Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of ritasmeeta

July 16, 2009 – I was born and raised in Vancouver. I have lived here all my life, except for a year that I spent in Toronto for school. I love this city, and I know everything about it. Every nook and cranny, the atmosphere and environment. Nothing is a surprise anymore. The problem is that being too comfortable can be a bad thing.

When you’re too comfortable, it’s easy to become complacent. You settle into routines and, before you know it, a day is gone, a month is gone, a year is gone. As self help books will tell you, it’s tough to break out of a routine; humans are, by nature, very good at forming habits.

Creativity, on the other hand, is a very different beast from routine. Instead of following, creativity breaks out of conformity and presents something new and exciting. For the last couple years, I’ve felt creatively stagnant. It’s been hard to write music at all, not because of technical restraints necessarily, but from writer’s block. For me, the most difficult part about songwriting is getting the initial spark of an idea.

Once an idea has planted a seed in my head, it bears fruit rapidly. I can create entire tracks, fully mixed, in a few hours if a song idea is good. But these days, moments like that are few and far between. Putting one and one together, I’ve decided to plant myself in a totally new environment. The idea is, that if I’m totally uncomfortable and a fish out of water, I’ll break out of my routines, and more ideas will come to me.

I’m not sure it’ll work at all but I’ve been planning this for over a year, and I’m very excited to see what happens. In September, I will be moving to Osaka, Japan for two months. It’s not a vacation; it’s an extended stay that will allow me to absorb new sights and sounds, and feel what it’s like to live somewhere completely different from Vancouver. It’s not even just the language barrier, but it’s a cultural difference as well. I’m hoping that the experience will light the creative fire that will continue to burn even when I get back to Vancouver in November.

I’m definitely jumping into this endeavor headfirst, but you don’t have to make such drastic changes to spark renewed creativity. Simply going out to see new bands, or meet other like-minded individuals can make a difference. Heck, trying a new shampoo would probably affect you somehow. The point is that doing anything to break out of your routine can open your mind to new possibilities and attract new ideas. Good luck!