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Darren

Holiday Season Creative Field Notes

December 28, 2022 by Darren 2 Comments

It is that strange time between Christmas and the New Year. It is a time of false starts, of quiet, of planning, of this and that, and of nothing, because everything feels on hiatus. It is a downtime but also pregnant with possibility. The perfect time to stop and reflect on where I am with creative projects.

The Creative Minimalist Blog

I am doing some planning for this blog. I need to give myself some regular deadlines and break the process down into manageable chunks. If I see a task and it is too big I run away from it, procrastinate and wait until it is too late to post.

This Temple Eden Music

I have just completed and shared Music to journal by. This took far longer than I expected. It means there are now even more unfinished songs and soundtracks in various states of disrepair. I am going to finish these. I have a plan formulating that will enable me to, as above, break down the projects into manageable steps.

Fragments is the working title of the current track being finished. I have a page full of draft lyrics… time to edit and shape. Here’s a snippet, or fragment of fragments.

Memories surface as the season turned
chilled reminders of a former tide

pLAnarchy and waoao

Next on the list is thinking about what to do with pLAnarchy and waoao. How much time can or should I spend on freelance work vs other creative projects that could provide some income? I suppose my thinking here is deciding what do I enjoy doing… what would get me up in the morning?

Creative writing

There is also the writing. I seem to have stopped my creative writing. But I would like to get back into the habit. Again, how much time do I have and where does this go on the priority list? I have a pile of unfinished drafts that need attention. There is a pattern emerging with regard to my completing projects I think. So. How can I plan and work productively?

Tools of the trade

I am deciding what journal(s) and planning methods to keep me focussed, know what I should be doing and keep myself accountable.

Things 3 is my digital planner and I write regularly in Day One. I also have a Diary and Spiritual journal that are coming to an end in a few days as the year ends. I think they will be replaced with a simple bullet journal and a long-hand journal, but I am still undecided. I thought writing here might help clarify. Perhaps it has, I’ll post more next week for the first Creative Field Notes of 2023.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: fiction, journal, planning, productivity, songwriting

Myth, truth and creativity at Christmas

December 23, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

It is said to never begin with an apology. I would like to apologise for this Northern Hemisphere-centric post. Hopefully, no one noticed that.

Some have recently celebrated Yule, others are preparing for Christmas, and there may be some who have just celebrated Saturnalia. Recently there was Hanukkah, and before that Diwali. Oh well, in for a penny, I once again apologise for any other recently celebrated festivals I may have missed.

A common thread here is light. And in the next day or so, many in the UK, will be celebrating Christmas, just after the Mid-winter solstice and just before the New Year.

Watch or read on…

Myth and legend

At this time I think about what was real, what actually happened.

What are the facts? A quick look at Christmas can reveal some interesting things. No donkey is mentioned in the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth… and, I am afraid to let you know… there isn’t even a stable. And as for the date? What may or may not have happened has been… let’s be nice here, embellished.

If the facts around Christmas have been elaborated to make a nice tidy celebration, can we find more meaning in the pre-Christian traditions? Was Christmas just a synchronistic replacement of the ancient ways?

There might be some or even a lot of truth in that, but to be honest there is very little evidence as to what were the ancient ways. Most of our knowledge has been built on myth and legend by modern-day sages.

The point here is that many, or in fact, most of our traditions are built on myth and legend… but, does that make them any less relevant?

Fact and truth

Even a quick and cursory look reveals that most of our Winter Festivals are based on… well, winter. Or more precisely, mid-winter. There is continuity with the season, with beliefs and with traditions:

  • It gets darker
  • We miss the light
  • We call upon the light to return.
  • We wait for rebirth and new life.
  • We celebrate what has been and wait for the blessings of the new.
  • From the Christ child to pantheons, or to simply good intentions and peace for all.

A Creative Blessing

But what has this to do with creativity? I relate to seasonal times and changes and cycles. And have my own rituals… myths and legends attached to them. During this dormant and dark and even frozen time, how can I prepare creatively?

