Inspiration in the News: Ozzy, Game of Thrones, and Candle Maker

What’s This About a New Way?

This blog needed restructuring. My goal is to give you the most helpful creative kernels possible. The usual blog format has become so tiring! Does anyone really want to read an article titled, “7 Ways to Improve Your Personal Productivity?” The blog’s overall focus will remain the same - insights on time management, personal productivity, work/life balance - or better yet work/life integration, journaling, goal setting and goal attainment, mission statements, journaling, becoming a visionary, leadership, creativity, project management, and prioritizing. It sounds like way too many subjects but they are all coming from the same place creatively. My strength is relaying lessons learned through a life of being a musician.


This blog will serve as an engine for all of my other social media posts. Once I explore ideas here, I’m better able to discuss the content in video and audio. Since I’m a writer and journaler, I must start in written form. As always, feel free to offer feedback and join the conversation in the comment section. It is my intent to eventually compile these blog entries into a book. The body of the entries will be a series of random inspirations from a wide range of sources: books I’m reading, articles (I read the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and New York Times religiously), movies, and life experiences. Each sub-section will have a header that includes a keyword related to the categories listed above. Towards the end of the entry will be a word salad paragraph. Word salad is a writing exercise I enjoy in which I take 10 random color words/phrases (new vocabulary - or at least uncommon words) and created a silly stream-of-consciousness tale. The reason for word salad is to become more familiar with new words. Our experience is colored by our use of words. I believe we can become drastically more expressive and live a richer life by using more colorful words. For example, which sounds better: The food was good or the food was sumptuous? The vacation was fun or the vacation was life-changing? Let’s begin!

What Game of Thrones Can Teach Us About Peak Performance
“When they write the history of my reign, dear sister, they shall say it began today.” - Viserys Targaryen


This is one of my favorite quotes from the show because it illustrates the importance of the present moment. When you want to get some creative work done, there’s no reason you can’t be at your very best in this moment! Perhaps, unless you’re ill.  What action can you take today that could become the beginning of something profound in our life’s work? What could jump start your reign? Lol. I’ve watched the Game of Thrones tv show and now I’m listening to the audio book in the car. I love any book that give me the details to place myself into the story at a sensory level. As I listen, I imagine the clang of swords, whinying of horses, and smell of boiled leather. I recall a Stephen King interview with Larry King wherein he described the process of being a writer as tapping the reader on the shoulder and whispering, "Follow me." It’s as if the reader begins in a dark room and bit by bit the author shines a flashlight for the reader to find her way. I enjoy marinating in George R.R. Martin’s craftsmanship throughout the day. What sources of quality are near you on a daily basis?


Getting in the Zone with UFC Fighter, Nick Diaz
Nick is one of my favorite mixed martial artists. One thing that always impresses me is how naturally he moves. He is fluid and loose in his fighting style. A few years ago, he shocked the world by beating the red-hot fighter from Ireland, Conor, "Notorious" McGregor. When Diaz is being interviewed he immediately taps into the feeling within his body to answer questions. It's as if he can get himself back into the ring mentally. He's a real character, too. Diaz is a skilled boxer, wrestler, and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As tough as he is - his brother is bigger and badder! I"d love to learn the full story of their upbringing and how they overcame incredible obstacles to earn their successes.

Living His Life's Purpose: Yankee Candle, Founder
Michael J. Kittredge II began his journey by making candles for his mom when he was little. He melted crayons and put them in a mold with the use of an old milk cartoon. He used old shoelaces as wicks! He dropped out of University of Massachusetts when he discovered they had no major involving the history and creation of candles. Once he ordered a $20,000 bottle of wine and gave some to the kitchen staff. He sold 90% of his company in 1991 for $500 million.

Word salad is a writing exercise to help improve vocabulary. The goal is to live a more expressive and colorful life by incorporating better words in your daily vocabulary. The color words/phrases are bolded. Here’s today’s word salad:
Word Salad: Ozzy Rocks
Ozzy Osbourne didn't want to deprive his fans of an amazing concert so he rolled out of the bunk on his tour bus and had a hearty breakfast. Yesterday, the chances were bleak that he would perform since he had a temperature of 102! Head colds are a common result of the stultifying life of constantly being on the road. However, after a long nap, his good health was afoot. A fleet of 35 trucks unloaded equipment at the stadium. By 10pm, the crowd roared to life when Ozzy waddled onto the stage. A dowdy stagehand dressed in t-shirt and jeans handed Ozzy a wireless mic. The audience was at the juncture between excited and frenzied. With each hit song, the madman upped the ante for the fans.

Tips for Replenishing Your Creativity

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure - teeming with 1,500 special of fish, over 200 types of birds, and 4,000 different types of coral. Incredible, hah? It’s visible from outer space! It is described as a “mosaic alive with diversity” in a breathtaking promotional video from Queensland, Australia. 

Recently, I came across an article in the New York Times about the struggle of the Great Barrier Reef to replenish itself due to climate change. It suffered mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017. As a result, many of the adult coral aren’t coming back. We have a huge challenge on our hands.

If our creativity is our own fertile Great Barrier Reef - how successful are we at replenishing our reserves so we can constantly expand our creativity? Our mission statement and life’s purpose? Our pursuit of worthy goals and projects? As we see in nature, we can’t use up our inner resources and expect to keep producing. We must tend to and grow our creative inner world. 

Strategies for replenishing your creative self:

• Identify rituals that help you feel creative. I like visiting Goodwill and Salvation Army stores because I love seeing things I never knew existed. The musky smell of moth balls and mildew get my juices flowing - seriously! 

