Juno Award winning musician shows how anyone can unleash their creative spirit
TORONTO - David Usher says everyone is creative and has creative ideas, but making those ideas a reality takes hard work and good execution.
Speaking today to more than 1,800 lawyers at the Ontario Bar Association's annual OBA Institute gathering, Usher said a creative moment is 95 percent work and determination, and five percent inspiration.
"Every person has the capacity to be creative," said Usher, a Juno Award-winning musician known both as a solo artist and lead singer for rock group Moist.
"Ideas are important, but so is execution."
Usher said the myth about creativity is that it simply hits you. Instead, Usher said it is necessary to set up a structure that allows you to work at something on a consistent basis so that you can exploit a moment of "creative collision" when it happens.
"It is a skill set you can learn and master, and apply it to your day-to-day life."
Usher, backed by a guitarist, sang and showed video clips to underline his theories. He also stepped off the stage and plunged into the audience to interact with people and then brought people up on stage.
The point was to demonstrate how the creative impulse sometimes flows from setting aside expectations and let things "flow from outside your comfort zone."
OBA Institute, the largest gathering of lawyers in Canada, continues Friday.