After the success of my Fertile Ground piece, I was all revved up to follow-through on another play I've been working on. But then I got stuck. I know why I got stuck...there are a variety of reasons. The foremost being fear. That's right. I'm afraid of writing something shitty, so I wind up not writing anything at all. That's a load of crap. It's counter-productive. And yet I seem to fall victim to it time and time again. I need to get out of my head and just be and not think quite so much. Easy to say, hard to do for someone like me.
But last night my good friend Daniel, who is a musician, came over with all his equipment...keyboards, amp, microphone...the works. And he said, "OK, let's write a song." And I said, "I've never really done that before." And he said, "So what? Do it anyway." And that's exactly what we did. He asked me some questions about the type of song I wanted to hear, and then he laid down a melody line, and then we talked some more about the content of the song, and he started writing lyrics, and then I started writing lyrics, and lo and behold before the end of the evening, we had a pretty cool sounding song called "Lost."
Nothing got in our way. We wanted to create and we did. No preconceived notions...no caring whether or not it would be good, or whether or not it would be perfect. We just did it. Is it a masterpiece? Of course not. But the lesson here is that it was all about the journey. The journey of starting down the road of creation, and inevitably completing the journey.
I write a lot about this topic because it is what I do. It is how I live every day. I need to create every day. And sometimes I think the inspiration isn't there. But you know what? It's always there. In the most unlikely of places. In a friend's laugh. Or an untuned guitar string. Or in a falafel sandwich. Creativity is all around us. If you can't see it, you're not looking...
7 comments:
Oh Deb...the thought of you making beautiful music makes me so happy. I love your voice! Are you singing? Keep creating my sweet. There are a lot of us out here who have your back! Love you mucho!
I think almost everyone can relate to procrastination and its link to the fear of not being able to create something outstanding. But I've learned that it's best to make a decision and go with it rather than fretting about which decision to go with and not doing anything at all and thereby making the decision not to do anything. Either way you've made a decision so the decision may as well be to create than to not create! Sounds like you did just that. Go Debbie!!
Your Fertile Ground piece was wonderful. Unique and interesting and funny! It's hard to imagine a writer such as yourself getting stuck. But I know that must come with the territory. Congratulations on writing your first song! How fun was that?!
I love this post. I so needed to hear this today. Thank you Debbie!!
You DID create a masterpiece. Why? Because you mastered your fear. I would love to see the words to the song. I bet it is interesting.
I actually got an idea for a song today as I was leaving a shopping center. I saw a sign with several words, and it gave me the idea for a first line and a theme. By the time I got home, I had forgotten the two lines I had written in my head and what the sign said -- because I got wrapped up in the stuff I have to take care of around the house (bills, etc.), and forgot all about writing a song -- or at least a poem, since I do not know how to write a song. Only many hours later did I realize I had forgotten all about my "song" and the intention I had had to at least write a poem that someone with knowledge of songwriting could turn into a song. Oh well. I guess I will have to sit down with you, Debbie, and your friend Daniel, one day. I could use a little bit of excitement.
Fantastic post. Looking at the world through an artist's lens. Attempting to change my perspective!
When I woke up in the middle of the night several nights ago, the first line of a poem just came to me, and then I quickly wrote half a dozen lines in my head. I got out of bed, grabbed a pen and paper and I WROTE IT DOWN. Now I have the idea, and I can work on it. Gotta write it down!
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