Inspired by Everything!
Hello reader! Given the length of last week's blog post, I think I'm going to keep this one relatively short.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am currently working a full-time job; a position which demands my attention forty hours a week. That number may seem like a lot to some of my peers, yet when you take into consideration how much time I used to spend in class, studying, doing homework, working part time, and somehow still trying to fit in music and sleep, well a single forty-hour-a-week job doesn't sound all too bad. What I mean by that, is that I basically spend the same amount of time working as I did before I graduated college, but the nature of the work has changed, and the quantity of formal commitments I have to focus on has been drastically reduced to what is essentially now, one.
I still work on my music any time I get the chance. That definitely hasn't changed. In fact, in some ways I feel I have more time to do so. Moreover, I feel no guilt about doing so outside of work hours, because I no longer have the sense of "well, I could be doing that assignment right now," or "is there something due soon that I have completely forgotten about?" For the most part, when work is over, work is over and I can be as productive or unproductive as I want.
More currently in my life, I feel like I have been more continuously inspired than I have in a long time, and I think the changes in my life have something to do with it. As I mentioned, before I graduated, I had several responsibilities which were compartmentalized into their own slice of my identity pie. In the process of keeping track of all these items, I had a harder time slowing down both to consume media and art, or to simply observe my surrounding environment. I suspect this was the main reason that I found myself lacking external inspiration. Actually, it was more like I didn't know I was lacking external inspiration until my daily routine and responsibilities changed I started receiving it on the regular. And let me just say, it feels pretty great. Being in a situation where most of my identity pie is now made up of my job can be both a blessing and a curse, but I've been enjoying one major benefit, which is the fact that I find that I am more present in general due to the near removal of the distraction created by the looming sense of "alright, what am I forgetting?!"
Being more present and more mindful I think is what has caused me to become more inspired by things. I continue to be more inspired by art, but perhaps the most amazing feeling I've experienced lately has come from the fact that I find myself more and more consistently inspired by nothing more than my surroundings! By simply looking around, being present, and fully experiencing the moment, I start to develop ideas and an overwhelming desire to create and build upon those ideas. The hard part it seems, is fully developing and executing those ideas. Perhaps I will use the next blog post as an opportunity to share my thoughts on being self-critical, and why that shouldn't keep you from creating (though I must say, I'm quite hypocritical in this regard.) Until next time...thanks for reading.
All the best,
Brayden