Recently a colleague and I connected over lunch about our creative passions. To my surprise, his are music composition and arrangement. To his delight, writing is mine.

It wasn’t quite as legendary as this seminal Gen-X moment in advertising, but maybe it’s close.

There’s something freeing about sharing your creative passions with others, especially those who have their own. The conversation evolves and builds momentum in a way that doesn’t happen when only one person is sharing.

And let’s be honest: most people enjoy the back-and-forth dialogue. They don’t want to feel like a talk show host who’s there to keep a guest talking. Or worse still, simply be an audience for someone who loves to hear themselves talk.

We shared our projects and the things that fired our creativity. We delighted in finding someone who was mutually respectful, energized by the creative process, and with whom the conversation was never forced. We discussed the craft, each from our own experience and through the language of our chosen medium.

We had two creative passions moving in parallel directions, and while we didn’t know where we headed, we knew there would be an intersection. Personally, I love this approach because it prevents us from putting up artificial guardrails that stifle creativity. We were just talking about the ways words and music could come together.

It was simple, casual, spontaneous.

Freeing.

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