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yes, this reminds me me of "gumption traps" described in zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance (i guess 90% of people here have probably read this book, but if you haven't, go get a copy and read it right away). minimising gumption traps is an important part of allowing creative freedom and should be tackled - preferably when you're not intending to actually do some recording. internal gumption traps, like "fear" are obviously more difficult to deal with, but mechanical/logistical/physical traps are easily dealt with and build confidence. also - i find it's a good idea to power up the studio and have everything ready to go - before i plan on doing anything. i'll set up - go and do something else - then come back and just dive in. On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 4:27 PM, <kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com> wrote: > 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 > >