Do you find yourself putting off creating until "the
time is right?" In Eric Maisel's excellent book,
Coaching the Artist Within, he discusses the
importance of creating in the middle of things.
People don't create in a vacuum. Rather, creators
like yourselves have distractions and pressures
pulling you in every direction. As a musician, you will
be more successful if you learn to create in the
middle of things. Here are four strategies taken from
Maisel's book:
1. Suit up and show up.
Set up times to create and then show up no matter
what. You don't have to feel prepared, "just do it!"
2. Avoid anticipating. Expectations
can really get in the way of creativity. If you start
writing with the anticipation of producing something
incredible, your first bit of writing may not meet your
expectation. Create with no expectations at all.
3. Drop everything. This means
dropping your resistance, dropping your doubts,
dropping parts of your personality that hold you
back, and dropping your ever present to-do list.
Practice this!
4. Remember you are always in the middle of
things: of your personality, of your stream
of consciousness, of your culture; and there is no
escape! You must learn to create even if you are
having family problems, even if your day job is
stressful or boring, even if your house is messy and
even if you are traveling out of the country.
