Alice Parker, describing her work for Robert Shaw, pointed out that she was writing her arrangements while raising five children and maintaining a home. She discovered that the only way to get it done was to write while cleaning, write while cooking, write while doing all the tasks that we all do in a day.
So often, we are looking for dedicated “creative hours” to focus single-mindedly on our creative projects. And I do love those flow-state hours, when I can look up and find a whole morning has disappeared in a creative instant.
But more often than not, it’s while I’m walking the dog, while I’m taking out the trash, while I’m commuting to school that I’m doing my creative work. If I can run to the piano to sound something out, so much the better, but if not, I’ll repeat it until I can write it down, or let it flow out into other ideas.
Create in your creative space, sure. But more important: create while you are busy living your life.