NickVmusic.net 2-4-17

Persevering with a positive message

February 05, 2017

Being a creative who is a parent can be tough. Creativity doesn't work 8 to 5 hours.The way we creatives work often requires ideas having mental focus; dedicated time to put forth energy to chip away at the sculpture that lies beneath the slab of marble.However, as a parent you're quickly pulled into the present, which makes it feel like your abruptly cutting off your creative mode of operation.Luckily our subconscious is typically churning away on our project ideas even when we can't mentally focus on it.But when a eureka moment occurs and you get that sudden blast of inspiration, we creatives know that mental momentum is fleeting if we don't capture it quickly.But one kid is crying and the other is yelling something from another room and you literally need 2 minutes to jot down the inspiring solution to the creative problem you've been trying to solve or it may be gone forever.That's when I pick up the crying baby, grab my phone, quickly open the Notes app and use the dictation to type feature to quickly speak/write the creative note that needs to be captured.Then, sometimes days later, I'm able to return to that note and make at least a small bit of progress on my project.

And as I think of it, this isn't an issue exclusive to creatives. These days work/life separation is now more of a work/life blend, which is why the same scenario also happens to those who don't consider themselves creatives -- you get an idea about how to solve a work problem, but you're in the middle of being mommy...quick where's your phone.

The thing is, I find myself in those moments when inspiration hits feeling like, "come on kids, I just need to capture this, give me one second, please," but what I've come to realize is that my art is much better these days because of my kids.Artists need some level of struggle, or resistance to push us beyond our comfort zone. That's where growth happens. That's what helps bring authenticity to the emotion you put into your craft, your day job, your life.That resistance is there to test your perseverance, and boy, does it feel good not only having been able to be present for those you love, but to have come through it and to produced something you didn't think was going to ever see the light of day.

One such small victory for me in the last week has been revamping at least one song off of my

Light of Mourning

album (revamping and remastering that album to the level of production I originally envisioned is a goal of mine this year -- it's been 3 years in the making just to get to this point). Feel free to check out the song, "

."

Bottom line is, cut yourself some slack. Life is a long game. With perseverance, everything you experience can be channeled to positively impact yourself, those you love and others around you. Don't take it for granted or wish it were different.

Have a great week!