"Can you imagine a herds of cats waiting to be sheared? Meow!” -Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (1979)

• The Idea.
• The Process.
• The Result.

A long time ago in an ancient forest there lived three cats. The first cat, Sprout, was always eager to try new things. The second cat, Root, was very skilled at providing a solid foundation for growth. And the third cat,  Blossom, could always be found adding a touch of magic to all their endeavors.

One day, Sprout had an idea: they would grow a new kind of tree together, a tree unlike any other in the forest. Root immediately got to work, preparing the soil and planting the seeds. And as the day went on, Blossom began sharing words of encouragement until at last, the work was done.

As the tree began to grow, the three cats worked together to support it. Sprout would come up with new ideas for how to care for the tree, Root would provide the steady foundation it needed to grow strong and healthy, and Blossom would add a touch of inspiration to nurture the tree and the surrounding garden.

Thanks to the unique contributions of Sprout's creativity, Root's reliability, and Blossom's inspiration, the three cats were able to grow a beautiful and magnificent tree that became well known for having the deepest roots and the sweetest fruit.

Here is just one example of the Three Cats Framework in action. The card examples are taken from Three Cats Series One: More Signal Less Bull$#!+ Creative Card Deck for Musicians.

You are writing a song. You have a melody for the chorus but nothing else. You are stuck trying to get started on a verse but don’t really have a story to tell. You turn to the Three Cats Cars and choose and “Idea” card that says Offer the forgotten a space. This sparks a memory of a friend you have been meaning to reach out to and you realize this happens to people all the time and now the ideas are flowing and in no time you have all the lyrics written and a great line to close our your chorus melody.

Later that week you are starting to record the tracks for the song and you already have the beats and the bass line and find yourself recording synth after synth on infinite scrolling tracks. You need to move on but can’t seem to stop. You turn to the Three Cats Cars and choose a “Process” card that says Remove the unnecessary for the sake true. You realize that the second pass with the MInimoog was perfect and scrap all the other noise.

Fast forward another week and all the tracks are done and the vocals have been comped but you need to finalize a few things and get it sent out to your mixer. For some reason you start doubting if the song is any good. You don’t even want to show it to your friends because you are worried the story you are telling is a little too personal and exposes a part of you that you would rather not answer questions about. You turn to the Three Cats Cars and choose a “Result” card that says Courage proportional to the task. You realize that you need to be a little braver and share more of who you authentically are with others and are able to finish the song and when people hear it they can’t believe you wrote a song about them and and exactly how they feel.

Maybe this sounds too easy. But it’s not. All of this is work. It takes dedication to the craft to make creative music and we can all use a little nudge from time to time. Honestly, I know there will be times that you might turn over a card and nothing comes. You might be so pissed off that you throw the whole deck at the wall. But then again, maybe a card falls in the just the right place, in just the right light and you see it... A card from the deck reads Be aware your thoughts are traveling to others and all at once you remember what it felt like when you hear a piece of music that you really connected with and you knew that somehow, someone else knew exactly what you were going though in that moment and you made the decision to make music so others would feel that same magic and then you keep going.

If your curiosity meter is peaking, and you are wondering if using these cards will help you get more creative work done,  your can buy Three Cats Series One: More Signal Less Bull$#!+ Creative Card Deck for Musicians and try them out for yourself.

With gratitude,