  • I can plan a way ahead.
  • I can clear the dead leaves.
  • I can celebrate what I have made.
  • I can call upon creative inspiration to bring light to future projects.

Whatever your beliefs and rituals, may this time bring creative peace and joy to you.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: christmas, solstice, vlog, yule

Music to journal by is released

December 13, 2022 by Darren 1 Comment

Music to journal by is both a soundtrack to accompany your own journaling practice and a musical soundscape exploring the creative journal process in four movements.

Music to Journal by is a musical journey, an odyssey through the creative process. Now creativity is never set and can take many forms. The process can be complex and varied or simple and straightforward. But I distilled stages that I find often repeated in my own creative process into the four steps presented here. I then sought to express these steps as musical soundscapes. (read on or watch and listen below)

It begins with confusion and stubbornness as you come face to face with the blank page. Overcome adversity the blank page. Emotions, doubts, fears, and dreams all seek purchase in a cacophony of conflicting thoughts. To start or not. To create or not. The first mark, the first word, the first note… when will they appear. Turn up, and overcome adversity.

We demand inspiration as we go through the Invocation of the Muse. We summon forth in rituals, words, and laments. We seek the muse through dreams, pilgrimages and actions. Sometimes we just need to be still. He, she, they may be there, waiting for us to give them space to inspire. Seek and ye shall find, if you have ears, listen.

At some point in the creative process, we find ourselves in a creative flow. Words, brush strokes or melodies are poured out. The creative dam breaks as we Let art Emerge. Time can find little meaning here, minutes or hours may pass in the seeming blink of an eye, or flourish of a pen.

At some point, time does become a thing again. At some point, we realise we have our creation. Our canvas, our words, our score; your art, your page, your music is complete, this is the time to rest to breathe. Exhale. It is created.

This is Music to journal by. This is my creative process. This is my musical interpretation of that process, my soundscape. I share it with you and pray it may resonate with you in your own creative process. Art can heal, I offer a little musical medicine.

Streaming links


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: Apple music, composing, spotify

Facing and dealing with Imposter Syndrome

November 20, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

I’ve been struggling with Imposter Syndrome recently. I have a major project almost ready to go but I am dithering. You can read more below or watch the video.

Who am I? Am I a composer and writer? This week’s been one of dealing with exactly that, imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is, amongst other things, the fear of being found out that we are not who we say we are. And I have been doing this quite a lot recently.

The thing is, I have to create. We could get all metaphysical with it. The muse possesses the artist and what will be will be, or it is just my way of dealing with the emotions and thoughts jumping around within. The so-called creative flow.

The point is that I create no matter what anyone else thinks or even cares. So there is no reason for this imposter syndrome to even be in the same room.

However, apart from real external and physical illnesses, imposter syndrome can be one of the worst creative maladies and can be debilitating.

It hits at a very bad time. It hits when we are being creative or even have been creative. We’ve actually done the hardest part, which is to turn up, to start and be creative. I have done the work, yet now the doubts arise.

For me, it has come at an interesting juncture. I am nearing the completion of a project that has its roots back in around 2015. It has been on and off the back burner more times than a pot roast since then. But during the past few months, I have been getting things together and the project is nearly there. I am just around the corner to finally releasing Music to journal by a collection of musical soundscapes that plot the journey from the blank page to completed art. But I find myself hiding around that corner.

I question my ability. The roots of this, like so many other creative and many anxieties, lie beyond. Things I can’t control, the thoughts of others and comparison with others. The deadly sins of worry.

Imposter syndrome has us believe that we can’t create and that what we are creating isn’t good enough. That we will be found out as a fraud and phoney. You call yourself a composer Darren? Beethoven was deaf and he wrote better music than you! Do you think you can make musical soundscapes that can move people’s feelings? You need to listen to Hans Zimmer’s work on Inception and Interstellar for how to do that! Whatever you and I create, we face the danger of being an imposter, and we sink further into that syndrome as we compare ourselves with others. There is no easy answer. All we can do is say, it doesn’t matter how good others are, how others work or what others create. This is my creation, and that is what you create.

