What RuPaul, Anna Wintour and Annie Leibovitz taught me about Creativity

Last week I decided to make a purchase and I invested in the Masterclass app. Drawn in by the people who were giving their advice and perspectives, people who are at the top of their games. I took the bait.

And I have to say, for me, worth it. It's an investment to be sure, but then I thought about how much I would pay if any one of these people was touring giving speeches about their experience. And that would only be one night, I can pour over so many greats for an entire year. Sold.

So what have I learned so far?

The first series of lessons I watched was my spiritual leader, RuPaul. The god himself, the goddess divine.

Now, clearly I'm a fan. Most of the ground covered, apart from the specifics of drag which he got into later, he had said in one form or another on his show or in his podcast. But in a pure condensed form in these lessons, the thread of what he's all about came to the fore.

Authenticity is when you find your frequency.

I'm reading a book about physics at the moment. Reality is not what it seems, by Carlo Rovelli. It talks about how the entire universe is really just particles vibrating at their own frequencies. Physicists don't @ me.

RuPaul talks in a much more spiritual Buddhist type way about this idea of frequency. But maybe there is a real intersection of ancient Buddhist thought and proven physical reality?

At any rate, it seemed neat how these two things that I was consuming at the same time seemed so in sync with each other.

Ru talks about stillness and meditation. But really its about feeling yourself, coming back to centre. From this place, you can glimpse at this truth that everyone else is mostly in their head all the time just like you are.

Whatever creativity springs from this place is yours and another's reaction isn't that important. In other words, what other people think is none of your business.

Don't get this confused with genuine, thoughtful feedback. But if something really feels right to you, comes from this frequency that is uniquely you, then that's the most important thing and that's where all the fulfilment lives.

These are my interpretations.

Annie Leibovitz underpins this same basic idea in that her photography is instinctual. She knows its about the content of the picture, the need for it to look a certain way to converge with modern standards of everything needing to be sharp is not important. She leads from her subject and doesn't have them do something just for the sake of it and so her work feels deeply personal, revealing and quietly majestic.

Anna Wintour, a tour de force of a woman. She has precisely no time for your bullshit. So you better show up as yourself and know who that is.

Again she speaks of a clear voice or point of view, something that can only really come from you. She's seen it all so how can you show her something new? Be yourself. Your 'frequency'.

So much advice out there is based on breaking down the steps of what someone else did that worked. But imitations are easy to spot. That doesn't mean reject the lessons others have hard learnt. Take it all in, but digest it through your own heart. Allow yourself to grow into your potential. You don't have to have it all worked out now, its a process. You can become ever more you as you go. But show up.

The thing I'm contending with is what in the hell all that's supposed to look like? But them perhaps all the fun and lessons lie in the experiment of it.

So here I am. Showing up. Thanks Ru, thanks Anna, thanks Annie. And all the other A gamers who have shown up on Masterclass that I am yet to enjoy.

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