Mrs. Hale is Kingwood High School’s orchestra director.

What do you do when you find yourself in a creative rut?

When I find myself in a creative rut, I find that the best solution is to take a break from what I am doing to clear my head and gain fresh perspective.  One of the things I love most about being a teacher is the working “vacation” or sabbatical as I like to call it…(i.e. summer).  It is such a wonderful opportunity to recharge, research, and outline the scope and sequence of the year.

Truthfully, my daughter is one of my greatest sources of creativity.  The moment I begin to look at a creative dilemma through the eyes of a child, an innovative situation immediately appears. Another favorite source of inspiration for  creative inspiration is travel. This summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Ocoee, TN and hike through portions of the Smoky Mountains.  The mountain ranges in this particular trip helped me visualize better analogies for phrasing.

Also, I cannot emphasize the extreme importance of self care in the creative process. Taking the opportunity to “sharpen the saw” is a mandatory procedure of anyone involved in any form of creative venture.