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Creating Momentum

I couldn’t get started yesterday.  After I warmed up on the oboe, I played a few notes of my concerto.  Then I tried an excerpt or two.  An etude?  Nothing seemed to take - I wasn’t having fun or finding things to work on or feeling the magic at all.  I was scattered and uninterested.

So I thought I’d work with my computer a bit.  I opened a text window to rough out the mission statement for my new chamber music series (curious yet?), and jotted down a few words.  But it wasn’t flowing.  I toyed with Wordpress to start a website for it.  Didn’t really get anything going.  I thought I’d explore fonts.  Typed my name a jillion times and refonted it over and over.  This was obviously a make-work project - simply me grasping at anything, ANYTHING to feel productive.  Didn’t work.

I tried responding to emails.  That was all right, but when I went to compose a new one - info for  newly enrolling students for next year - I again hit a block.

All of this took place in about 45 minutes, to give you perspective on my crummy morning.  I hopped from one project to another and couldn’t pick up any momentum.  Eventually, I just decided that I had to create SOMETHING.  I made a yummy summer salad.  Lots of nice chopping and whisking and combining.  Thirty minutes later I had my head on straight again - and a yummy summer salad, to boot.  We ate, I took a nap, and hit the floor running for a good afternoon’s work. 

Sometimes creativity requires a little jumpstart.  Sometimes you just have to DO something real.  Finishing a project and having a concrete result to point to - I DID this today - can get you moving and keep you moving.  Something as mundane as mowing the lawn or preparing a salad can be exactly what the oboe needs! 

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  1. orchestricianJune 4, 2013 at 9:15 AM

    Great points Jennet! I've found myself in the same situation MANY times. It's hard because you feel like you're abandoning the work you need to do. But a negative practice session is really something I try to avoid. The next time this happens to me, I'm going to put on an inspiring recording to listen to, and make a delicious salad!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JennetJune 4, 2013 at 10:01 AM

    Agreed - it's so frustrating when you have the time to put in but not the right energy. Glad to hear it's not just me!

    Thanks for reading!

    Jennet

    ReplyDelete

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