No matter your perspective, you can’t ignore how change started the world’s engines-without it, you wouldn’t have breathed your first breath-or how it fuels our survival by providing ample scenarios for adaptation.

Change is so pre-historically natural to life that we couldn’t possibly live here without acknowledging and accepting it; yet we seem to have trouble digesting it.

At Matt Cheuvront’s rad blog Life Without Pants, I snagged a guest post on a multi-perspective discussion called The Inconvenience of Change. I went to school with Matt, and man, he’s a thinker! And a great guy to know! So pop over and visit Life Without Pants…and while you’re at it, discover The Sour Grapes of Lost Control

Many of our opinions about the world and people come from what we think about ourselves. Pretty true, right? We tend to dish out the same expectations and judgments, as if it will help us achieve what we want for ourselves. We should probably keep in mind that creativity uses our thoughts and feelings as a jumping-off point for what create; you’ll be perceived in the same tone as your thoughts (which is why it’s important to get into character if you’re writing fiction).

For example, if I want to be perceived as a loving, caring person, but my thoughts are selfish and judgmental, my writing comes off as a load of bs.

Getting a grip on negative thoughts is productive for both the writer and the audience. A cloudy outlook about your self-image and life will cast a shadow over your perspective, causing your creativity to spill out grim and dismal themes. Your audience likes to feel what you’re feeling, but won’t for long if you feel crappy all the time. Or, say, if you’re mushy gushy over romance all the time, or an opinionated bigmouth, etc, etc…

Luckily, we all have the power (and responsibility) to feel good, to control our thoughts, choose our course, and live each day freshly. Keeping the mind, body, and spirit well is the simple key to unlocking that power. Taking time for yourself to reflect on your life, make plans, and challenge yourself lends a much more confident self-image than trudging each day away in disappointment (or whatever you might trudge in).

When you’re confident in your mentality, physical health, and life path, you see the world on your terms, a much more positive viewpoint for most of us. Then, creativity is free to take whatever form it wills, instead of being trapped by overpowering circumstances.

As common as we are in life, it serves each other to share what we learn through our various experiences. If you could impart any wisdom you’ve gained freedom by, what would you share?

Like, you’re supposed to be a normal person once you become an adult; I read normal as no more fun house decor, wearing shoes more than not, and settling into a repetitious routine. Well, I’ve passed through the gates of such normality and I’m STILL random, samurai-decor-loving, and barefoot. Hey, at least I’m consistent, right?

For my music, I’m supposed to pick a genre, or some hyphenation of several, i.e. pop/rock/folk. But nah, I said. I like all different genres and I don’t want my creativity pinned to a category.

And so commenced my grand (although, not so grand) vision to name my own genre. Cue motif music.

Motif is a simple word I enjoy. Literally, it means theme or design, but I loved it first in my ongoing relationship with literature. In my sophomore year of high school, we studied the wonderful classic To Kill a Mockingbird. A paper was assigned over the central theme, termed the “Mockingbird Motif“. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel’s ideas and messages, as well as the symbolism of a mockingbird’s innocence, and so “motif” stuck with me through the years to term my songwriting and its themes.

It’s not profound, or all that cool, really, but I could think of no better correlation than the timeless message of To Kill a Mockingbird to define my songs. I hope it’s not too much to aspire to, and I hope you enjoy motif music.

Sure, it allows us to stay connected, market ourselves, etc; but how connected do you really need to be? And do people really need to be apart of your every thought? And do you need to be apart of mine?

I can read tweets on the computer, along with my emails, facebook crap, and RSS feeds, which already feels like too much to keep up with–so why have am I sending it all to my phone? So it can plague me 24/7?! Do I not have better things to do? Plans, housework, maybe even HANGING OUT with tweet-heads I follow? I think I do. </ RANT>
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In all the madness, my frustration distracts me from writing because I get worn out. My personality resists processing so much stimulation. In a heavy-traffic lifestyle, it’s vital to stop and catch up with ourselves.
Do you remember breathing in your day? Probably not, since it’s something we do so involuntarily that we needn’t even consider it. But I tend to think about breathing a lot.

Here’s my reasoning:

Breath is life, right? You must inhale and exhale to live; you must inhale and exhale slowly not to stress your body.

Thought is apart of life, right? You must think to reason; you must control your thought not to stress your mind.

Anything that strips me of my breath control or mental control is probably something I don’t have energy for.

When you consider that breathing and thinking take up most of our time (because everything else kind of relies on them), doesn’t it seem silly that we don’t take time to think about our breath or mental state? Doesn’t it seem silly that we knowingly stress our bodies and minds by recklessly (and knowingly) plowing through life?

You’ll never appreciate what happens in a moment, and therefore never accurately describe it, if you never experience your own moments. Taking time to be still, breathe, and control your thoughts is essential to writing, focusing your mind and body on the moment’s task.

Songwriting is about expanding the physical senses and emotions of these moments so the audience feels like they’re apart of them. So chill out for a few and take it in. If it helps you to call it work, preparation for a future gig, or research, then you probably need to clear out for a spell (I suggest enjoying a tasty beverage somewhere serene!)… at least till play becomes pleasurable again. ;)