It was a hot spring in 2020 and I spent most of the days outside with my guitar working on the first song I wrote for the EP, ‘Ain’t That Just The Way.’ Something about being in an open space, in our back field and under the trees was very serene and it didn’t feel like I was forcing anything in my writing. I would work all day on the music and on improving my guitar playing, and as the evenings got longer, I got into a routine of going out for a walk at sunset until after dark. This was soon a central part of my creative process as it became a time of processing ideas and developments of the day, as well as winding down and re-grounding myself. I’d often get frustrated after plugging away at a verse for hours with seemly few results, or get stuck in a rut with a melody or transition between different sections of a song. Sometimes it was like my mind had siezed up into a knot and the work stopped being constructive. The walks would unravel the stress and were a way through which I regained a sense of connection to the present moment.
I found that connection is vital for creativity, as when you’re fully inside the present moment you make headspace for ideas and inspiration. I spent (and still spend) too much time away from the present, preoccupied either by something in the past or future. The sense of rootedness I found over lockdown which turned out to be central to my creativity has changed the way I think about many things and now I’m able to catch myself and re-enter the present moment.
Doing this also means that the day’s work, or any part of a recent songwriting session, drops out of our conscious mind for however long we spend in that space. I would often find that on returning home at night I had found the solution to something I’d been chipping away at all day. It was always an ‘I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before’ kind of moment. A lot of processing must have gone on during that time of being completely present. When I got back to London and no and I found that stepping back can sometimes be the best thing I can do for creativity, although it may seem counter-intuitive.
I found it very hard, and often still do, to stop what I’m doing when something is unsolved and to commit to leaving it for a while. But I’ve learned that nothing good has ever come from a place of frustration and of ‘not getting it right.’ I can now recognise that headspace and know to step away. As wrong as it may feel to leave something unanswered, there’s never been a time that I haven’t been glad I did. Now, when I get frustrated and feel like I’ve reached a brick wall, I’ll stop what I’m doing. Go for a walk maybe, (that’s still my favourite way of grounding and processing) or anything that brings my focus back to now. Then, when I come back to the work, it’s with a clear mind and regained perspective.
