Lately I’ve been thinking about the title of this blog, which is sort of the “motto” for my work.
When I was trying to come up with a tagline that would keep me focused, I tried to think of what the most basic form of what I do is. I thought, and thought, and thought some more…into the next morning, when I was showering. I glanced at the shampoo bottle and saw the familiar, “Lather, rinse, repeat” instructions, and that’s when it hit me.
(The shower is a great place for musing, by the way.)
write. play. repeat.
I write a song, I play it for an audience, I do it all again. And I love it. The motto perfectly describes the day-to-day activity of my work, but it also addresses another reality of being a songwriter or other type of artist. Sometimes, creativity feels like it comes in cycles. There are days, weeks, months when I feel like I’m really on a roll, and ideas are coming too fast for me to get them all out. Then there are droughts when I feel like I may never write another thing that’s fit for human consumption.
It’s easy to feel, during those less inspired times, that you’re in “writer’s block” or that you’re no good, and you should just quit already. Try not to listen to those thoughts. I’ve found that if I’m patient, and I keep showing up to the page, and I keep my ears open for ideas, that eventually the cycle comes back around.