“Creativity can be repetitive and boring until it’s transcendent.”
I truly love this quote from a recent New York Times article on Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary. I’ve experienced the repetitive and boring aspect of creativity, as well as the transcendent aspect. For me, writing becomes transcendent when I feel that divine force coming through me, telling me something a character should do or say or think, or dropping a great line of description in my mind.
In watching this brilliant trilogy, I was able to see the Beatles experiencing these qualities of creativity. I also saw something more in this film. I got to see how messy, fun, and magical the creative process is meant to be and who better to learn this from than the incredible Fab Four.
I grew up in a Beatles family so I was listening to the Fab Four right out of the crib but it wasn’t until I was an older adult that I realized the true genius and magic of the Beatles. I remember listening to “Rain” only about fifteen years ago like I was hearing it for the first time–one of their many songs that takes me out of myself and lets me rise above this world.
The Beatles are referenced throughout all of my novels. In Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Silvia listens to Revolver as she paints. In Discovery of an Eagle, Cosmo plays “Hey Jude” on the guitar while Silvia sings. The Bird that Sang in Color begins with Donna and Vincent listening to their final album, Let It Be. Vincent plays Beatles songs throughout the novel on his guitar.
In Chapter Nine, he plays “And Your Bird Can Sing,” after telling Donna that “he’d been practicing.” While practicing music could be repetitive and at times, boring, playing music can be transcendent as the quote above says.
Be sure to check out my Greco Family Trilogy books, which include Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
