Upon further investigation (a reading session with some friends) I better understand what makes music-making so elusive and challenging. The pithiness inside yourself I referred to earlier sustains you in the midst of creating the music. One can so easily cave in on oneself if not for that support system. The richness of the music, the grandeur and beauty, must be counterbalanced by whatever one might experience in the daylight of real life.

The thing is you cannot substitute will power or intellectualization for life experience. That is the temptation, because it seems so much more efficient. However, the more time-consuming path of making my life enriching will actually accomplish what I need. And in the end it will be quicker. I won’t keep going in circles, for one thing.

originally published on 6/11/07