John! I love this post and this theme - I know how hard you work, and I have enormous sympathy for trying to carve out slices of time to do creative projects, not to mention paid work. One question and then a suggestion. Question: where do you think your motivation to keep making music comes from? Because in my experience, it takes tremendous motivation to keep going amid all the life constraints, especially with kids. I admire your motivation, no question.
Suggestion: if you intend to post every week, I’d mix longer, more time-consuming posts like this with shorter takes - say, a photo with a brief caption about why you got nothing done this week - or a brief audio segment of you noodling to represent your distraction - or a quote from a favorite author - or ask subscribers a question - seems like one overall goal for this stack might be to model how to keep creating, even if you get only 10 minutes a week 😉
Thank you for the question and suggestion, Martha!
Answer:
I think my motivation to make music is always there, and the battle comes down to, "Am I too tired to sit down to it when my time is free?" or not being able to get past the block of fear and insecurity about what you sound like or what you're producing during the process. And I guess I get past both those hurdles through a few different steps:
1. Make it an actual priority by considering it important. This is can be really tough with no external validation, and I don't know that I have a great answer for convincing people of this, but I've become increasingly convinced of the importance of creative expression/play in everyone's lives.
2. Put it into the routine. Just like exercising or anything else that you want to "get to", just dedicating some time to it, however small, will make a big difference in your relationship to it.
3. Consciously stifle the fear and doubt. I don't think that anybody at any level is free of this blockage, and to me it's almost more of a zen-like thing of having the fear and doubt present, but just consciously pushing it down or to the side and letting myself sit down with the instruments or computer.
And sometimes just getting started can be a big hurdle. If I'm setting a new routine or have been out of practice, just getting into the initial session can be difficult. Kinda goes back to 3, though, consciously just pushing past it. Once I get going, then I have way more trouble stopping and getting motivated to focus on my life responsibilities.
Suggestion response:
I totally agree! I was having a similar thought while I was writing this piece, like, "Maybe I should just post something super short and chip away at this in the background." But I had already gotten over halfway through by the time it occurred to me and I ended up just pushing to the end instead. But I think going forward I'll chip away at longer pieces steadily and try to even just post a shorty if nothing's ready, more updatey type stuff. But I think you're probably overly familiar with the fact that I have trouble not overthinking things. Right now I'm just getting past the "getting started" phase with this stack and figuring out the rest of it.
Re: keep creating, even 10 minutes a week: I feel like this is a really important thing for anyone who wants to keep art in their lives. I've been in situations where even playing for 15 minutes has made me feel so grateful that I did that instead of whatever else.
And just to follow up, I would use a lot of what is in your reply to create new posts (another tip: don't waste any good writing; re-purpose). Maybe one "shorty" includes a captivating photo and lists your three tips. Then you can devote follow-up posts to each tip individually. Another post could involve strategies for getting started, the 10-minutes-a-week rule, etc. Have fun with this, because I think it's a great premise for a stack, and you'll find an audience.
I can definitely relate to this one 😅
John! I love this post and this theme - I know how hard you work, and I have enormous sympathy for trying to carve out slices of time to do creative projects, not to mention paid work. One question and then a suggestion. Question: where do you think your motivation to keep making music comes from? Because in my experience, it takes tremendous motivation to keep going amid all the life constraints, especially with kids. I admire your motivation, no question.
Suggestion: if you intend to post every week, I’d mix longer, more time-consuming posts like this with shorter takes - say, a photo with a brief caption about why you got nothing done this week - or a brief audio segment of you noodling to represent your distraction - or a quote from a favorite author - or ask subscribers a question - seems like one overall goal for this stack might be to model how to keep creating, even if you get only 10 minutes a week 😉
Thank you for the question and suggestion, Martha!
Answer:
I think my motivation to make music is always there, and the battle comes down to, "Am I too tired to sit down to it when my time is free?" or not being able to get past the block of fear and insecurity about what you sound like or what you're producing during the process. And I guess I get past both those hurdles through a few different steps:
1. Make it an actual priority by considering it important. This is can be really tough with no external validation, and I don't know that I have a great answer for convincing people of this, but I've become increasingly convinced of the importance of creative expression/play in everyone's lives.
2. Put it into the routine. Just like exercising or anything else that you want to "get to", just dedicating some time to it, however small, will make a big difference in your relationship to it.
3. Consciously stifle the fear and doubt. I don't think that anybody at any level is free of this blockage, and to me it's almost more of a zen-like thing of having the fear and doubt present, but just consciously pushing it down or to the side and letting myself sit down with the instruments or computer.
And sometimes just getting started can be a big hurdle. If I'm setting a new routine or have been out of practice, just getting into the initial session can be difficult. Kinda goes back to 3, though, consciously just pushing past it. Once I get going, then I have way more trouble stopping and getting motivated to focus on my life responsibilities.
Suggestion response:
I totally agree! I was having a similar thought while I was writing this piece, like, "Maybe I should just post something super short and chip away at this in the background." But I had already gotten over halfway through by the time it occurred to me and I ended up just pushing to the end instead. But I think going forward I'll chip away at longer pieces steadily and try to even just post a shorty if nothing's ready, more updatey type stuff. But I think you're probably overly familiar with the fact that I have trouble not overthinking things. Right now I'm just getting past the "getting started" phase with this stack and figuring out the rest of it.
Re: keep creating, even 10 minutes a week: I feel like this is a really important thing for anyone who wants to keep art in their lives. I've been in situations where even playing for 15 minutes has made me feel so grateful that I did that instead of whatever else.
And just to follow up, I would use a lot of what is in your reply to create new posts (another tip: don't waste any good writing; re-purpose). Maybe one "shorty" includes a captivating photo and lists your three tips. Then you can devote follow-up posts to each tip individually. Another post could involve strategies for getting started, the 10-minutes-a-week rule, etc. Have fun with this, because I think it's a great premise for a stack, and you'll find an audience.