Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Maintenance.

"Wow! How long has it been since I've written?"  I ask myself.  And thus, the subject of this post is... maintenance.

Like 'Zen and the Art of...', maintenance is one of those little things that, to a creative person, often seems to interrupt the flow of creativity. For example, I hate updating my own website.  I feel dumb when I write descriptions of my own music shows trying to make it sound like something people should go to.  I forget small details to making posts and get annoyed when it doesn't come out right.  Thus, I am way behind most of the time on doing it.  I would rather be writing songs.

Also, I hate changing guitar strings.  It's tedious, and takes forever.  It hurts my fingers to twist it around the little things just right. However, they get old.  They don't sound good. There is a certain little ritual I have to changing my strings where I run my fingers along them to warm up the string, and stretch it out manually a little bit before putting it on the guitar, so that they do not go out of tune as much (a little trick I learned early on from my friend Brian Kehew). If I never changed the strings, they would eventually break, probably at a very inopportune time, like in the middle of a song, live.

I currently have a pile of laundry towering next to my bed.  I have way gone through my mismatched socks, onto those pieces of fabrics vaguely resembling a sock, or opting for sandals.  Favorite T-shirts are way at the bottom of the laundry bag, along with a pair of very dirty/ muddy jeans I wore at a rainy music festival all weekend.  I found my last pair of clean fancy uncomfortable underwear today, in the bottom of the drawer, and I don't like going commando, so the laundry is going to HAVE to be done tomorrow.  I keep waking up dissatisfied that I need to get into the formal clothes collection when it's humid and 90 degrees out.  Why don't I do the laundry?? (I am, tomorrow!)

I have a list of phone calls to make, dumb issues to attend to, and groceries to buy so that I'll quit ordering takeout.  I need my bangs trimmed, my teeth checked, and my glasses readjusted.

All of these things take away from my time doing what I want to be doing, I tell myself.  "But I have to be somewhere... I want to decompress... I want to have some fun!... I need some time to chill out!... I can't get it all done before I need to be somewhere else!"

But actually, if these things were done, I would be a more well-oiled machine.  I could make a sandwich while I'm writing instead of have to take a half hour to walk to the deli to have them make me one (even though theirs taste better, sure!).  I could wear matching socks with the outfit of my choice tomorrow, instead of wearing sandals to the laundromat in my dorky shorts cause the rest are dirty. I could, maybe even allow some time to tackle NEW goals/ ideas that have been brewing. Like working on my next video... which keeps falllllllling byyyyy the wayyyyyysiiiiiidddddde....

Point is, certain tasks are not fun.  It's why people hire personal assistants, to have other people do their dumb shit for them.  I've been that person.  It's no more fun really when you're getting a paycheck for doing them, but it's even less fun when you're not getting a paycheck for doing that shit.  But... I was discussing with a friend today, there is a certain satisfaction on a deeper level in taking care of these tiny annoying issues that linger. Changing the lightbulb.  Dusting the bookshelf.  There is a certain satisfaction in... simplicity.  Putting in a little time to have things run more smoothly. Being clearheaded, and peaceful that the chi in your life will continue to flow...

If you change your oil, you can go alot further.  What in your creative life needs an oil change?
Maybe your equipment/ gear needs an update?  Maybe you need to clean your paintbrushes?  Drop one night going out the local bar in order to take a guitar class?

It's those little things that can build up and get really frustrating, but equally, can make the creativity flow alot easier.


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