Liner Notes: I Need Therapy (And You Do Too)

One of the most famous examples of inspiration (literally) striking is Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity. He’s sitting there, resting under an apple tree, (literally) contemplating the mysteries of the universe and—THUNK—an apple falls from the tree and hits him on the head, revealing to him at once the theory of gravity and forever altering the course of physics and science in general.

Ok, so maybe the story isn’t so simple. Maybe he already had the theory almost fully formed after like 20 years of study, and the apple just suggested a missing piece of it, and maybe it didn’t really hit him in the head but he just saw it fall and had the thought, and maybe the whole thing never happened at all but he said it did because it makes for a tidy little “a-ha” moment. But the point is that a key discovery of one of the most brilliant and creative minds in history occurred not at work, but during a restorative moment outside of work. 

Which begs the question: Was Isaac Newton onto something bigger than gravity?

In the world of on-demand creativity found in agencies and corporate brand teams, where launch dates and media flights dictate when we need that “a-ha” moment, there often isn’t the luxury of waiting for the apple to hit us on the head. We have to shake the tree. We have to create the inspiration. We sometimes have to hit ourselves on the head. And it can be taxing, both to the work and to ourselves. 

I’m sure I’m not alone in admitting to sometimes going back to pages of old ideas, to thinking to myself, “what do I know is going to work so we can get approval by our next deadline?” “What’s in my bag of tricks?” And I’m sure I’m not alone in admitting that the more often I go into that bag of tricks and look for a quick solution, the more predictable and formulaic the resulting work is. I need new tricks, new ideas, new apples. And new apples don’t fall at my desk, or in meetings, or at work at all. For new apples to fall, I need therapy. 

Creative therapy, that is. 

Like Isaac Newton walking in and tending to his orchard, or in a more modern comparison, like Seth Rogen turning his potter’s wheel, I’ve found that seeking creative and intellectual pursuits outside of work has measurable benefits on my work itself, and also on me as a person. Creative therapy restores my strained imagination just as physical therapy might restore a strained muscle. 

Daniel Day-Lewis left acting for years to learn shoe-making as a cobbler in Italy, Emily Dickinson was an avid baker, even entering her goods into local competitions. Me, I have two therapeutic outlets: teaching and woodworking. 

About five years ago I taught my first copywriting course at Denver Ad School. A product of portfolio school myself, I did it because I believe in the process and also wanted to get a bit more involved in the professional community. While I still feel good about both of those things, and hope the students receive some value from my increasingly boomer-sounding ramblings on the importance of a good headline (seriously, I think headlines are the burpees of copywriting—get good at them and you’ll be better at everything), I think it’s a more selfish reason that’s kept me teaching for most of the quarters since then. I’ve found that my own writing and creativity is sharpened by working with new—and especially younger—writers. The trends they pull from, the language they use, and the culturally-current wit they possess are all things I shamelessly soak up and work into my own creativity. Plus they keep me from sounding embarrassingly old; they had to teach me who Chappell Roan is during one class and since I’m the teacher they couldn’t be too mean about it. 

The other thing that’s made me a better creative, but more importantly, more Swanson-esque, is woodworking. I think it’s in the bylaws somewhere that guys over 40 have to take up some niche garage or backyard hobby, and I’m nothing if not a rule follower. But beyond fulfilling a requirement, learning a physical craft and a skillset entirely new to me has been crazy beneficial to my creative brain. The problem solving, the need to be precise and methodical, and the ever-presence of failure are all things that by embracing, make me a better creative and leader. Plus I had totally forgotten how tricky it is to add fractions and mixed numbers. Common denominators, y’all. 

So, creatives. What are you doing to be more creative? What will you do? Leaders, how are you promoting and facilitating creative therapy for your people? How will you? All of you, are you reading, writing, sculpting, podcasting, macrame-ing, movie-reviewing, sitting in quiet meditation in an apple orchard formulating universal theories? If not, maybe this apple clunking you on the head is your sign to start. 

Peace and good work.