It doesn’t matter what others think of your or my creations. As I mentioned earlier, we create, it is what we do, and what we need to be. I am not an imposter for doing what I need. I create, therefore I am. We can all improve. But improvement has nothing to do with impersonating someone else and being who we are not… unless, of course, your creativity is expressed through being an impersonator.

I create and I share what I create. If anyone likes it, and connects to it, then that is wonderful. If not, it doesn’t matter. It’s time for me to turn the final corner and share what I have been creating. Just be who you are and create.

Music to journal by will also be available shortly.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: composing, doubt, imposter syndrome

Samhain the thin place

October 31, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

At this time of Hallowe’en, I want to share a few thoughts about Samhain, its relation to thin places, and how these thoughts may help us be better creative humans. You can read on, click the image link above and go to YouTube or scroll down and watch the video below.

I have always been interested in what lies beyond… what is unseen, unknown. What is perhaps erroneously called the supernatural. My interests are in the mystical, the magical, the theological, in gnostic thought, science fiction and science fact, and multiverses and quantum foam. That which can’t be seen. Perhaps best described as reality not yet fully understood.

I believe this is where my interest in the arts lies. The arts express feelings beyond words, beyond sound, beyond image, beyond reason. That’s why I lose myself creating music, journal pages and other arty-type stuff… or perhaps that is where I find myself?

I seek answers philosophically, scientifically and in faith. A paradox?

Some believe that certain times and certain places make seeing into the unknown easier, or even crossing from one side to the other. From beyond to here, from here to the beyond. Samhain is a thin time. The pop festival of Hallowe’en is a crass veneer to make money, belittle any spiritual dimension and promote the latest genre trend in horror.

Samhain and the later Christianised All Hallow’s Eve and All Souls’ Day are moments to think about ‘ends’ and those who have passed through the thin veil… and upon that which may be able to come the other way. It is the beginning of the dark time, and the long nights of winter lay ahead. Life becomes sparse, survival becomes scarce.

This is a time when life lets go.

Life and death inhabit different spaces, yet Samhain allows liminality.

It can be a metaphor for us. To let go, discard. Let what is no longer giving us life pass over, or let the clutter we have accumulated decompose. Yet, at the same time, that which has already passed can be used for guidance, wisdom and warning.

I’m not advocating celebrating death, demons and decay… what you do in your own creative journey is your choice. I’m just letting you know that especially at these thin times and thin places I think about those people, practices and possibilities. As I mentioned above, I am interested in that stuff.

May you let go of what is no longer needed and unburdened travel further.

Blessings


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: halloween, samhain, spirituality, thin places

The acts of creativity thing

July 4, 2022 by Darren 2 Comments

acts of creativity arc

So I might be doing a thing. If it is a thing it will be all about creating. Every day I am aiming to create something. It might be art, music, or some prose. I want to discover my ‘voice’ if there is such a thing, and one way to do that is to create and see where it takes me. I have several projects in need of work but I won’t limit myself to those. I don’t want to restrict the creative flow just see where it takes me. I don’t like restrictions they… well… restrict.

Today’s creative practice, or act, was the logo above. I used Adobe Illustrator and reminded myself how to subtract a shape from another shape. As you can see these acts of creativity don’t need to be too demanding or difficult. The only rule is to do something each day, an act, a practice, a ritual of creativity.

So if this does become a thing it will be a thing with minimal rules. The act doesn’t need to be completed. It could be 50 words, 100, one or two thousand. It might be a musical theme, a song or a soundtrack. It may be a page in my art journal. But I will create something… if this is a thing.

I have been in a creative rut for too long. I have spent too much time thinking about processes and lists and projects without actually doing anything creative. This thing is a way to get me out of the rut. Each day; an act of creativity.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: Ai, aoc, design, graphic

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