When I make a new song, I go to bed holding a creative joy. 

The new song keeps running through my head as I drift off to sleep, and when I wake up I find that I've often forgotten all but a remnant. I can’t wait to play it and relive it all again. I am a child on Christmas morning, looking at all of the gifts under the tree and bursting with joy to open them and explore what’s inside. How can so much untapped joy be all in one place? How can this not bring deep satisfaction and meaning to life?

I believe creativity is inherent to God’s nature and that everything is made from a word: “Let”, allow, unleash, open, release. I think God is glorified when creation lets out in song and tries in some small way to reflect and emulate that divine nature. If I can open myself, receive and offer something true, letting it free into the world, I am living faithfully and being true to myself and others. For me, this is the source of music’s meaning, and the joy it brings and cascades to others. In his book, ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl says that the primary human drive is the pursuit of meaning, not pleasure, and that meaning finds its source in what you create, how you love, and how you respond to adversity. I’ve found that creating something that contains a part of me is meaningful, and that filling my time with meaningful habits each day brings sustained peace and joy. Creativity, of course, has endless forms, but I’ve known for a long time that creating music is mostly what I want to do.