IFC S1 R38 entry - Motivation/Inspiration

This is my entry for the Season 1 Round 38 - Motivation/Inspiration Information Finding Championship by @apolymask and @ifc.

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In my line of work as a musician (and this probably applies to most creative fields), it can be quite draining to keep yourself motivated and inspired to create the best performance of music night after night, year upon year. In a good group or great project, this an easy thing to do, you can feed from the energy of the group and other performers, and this can make it easy to find your own energy and feed it back in return.

Inspire others by inspiring yourself

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However, the mark of a true professional and leader is not how you react when the going is perfect and easy, but how you react when times and situations are difficult.Perhaps the quality of the project is not up to the standards that you aspire to, perhaps the there is a difference of artistic vision or perhaps you are just in a foul mood! By being able to find your own energy to motivate and inspire yourself can you then lend that energy to lead and inspire others.

This is especially critical in the creative fields, as I see many musicians in various stages of development of their careers falling into the trap of disowning and distancing themselves from the art that they create. This begins as a little seed in an unimportant concert, where the low quality leads you to think that you can give less than required, and before you know it this cancer of not caring about your art has infected every facet of your playing.

Easier said than done! How does one find this magical mental kick in the arse?

The Trick?

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For every person the trick will be different, so I can only suggest the thing that seem to work for me, and then hope that some of it can be generalised to other people. Of course, as I'm a musician the specific ideas are musically based but again I'm sure that the base idea can be extended to any job and any situation!

I believe the trick to rescuing yourself from the pit of despair and non-engagement is just forcing yourself to look harder for the moments of magic and joy, the truly amazing things that are all around us in every situation, even the most mundane! It may be that in a difficult project that these things are small and fleeting, however they will always be there. Perhaps it is a momentary sublime turn of harmony, another colleague who hasn't succumbed to the dark side or maybe the composition itself (regardless of how it has been interpreted).

At the very least, you could find something that you enjoy in your own playing! A piece of passagework that is skillfully navigated with meaning, a beautiful moment of tone/silence or a previously unheard line! In non-musical terms, this would refer to a mastery of a technical/mechanical aspect, a moment of discovered meaningfulness or a unexpected discovery of connection/pattern.

The key (for me)

So, to sum up, I believe the key to motivation and inspiring yourself and therefore others is the joy of continual discovery!

I have the benefit/curse of not remembering pieces and performances after they are completed, so in many ways, it is easier for me to approach each new project as a new discovery. However, even if you have done something a million times, there is always something new to discover!

We knew that as children, we forgot as adults!

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