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Re: What do YOU do when creativity dries up?



Quoting BC <compguy2@comcast.net>:

Would anyone like to share their strategies for minimizing time spent in the creative desert?


In pondering this question, I've concluded that my normal state is to lack energy and motivation for music. I have a love-hate relationship with music in the sense that if I'm in my studio I'm not doing something else -- particularly when the weather is great and I want to be outoors. The only thing that I do consistantly is to play a Navajo flute and I just play it to relax.

The thing that stands between me and music-making is fear and associated negative feelings. Some automatic thoughts are triggered:

. Will my equipment work when I turn it on or will I end up spending the entire session troubleshooting or otherwise frustrating myself?

. Will I end up listening to a passage repeatedly while unable to add anything to the work?

. Will I, after a few hours, walk away feeling as though I wasted the time?

. Is this even worth the time and effort?

... what underlies all of these questions is fear -- the fear of failure. Sometimes the fear is debilitating -- I don't even walk into the studio. I don't want to face it or think about it.

To clean up and re-arrange the studio's equipment and furniture helps me to overcome the fear. Also, to test/calibrate the equipment helps, too.

Then I may just pose little experiments -- i.e. (what happens if I connect gadget 'b' to gadget 'f' or some non-standard configuration.

I keep an external recorder (a ML9600) "hot" and ready to record, too.

In other words, I have to distract myself from negative thoughts with some kind of action -- even if it is just to pull out a vacuum cleaner and clean stuff up.

-- Kevin