When Inspiration Hits
Following up on the theme of inspiration: Sometimes, when it hits, it’s in the form you least expect.
Image by luna715 on Flickr
On Valentine’s Day, my husband and I were at a neighborhood bar when a Barry White song came on the radio, then another of the same ilk. We started thinking, What would happen if the smooth talker at the beginning of these songs never actually got around to the song itself? And voila, our song, “Hey Girl,” was born:
In addition to our own bizarre way of thinking/sense of humor, I attribute our inspiration in this case to a keyboard and a contest. Let me explain. (more…)
The Tonic of Wildness
Costa Rica sunrise
“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”
- Henry David Thoreau
The Power of Constraints (and Robot Love)
Image by drp on Flickr
My husband, Jordan (who will henceforth just be “Jordan” here on T.P.), is a musician, and he just recorded one of his best songs ever; it’s called “How Does It Feel?”, and it features a robot and a healthy amount of autotune – have a listen:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Jordan crafted this ditty as part of “February Album Writing Month,” or FAWM: (more…)
Be In The Scene You Want To Be In
Image by Pedro Moura Pinheiro on Flickr
“If only you’d remember before ever you sit down to write that you’ve been a reader long before you were ever a writer. You simply fix that fact in your mind, then sit very still and ask yourself, as a reader, what piece of writing in all the world Buddy Glass would most want to read if he had his heart’s choice. The next step is terrible, but so simple I can hardly believe it as I write it. You just sit down shamelessly and write the thing yourself. I won’t even underline that. It’s too important to be underlined. Oh, dare to do it, Buddy! Trust your heart. You’re a deserving craftsman. It would never betray you.”
-The character of Seymour, writing to his younger brother, Buddy, in Seymour, An Introduction by JD Salinger
I found this quote here, and it immediately reminded me of something my improv teacher, Ari Voukydis, said last week: “Be in the scene you want to be in.” In other words, if you find yourself in the middle of a scene that sucks, remember that the scene is what you make it (this is improv, after all – we’re making it up as we go).
Like so many improv lessons, this advice applies to life, as well. Yesterday I had lunch with a friend who still, after many years, feels like he’s stuck in a job that has no relationship to who he wants to be on this earth. He’d leave, but he doesn’t know what else he wants to do. He works it over and over in his head, but never reaches a convincing conclusion. Meanwhile, time ticks by…
As another improv teacher, Topher Bellavia, once told me, “It doesn’t matter what choice you make. It only matters that you make a choice, and commit to it.” This also applies to life offstage. So often we think there’s a “right” choice, and we remain paralyzed, terrified of getting it wrong. But people: these lives? They’re ours. They’re made up of the choices we make, and the things we do. If you don’t want to be someone who works at a law firm – don’t be that person.
I know, it’s not that easy. We have the voices of the naysayers in our heads — parents telling us we’re being naive, “friends” telling us we’re lucky just to have a job. Sure. But to apply another improv principle, the notion of “Yes, and”: one thing can be true, AND another thing can be true. We can be lucky to have a job, and we can give thanks for our good fortune every morning; AND, every day, we can feel deep in our gut that this job is not our true path in life, and we can take steps to find another one. Gratitude and desire are not mutually exclusive.
So: write the book you want to read; be in the scene you want to be in; live the life you desire.
“In my dream, the angel shrugged and said, ‘If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination,’ and then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.”- Brian Andreas
Related Links:
- An Accident of Hope, a blog by Summer Pierre, the author of The Artist in the Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week (this blog is where I found the Salinger quote above)
- On Seeking Fulfillment, a post from my previous blog, Creative DC (“Finding fulfillment isn’t about finding a magic bullet – a ‘dream job,’ a perfect city to live in, a perfect mate; instead, finding fulfillment is about developing the ability to know what you want, and the will to go get it.”)
Begin Today
“We think that the exceptional do things that no one else can do, when really they just do things that no one is doing.”
So writes my new friend Christa over on her blog, Christa in New York. I couldn’t agree with her more. This week, I listened as another friend spoke wistfully of the things she’d like to do one day… and I wanted to shake her and say, “Do them now! Can’t you see? There might not be a tomorrow. Don’t delay your happiness. Go for it now.” Of course, I have an impatient streak, which sometimes leads me to do great, bold things, and other times, leads me to torture myself, bucking repeatedly against the inevitable time a thing takes to grow and evolve.
Still, it’s worth asking yourself: Who is someone you consider extraordinary, and why? What are they doing that makes them stand out for you? What keeps you from doing that thing – or another thing that calls to you? Whether it’s baby steps or big, bold leaps that are called for: the time is now. Begin.
