I always wish I had more time to roll up my sleeves and dig into creative projects. Before our son came along, I had a hard enough time finding these opportunities. If only I’d known how much time I really had back then!!
But I didn’t, and now I do. So now I use the time I have, in between epic Lego builds, artwork afternoons and walks in the woods with my kid.
In addition to publishing a new piece for flute and string quartet, this month I’ve given myself the assignment to record and post an original tune every single day, which I’m sharing on my ShannonHeatonMusic Soundcloud page.. No fancy production, no arrangements. Just a good, clean, live recording of an instrumental tune twice around in order to:
- be creative and share stuff
- make sure I practice every day
- be accountable to straight-up melodies (just me without any other sonic bed)
- connect with peers who compose
- inspire someone to record or write something, maybe…
13 days in, and I’ve surprised myself at how much quicker I’m getting at this. On my first few days, I’d do a few takes before I was content… I’d feel thirsty and need some water… I’d lose my focus and forget the turnaround at the end of the tune.
Two weeks in and it’s easier and quicker to just go right in and bang out a tune. Also, I’ve developed habits of exactly where I stand, what I look at when I record. So it’s all become a ritual, a routine, a habit. This goes along with my Do It Badly mandate which, of course, is not about doing things without excellence in mind but about just getting going (and risking something NOT being excellent instead of not ever being done).
Time may be short, but creativity is abundant. A moment of making something is better than not making. Here’s to seizing moments, great and small.
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