Inspiration
I wasn't searching for or expecting inspiration. At that moment, I had neither the energy or attitude for either soaring around on a creativity binge or aggressively tackling the "crap I should be doing" which are my two most common and comfortable states. So on this particular afternoon last week, I choose a small and mindless job that would still give me some sense that I was accomplishing something, namely, re-naming, filing or deleting the 162 audio clips I have recorded on my cell phone. The clips are constantly repopulating like rabbits and consist of song ideas, the ridiculous and sometimes effective "messages to self" for my "list of things I must remember," and the largest group; me practicing problematic melody lines... take 1, take 2, take 3...
#87 was a recording from our 2016 Wood and Stone Retreat. It was from Sunday morning 9:16am, pretty early considering that since Thursday evening, the 14 of us had been writing like mad men and staying up until the wee hours, doing lots of laughing, soul searching and a little bit of drinking as well. We were gathered in the upstairs hall looking out through tall pines, over the creek and long stretch of marsh.
Beth Wood had the idea to wake us all up with an impromptu sing along. I remember it being really nice, but last week, when I heard the clip on my cell phone I was really blown away by the sheer joy and energy. By the inspiration. How did that happen in our just-outta-bed state of being? By Sunday morning we had definitely been taking a break from chasing inspiration down. And maybe that is key. I don't think any of us were expecting it, and maybe that's key as well.
