Searching for my muse

I work as a Creative Director in advertising. In a highly competitive field where new ideas set you apart. The difficulty comes in finding or creating that great ad concept that is truly new. Advertising has been around for a long time, and it sometimes feels like everything has been done by others before me.

So how do you come up with truly new ideas? I don't know.

I confess to being a nicely paid professional who does not always have all the answers. New ideas come from new ways of thinking. They come from looking at the audience, the product or offering, the problem at hand, then coming up with a solution that works for everyone and gets results.

Still it can feel like torture. Like I am spinning my wheels in something like a human hamster wheel. I often look skyward and beg some for divine intervention.

I have an ego, and like to think that all the great solutions are rolling around in my head, just waiting for me to give them to the world. But are they? I focus on the problem, and finding a creative solution. I can't stop thinking about it until something comes to me. Often ideas come to me in my sleep, or in the shower.

I am just calling out to a muse for help, and they answer. Sounds nuts. Then I heard Elizabeth Gilbert speech on creative genius on TED.com. She speaks of actually taking a less self-torturous way of being creative. It is a wonderful presentation and you should check it out.

My muse may just be part of my own creative process or creative psyche, but I am glad it is there when I call. It may put me on hold, or hit the ignore key at times, but it usually comes around.