• Use technology to help you store ideas so you can leave your mind open to do its best work. Scrivener ($49)  is a writer’s program I love. It allows you to create folders and text files and drag them around to organize them. It backs up easily and I’ve used it for about 10 years. 

• Have creative ideas to report at the end of each night! Read the section about journaling in my book, Think Like a Musician!

• Read books that are unrelated to your expertise. 

• Employ a filter mindset when consuming the news or reading books. Each morning I read the Wall Street Journal. Boston Globe, and New York Times. Well, I scan read them.I have a small notebook next to me while I read and jot down color words and new vocabulary. I use my color words for my daily word salad writing exercises. It’s a stream-of-consciousness story and I incorporate about 15 color words into the story. I like having a constant in-flux of new words. I read the paper and if any article sticks out as something related to my Think Like a Musician system or my keywords, I jot down a check mark on the article then scribble the page number on the front page of that section of the newspaper. I rarely read these articles that morning. I read them with laser focus later that evening when the kids are asleep and there’s peace and quiet! Well, and a good horror movie on in the background. This is exactly what happened with the inspiration for this post - the article about the Great Barrier Reef! My goal is to get through 3 papers and have a coffee and oatmeal - not delve into articles. Scan and move things along.

How will you keep the creative juices flowing? 

Tycoon Finds His Mission and Life's Purpose

Kenneth Behring came from humble beginnings and became a mogul of gated communities. He owned the Seattle Seahawks, planes, hundreds of classic cars, and a 30,000 square-foot home - he had it all - except for a life’s purpose! He finally uncovered his mission by starting a foundation that provided 1.1 million wheelchairs to poor people in 155 countries! It wasn’t until he helped a 6-year old Vietnamese girl into her first wheelchair that he first felt joy. Now I need to read his memoir “Road to Purpose.

Creativity in the News: The Houston Rockets and Visionary Thinking

“I’m just working on a million things that will probably never happen,'“ said Daryl Morey, Houston Rockets general manager. He was trying to get Russell Westbrook to join the Rockets - he succeeded!

I love his attitude though - he’s working just as hard on things that have little chance of happening as the sure bets. He’s certainly not hobbled by fear.

What are some of the million things you should be working on that will probably never happen?

What's Sacred Anymore? How Music Teaches Us to Become More Aware of Beauty

 In today’s noisy world, we need to be much more in touch with the sacred. Music can teach us to appreciate the sacred and beautiful.

I started playing drums in fourth grade but it wasn’t until I was in high school that I had a soul-rattling experience with music. Dr. Walter Chestnut directed the Central Massachusetts District Concert Band. We played the “Chorale and Alleluia” by Howard Hanson. Although the entire piece is enthralling, it was the silence after the final climactic note that affected me so strongly. The conductor savored the space between the ending of the piece and the moment he dropped his hands - indicating to the audience that the piece was over and they could applaud. The conductor alone held that power. I never saw anyone take the helm of music’s intensity before. Dr. Chestnut taught me how music can be sacred and transcendent. 

Corporate America may call this type of awareness “soft skills.” I think it’s more. I can say with firsthand experience that we, as a society, are sorely lacking in the appreciation of the sacred. 

I lead music therapy groups and constantly have to remind staff that something special is going on in the music group. I deal with a lot of interruptions: staff chitchatting, clanging chairs, and yanking group members from the group while the music is happening. I’ve been in the middle of leading “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” with 100% engagement from my group members and “Brrrrrrrrrrr!” - a staffer runs a food processor in the middle of our special moment! That’s a lack of awareness of the sacred. While I’m leading a music therapy group, I’m focused on using the music to connect group members and create moments. When a meaningful music therapy session is taking place and I’m a staff member, perhaps I can wait until after the session to open the door and fling a soda can in a recycling bucket in the room. Sacred!

I’ve played drums for musicals and some audience members in the front row have their feet on the stage. During a performance, that stage is sacred - just ask Madeline Kahn! I guarantee people that prop their feet up on a stage during a show have never been on stage in a performance. They couldn’t - no performer would do that to another performer. We must learn and teach what is sacred. 

The martial arts do an admirable job teaching the sacred. The first thing you are taught is to remove your shoes and bow before stepping onto the training mat - this is to honor the martial art, instructors, and history.

Let’s increase our awareness of the sacred. Here are some strategies:

• Become aware of special moments and consciously savor them.

• Journal about the magic moments in your day.

• Meditate and savor being in the moment.

• Breathe deeply. Remind yourself to increase both inhales and exhales. 

• Begin a habit of waiting to speak after someone speaks to you. 

• Be on the lookout for special things that are happening all around you. I remember being at a wake for an individual who lived at a group home and the sister of the deceased wanted to thank the staff in a very heartfelt way. However, the house manager was five feet away and couldn’t get the hint that this was a sacred moment and he should probably come closer to hear what this woman wanted to share. 

• I don’t mean to come across negative but our awareness of the sacred seems to be dwindling. We all need to work on this - myself included!

• Schedule time each day to simply think in silence. Feel free to jot down notes while you do. 

• Brainstorm 3 quality questions for each of your 16 roles and do it with a positive mindset. 

• Take time to dictate your experiences of the day in an audio journal.

• When you finally lay your head on your pillow at night, smile and review a few good things that happened - no matter how small. 

• Listen deeply to music that speaks to you with your complete attention. 

Explore music that is out of your comfort zone. For example, give classical and jazz music a try. Most of the pop music I hear, seems to be designed to get you tapping your toe. It’s usually not created to give you a soul-rattling experience. Here’s a piece to take your breath away - if you’re brave enough to let it.