Uninspired? Then inspire yourself.

I had two weeks off from my day job and my music making. On occasions like that I tend to get very excited about how I can look at the big picture of my channel. I get excited that there is a chance to follow up a single big idea, and I set myself a few tasks to help achieve that end. This sounds like work, but since its something I love doing, it really doesn’t feel like work.

This time my intention was to get into writing, by which I mean actually composing some regular articles that allow me to bring together and share things I’ve learned and ideas that are kicking around in my head. I completed a degree in Business and Management during the period of 2018 and 2021, which involved writing a bunch of essays, so throughout that time I was regularly researching and writing in a pretty in-depth way. It was really interesting to experience the different phases of how my assignments came together – first reading and taking notes which felt really disjointed and there was nothing holding them together. Gradually as I worked and the notes became paragraphs, I would spot themes or contradictions – which then became the topics of yet more paragraphs, and the assignment would take shape.

I learned that, as with my music projects, in order to have a clear idea of what it is that I’m actually producing, I have to create a lot of early drafts and disparate elements. These early elements act as the inspiration for the final product. I can’t think of an essay or a piece of music which I’ve ever produced that sprang fully formed from a clear in my mind.

The takeway for me then is to invest time in producing work whether you are inspired or not. By actually making a starting – even without a solid idea or direction, the then you can actually see ‘what sticks’.

You could perhaps call this Reactive Creativity. In the sense that the real art is generated as a reaction to un-inspired proto-ideas.