Trying to force artistry is like trying to get the really annoying girl at the party to not talk - You might get a few sympathy points for trying, but it just aint happening.
For several days now, I have been in a creative drought. I've been listening to a lot of good music these days. I've been surrounding myself with all the things and people that inspire me on a regular basis. All those familiar faces and places, I've got them all. Yet for some reason, when I sit down with my guitar and a notebook, all I can seem to do fake my way through some uninspired lick or generic recycled line.
Sometimes I get cold feet. I listen to all this great stuff, look at all this great art, read all these great books, watch all these great movies - and then I find myself saying "you're not gonna make anything as good as that." I keep comparing myself to other people, wondering if I'm gonna stack up. Sometimes I foget that I do my best stuff when it's just me and my head is clear and I couldn't possibly care less what people think - when I've got something personal to say, when it strikes me.
I guess I've just been trying to force it. I feel all these amazing songs just sitting in my brain, and I can't find the way to get them out of there and onto the page. Maybe I've been too wrapped up in execution and the process. Maybe I need to let myself be submerged in circumstance. If I just let life happen and make the most of every day, maybe I'll observe something worth writing about along the way. Maybe instead of resorting to the things which, until now, have been sure fire inspirations - maybe I should give something unexpected the chance to be inspiring.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put the guitar up and stop looking over at it. I'm going to stop looking at the empty page. But as soon as life happens, I'll be there to take notes.
-dan
For several days now, I have been in a creative drought. I've been listening to a lot of good music these days. I've been surrounding myself with all the things and people that inspire me on a regular basis. All those familiar faces and places, I've got them all. Yet for some reason, when I sit down with my guitar and a notebook, all I can seem to do fake my way through some uninspired lick or generic recycled line.
Sometimes I get cold feet. I listen to all this great stuff, look at all this great art, read all these great books, watch all these great movies - and then I find myself saying "you're not gonna make anything as good as that." I keep comparing myself to other people, wondering if I'm gonna stack up. Sometimes I foget that I do my best stuff when it's just me and my head is clear and I couldn't possibly care less what people think - when I've got something personal to say, when it strikes me.
I guess I've just been trying to force it. I feel all these amazing songs just sitting in my brain, and I can't find the way to get them out of there and onto the page. Maybe I've been too wrapped up in execution and the process. Maybe I need to let myself be submerged in circumstance. If I just let life happen and make the most of every day, maybe I'll observe something worth writing about along the way. Maybe instead of resorting to the things which, until now, have been sure fire inspirations - maybe I should give something unexpected the chance to be inspiring.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put the guitar up and stop looking over at it. I'm going to stop looking at the empty page. But as soon as life happens, I'll be there to take notes.
-dan
2 comments:
Dude, you've hit the nail on the head. When you try to force art, it becomes something for other people and not for yourself. If you force a song, you are putting yourself in the line of fire of those who "sell-out." What I mean is that if you write down those lyrics, those riffs, those anything just because you feel like you have to have something, you hinder the truthfulness of what art is. Art is the anthropological way to mimic our Lord. God created things out of nothing. Man cannot create, but rather sub-creates, or molds that which is already here. Art is about more than just the self, yet the best art...that which is truly aesthetic and meaningful...is from the inner depths of one's being. Art is the expression of the inner truths we all see in our limited understanding of this world. My best writing happens when I forget about what I think others want to read; it happens when I simply sit down and let the thoughts pour out from my hands onto the paper or on the computer screen. SO I encourage you to play the guitar when you feel like you need to, write those lyrics when you have something to say. Just don't fall into the trap of forcing it. When you just let it out naturally it is usually something good. And there is always time to go back and reedit that which is written. I have faith in you. Keep on being Dan and you won't have any problems.
People should read this.
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