can make its job easier by going after him and being in the places where he is most likely to appear!
If we want to be creative we need to do the things and go to the places that stimulate our creativity.
Think of 3 spaces/activities right now where you can find your HUM, your inspiration to create? (Kitchen? Garden? Poetry book? Baseball Game? Practicing your instrument?) Sometimes, there's also a value in doing something that clears our mind. This opens our creative channel to new inspiration.
When I said HUM, the first thing you thought was a song, and as I began to personify (give human-like qualities to) the HUM, you said, aaaaaahhh - she means my creative voice. (unless you just kept reading because you were scared that I was off my rocker ) What did I do there? I was inspired by Pooh to open my mind to something that might not make sense, aka - BE SILLY (that's also a favorite past time)
I mean, Heffalumps are imaginary elephants. Pooh never actually sees one. BUT imagining their existence takes him on lots of Creative Fantastic adventures. That is the magic of childlike imagination. Creativity doesn't have to "right" sometimes the best chords/words/colors/flavors we find are those that we accidentally come across because we miss the "right" one. Our adult brain would have told us not to ever mix those 2 colors, words, melodies, ingredients - but our child brain is open to saying, "hey! What might happen if....... Ex: I mix marshmallows with sweet potatoes? (yum you now have sweet potato pudding!) But the adult brain may have prevented us from going to that creative place because it seems too illogical or it might break a rule.... Kids don't worry about that kind of stuff they just follow their HUM and CREATE!
Embrace your child like sense of wonder, take chances! And frequent the places where your HUM hangs out! You might be amazed at what appears!
OH and
If you meet a Heffalump along the way? Take a picture, I for one, would love to settle this debate once and for all! Because actually, I do think they exist... ;)
In the meantime....
"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Christopher Robin to Pooh
Love, Light and Heffalumps,
Meredith Blis
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