When you work creatively as many of us do, some ideas just take off and fly as if they have a mind of their own.I often find myself surprised at what works and what doesn't. With some creative projects we can struggle for years and nothing seems to come of them. Then out of the blue a late flowering emerges.
May be it's a matter of luck. Or perhaps just the 'right idea - right time'. Intuition tells us one thing - logic tells us another. Intuitives might say, of the idea which has 'failed', "well, perhaps it was meant to happen that way". Interestingly, when the idea 'succeeds', we hear ourselves also say "well, perhaps it was meant to happen that way". Placing retrospective meaning on the achievement (or lack of it) doesn't , for me, provide me with much assistance for ensuring future success. We can always see what was meant to happen afterthe event but wouldn't it be great if we could also see what wasmeant to happen before the event.
So is there a secret to knowing what might make something more likely to work? Maybe there are those amongst us who have a 'spell' which, if not guarantees success, makes it more likely. If however Iwere a wizard who could make up that spell I think I would look no further than within our own knowledge of sound to find something of that 'magic'.
Maybe Lyz Cooper points at something magical in her article 'Personal Process and Sound' where she points at the releasingof "joy, anger, sadness and other emotions as the sound resonates through the system" - in other words, part of the magic formula includes a clearing which needs to take place. Lisa Rafel refers to sound and music fuelling and altering our emotional states. This is the ability we have through the use of sound to choose the most appropriate state for us to be. 'Being Connected' is an important element emphasised in Katie Rose's article 'Circles of Unity and Diversity'. Sound and music events make community. At the heart of true community there is a space where, despite our diversity, we are 'all one'. We find that space when we are truly connected in sound.
From my own field of research we know that within a group free improvisation where our intuition is fulfilling its expression our group sound enterprise becomes much more than the sum of its parts. It's as if the group has an unconscious and intuitive vision of the music. What's even more significant is that the more we do it the more we know we will succeed. It's as if, with the right underlying preconditions, we know we will succeed whatever materialises within the moment-by-moment sound tapestry.
What seems to emerge collectively from our sound world is a message which says, to succeed you need to:
- Release and let go of past suffering.
- Choose new and more positive beliefs about yourself.
- Manage your emotional state - you are not a victim of circumstance.
- Allow yourself to 'fail' - in this experience you instead experience new material - so be open to 'failure' - it's a good source of ideas and invention
- Become connected, stay connected, and get involved in Community
- Find opportunities to connect to that 'special space.'
- Trust the process of life and know that you will succeed.
- Create & Maintain Your Vision
- Be consistent and persistent - keep on going & trust.
From within this process, place your creativity and let it ferment. Let the ideas digest within this rich series of enlightened experiences. Nothing is wasted. Some ideas will rise to the top and then fly.
Become involved - Get connected - Just keep going.
Andrew Hodges
