What a peculiar year. I have a feeling we will look back at this year as the year that showed us who we were. It seemed like we had nothing but time to work on (I hate this phrase) our quarantine album. But most of my “progress” came at the end of the year for me. Sure, I laid down a lot of the groundwork throughout the year. But if it’s one thing we’ve learned from 2020, it is that TIME is not the issue that keeps us from progressing. It’s simply one of the components for our success (whatever that may look like for us).
It’s not about time. It’s about an elongated strong mental constitution. I wrote about this earlier this year with a post called “No, you don’t need to make a quarantine album.”
To create, we need a safe and happy mental space.
Before you call me on my shit. I know that we can all think of the songs that came from pain. But those songs usually don’t come to fruition in the moment of pain. They came with the passing of time and some introspection. It can even be subconscious.
- Level of skill
- Time
- A safe space to create
- Desire
All of these things combine to create progression. Let’s break each of these things down.
Level of skill
If you only know how to draw stick figures, you will only be able to create a stick figure drawing (albeit a beautiful one). You have to work on each of the techniques that form skills. For your instrument, that is broken down into various methods and actions over an extended period of time (anywhere from a few hours to a few years). This leads us to our next point.
Time
You have to actually have the time to work on these techniques. But you also need time to do anything. Duh. If you don’t have the time to work on what you want to work on, you won’t get it done. Again, duh.
A safe space to create
This can look like a live stage with improvisation. It can be in your bedroom. I feel that 2020 has proven that this “safe space” is more in your head than physical space (although that also plays a factor).
Desire
You have to want to create, to progress. Desire doesn’t always mean WANTING to do that thing. It manifests more in energy used to move.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking all you need is time. You are the master of your clock. Time is a construct to keep us all on the same page. It’s okay that you skip a few pages (or go to a different book) from time to time as you see fit.
Dean Nelson 