Re: What do YOU do when creativity dries up?

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

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