so close to calling it quits.

[gtrmann]

I think everything has been covered in this thread, but one of the keys for me is to keep it interesting... aways trying to grow just a little bit more musically. Spend some of your time writing what you want to say, the way you want to hear it... make it enjoyable and entertaining for you. I try to write half of my songs for me and what I want to say, and the other half at a listing I think I am musically suitable for submitting to......

[Hookjaw Brown]

I have trouble giving half to the listing.........my ideas control what I write and of course come the returns. Working on it. I like what I write though.

[Kazak]

Yes, it's often little things that keep us going. My brother in LA is also a songwriter & musician. Today (Aug 8th) is his birthday
so I sent him a great rockin' out ecard with his photo in it, but it's a rock song I wrote playing in the background. I know he will laugh & really get a kick out of it

If one of us is in a slump, the other always pulls them out. Music, it's who we are and it runs very deep, it's our identity.

Alicia

[ottlukk]

Absolutely correct, Alicia. As I write this, I am listening to my 17 year old daughter play piano. Sort of like the present looking for the future. My most recent songs were produced by someone I met here on TAXI. Musical paths cross in the most interesting ways. Here, we have a major crossroad. Ott

[mojobone]

If one of us is in a slump, the other always pulls them out. Music, it's who we are and it runs very deep, it's our identity.

Alicia

My late brother used to pull me out of slumps, until he succumbed to one of his; much of what I do is to honor him, and his honesty, though he never came out.

[Hookjaw Brown]

When I get blue, I begin to breathe again.

[Len911]

Sometimes I have to change between the "aesthetics". Music is great for expressing emotion, passion and mood, but sometimes I need a little more intellectual stimulation and inspiration and have to go to the library or bookstore. There was a time when my sensors were just overloaded and I had to take a little time in the garden planting roses, flowers, trees, and shrubs. Television is when I just want to switch my brain off for awhile,lol!!

[coachdebra]

Sometimes I have to change between the "aesthetics". Music is great for expressing emotion, passion and mood, but sometimes I need a little more intellectual stimulation and inspiration and have to go to the library or bookstore. There was a time when my sensors were just overloaded and I had to take a little time in the garden planting roses, flowers, trees, and shrubs. Television is when I just want to switch my brain off for awhile,lol!!

One of the brilliant exercises in the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron is the Artist Date. The point of this date is not to produce art. The point is to have a special date with your inner artist. No one else is invited. And what do you do on this weekly 2 hour (minimum) date? Go play! Do what feeds you. Go to a movie, a swap meet. Walk through a fabric store and just take in the colors and design. Sit in the park an listen to the birds sing. Whatever feeds you.

[Hookjaw Brown]

Debra, My inner artist is CONSTANTLY carrying on a conversation with me about things like the quality of the light in the trees, see the Eagle, Osprey, Blue Heron, see the flowers, creeks, dust devils, and on and on and how it should sound in my fingers. It is hard to shut her up long enough to do the biz of music! I can mentally see her waiting impatiently for me to get done with it. These muses are soooo demanding.

[coachdebra]

That's Awesome, Hookjaw!

Some of us need a little help hearing the Muse calling us. Too much noise in the environment!