Groove is in the Heart
Our founder Louisa has been a bit quiet on the blog front over the last few months as she gets to grips with Essex Vocal Coaching. But now she’s getting into the rhythm, she’s back! And with a bang ... below she speaks about re-finding love ... in the musical sense.
It’s fair to say that keeping some of us creative types ‘entertained’ can be an arduous task: we have short attention spans; start multiple projects all at once; are terminal perfectionists and our own worst critics! Then, ever so occasionally within all of this we start asking ourselves “why am I doing this?!” I’ve literally been on stage, in character, then realised who I really am and asked myself this question! This little beauty of an incident was the start of my most recent bout of falling out of love with the music.
It doesn't happen very often, but when it happens to me I don’t realise for a little while; I just find myself dissatisfied with my latest creative project for various reasons that have nothing to do with my personal contribution. But at some point you have to take a look inwards (one of my general rules at life) and start asking the question; “how can I change my approach to this?”
For me, there can be several answers for this question. None of them involve giving it up as if this was ever on the cards, I’d have done that a very long time ago! So here goes ... my guide to getting yourself 'creatively' back on track;
TRY A NEW CREATIVE PROCESS. Whether it’s writing songs where the lyrics come first instead of the music, learning lines at a different time of day or something else .... TRY!
STEP AWAY. Coming away from something you once loved doing can help you appreciate why you did it in the first place. You can always come back to it when you rediscover the love. Until then .....
TRY SOMETHING NEW. The beauty of being a creative is there is lots of different outlets for us to express ourselves: Paint pictures, try some improv, learn a new instrument.... for example. Recently I joined the House Gospel Choir, which has truly reconnected me to the music for the first time in ages. Not only has it enabled me to rediscover the joy it brings to me, it's kick started my writing and given me lots of new ideas for all sorts of projects, in front and behind the scenes. I feel absolutely blessed to have been welcomed into that little gem of a family
SELF-START. This is a quality only successful creatives are willing to access - only you can make these things happen as it's your art. Unless you’re willing to take a look inwards and decide how to change it, you’ll stay stuck.
FOLLOW YOUR GUT ... it's that niggling little voice only you can hear that says “something isn’t working” ... listen to it, ask it questions and do something with it.
If all else fails, just carry on asking yourself questions; eventually you'll get to the answers you need, but if you truly love it, never give it up!