Dear friends,
Today, I’m excited to release the second instalment of my new project, featuring Kiefer Sutherland, vampires, and a vast old Berlin factory. Oh, and a man going half-crazy in pursuit of his creative muse!
In this video, I share my thoughts on initiating creative projects, along with documenting the process of writing the first song of this album cycle.
Here is how I’m approaching the project:
CORE PRINCIPLES
Give what I can’t find
Concentrate on process, not product
Create a weekly system for consistent, clear, creative results
I watch a lot of videos about creativity.
However, they are usually based on the “how to” approach.
Though helpful, they don’t raise my artistic fire.
What I miss is the process itself.
I want to witness it.
I want to feel it.
I want to learn from it.
I’ve spent 20 years figuring out my creative approach. My strange path has led me to explore music, film and photography - and laterally, newsletter writing and podcasting.
In that time, though, I’ve never shared what goes on in the creative process itself.
We guardrail this time because we are creating.
But there is another reason:
The process is demonic, challenging, beautiful, painful.
We experience stuckness, breakthroughs, inspiration and excruciating self-doubt.
And so I thought:
Let my foundation be the sharing itself.
It is a great premise for any project:
GIVE WHAT YOU CAN’T FIND
The effect on me?
Crazy with nerves.
Battling self-doubt.
Feeling Exposed.
Nerve wracked.
Motivated.
Driven to improve.
Blood up (hence “Vampires”).
These emotions create:
The energy needed to move forward.
With a new project, you are trying to explore a part of yourself you have not experienced before.
Why do people get stuck?
Because there is great comfort in what you know.
But artistic creation, like spiritual development, lies beyond the threshold of what you know.
You have to find the zeal in yourself and bring that out. What is it we are questing for? It is the fulfilment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfilment your gift to the world, which is yourself.
Joseph Campbell.
My journey at the start of the year has led me to:
THREE PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
My questions to myself:
What do I want to give?
What's the best delivery method?
How can I allocate the time to do it well?
Those choices are what informed my decision to try YouTube.
Ok, deep breath!
The platform is full of potential, enormously competitive and hugely challenging to gain traction.
I will give it a shot.
And share what I learn along the way.
For now, my challenge is to build consistency with it.
Thank you all for the support, everyone!
If you have a moment to comment on the video, it would be very appreciated.s
With love, Jim
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