The Muscian’s Way

Hello, fortheloveofQ-ers!

You may be forgiven for thinking I’d disappeared for good – but I’ve actually been head down, working through a 12-week course designed to cure creative block.  In November 2011, I bought a copy of Julia Cameron‘s The Artitist’s Way and I finally finished the course in mid February 2012.  (Yes, that’s a total of 12 weeks for the mathematicians among you…) 

In short, I can’t recommend this course highly enough.  I won’t go into detail but if you’ve ever struggled with creative block (whether it’s because you know what you want to do and don’t do it or whether it’s because you know you want to be more creative but can’t decide what that looks like) then this is the course for you.

The Artist’s way is a book that contains a series of exercises that help you to uncover the causes of your creative block, as well as the tools to figure out the ways in which you might like to express yourself creatively.  It all sounds a bit intense – and at moments, it really is – but the exercises are deceptively simple.  (If you are going to work through this course alone, rather than in company, though, I’d suggest having a supportive friend on call to help you through any of the more difficult revelations the course might bring to light.  Mental blocks, after all, often result from unhealed hurts we’ve yet to face).

I’ve come out of this course with a very much clearer sense of who I am and what I want to do.  Not only that but it had such a positive effect on me that it also helped to unblock my husband!    And on that note, I am pleased to reveal the result of our artistic unblockage.

Yes, people, after half a year of talking about what we wanted to achieve as a band, here is a link to Q’s first single release of 2012.  Click on the link below to view our first official music video:

If you like what you hear, you can download the track (free for a limited time only) from our website: http://www.qtheband.com/

Much love to you all and hope you’re having a happy and fulfiling 2012!

Nic Packett

P.S. Just to confuse you all further, I’ve actually just changed my name – via deed poll, in case you think I’m messing – to Esme Packett.  So that’ll be my sign-off in future posts… 

Important Appeal: Are You a Scanner? (i.e. too many interests Vs too much indecision?)

Being part of an artistic community of scanners finally gave Mona something to smile about!

I started this blog in June 2011 with the purpose of documenting my band’s efforts to make progress in our music career.

However, I have one overriding ‘problem’:

I like too many things. 

You see, I don’t just want to be in a rock band, with its cycle of writing, arranging, recording and gigging.  I don’t just want to improve my bass playing.  I also want to sing (backing and solo). 

I want to compose instrumental music on my synthesiser. 

I want to blog. 

I want to do creative writing (short stories or maybe even a novel). 

I want to act in a film. 

I want to do works of art using traditional craft techniques (embroidery, knitting). 

I want to draw. 

I want to travel and live in a sunny country. 

In my ‘free’ time, I like to read books on the social sciences and the nature of the universe.  I also find the natural world fascinating. 

And that’s just the stuff I can think of right now!  Who knows what else I want to do?!  There’s a whole big, wide world out there waiting to be discovered!

Now, if I didn’t have to earn a living and had all the time in the world, I might be able to all this stuff.  But how do I fit all these interests around a full-time job?

You see, conventional (or more specifically, ‘current’) thinking says I should pick one thing and stick at it until I’m really good at it and can make a decent income, so I can settle down and buy all the stuff to make my life as comfortable (and fashionable / socially acceptable) as possible, as well as demonstrate the level of success I’ve attained in my ‘chosen field’.

But I don’t want to CHOOSE A FIELD when there’s a WHOLE PLANET to explore!!!

At least, if you’re going to make me choose a field, let me first go on a WORLD TOUR so I can explore ALL the fields out and make an informed choice!

Do you recognize this thinking – in you or someone you know?  Then you (or the person in question) might be a ‘scanner’.

Scanners are pretty misunderstood people.

To more conventional people, scanners might appear to be flaky, indecisive, undisciplined or lacking in commitment.  (Or just a little overenthusiastic and immature).

You see, scanners are people with many interests – but what sets them apart is their inability to choose between their interests.  If a scanner is forced to choose one of her many interests – to the exclusion of the others – she becomes anxious about all the other interests that are left out of the equation.  She doesn’t feel complete when only focusing on one thing.

Now, this is not about people who can’t choose because they’re depressed.  (Although a scanner’s frustration at her dilemma could possibly lead to frustration, isolation and depression).  Neither is it about people who can’t choose because they haven’t yet worked out what interests them.  This is an identity issue. 

A scanner will not feel ‘right’ or ‘himself’ if he is not able to pursue his many interests.  Whenever he excludes some (or all) of his interests, he will feel that he is excluding some (or all) of himself.

You see, a scanner is NOT MEANT TO CHOOSE.  A scanner is, by nature, meant to be free to explore his many interests.

Is this a challenge in our specialist-obsessed society?  Yes!  But the cost of ignoring who you are is MUCH GREATER than seemingly taking ‘the long way round’.  (Oh, and just in case you think that being a scanner is too indulgent – a kind of excuse for unfocused dilettantism, some of the greatest achievers of all time have been scanners.  Anyone heard of Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin?)

Rather than being lazy, scanners are the most intellectually curious of people.  To the unfettered scanner, the world is a place of endless fascination.  The trouble is, too many scanners have become frustrated and isolated because neither they, nor those around them, understand their nature.  To the highly specialized folk, scanners might look unfocused.  To the less intellectually curious, scanners might just look plain nosey!

There ARE ways a scanner can better organise her life to fit in her many interests.  However, if she tries to ‘go the conventional route’ and focus on only one thing, she will only be miserable and ‘out of sorts’.  (Believe me, my experience is speaking here).

The Important Appeal Part

I realise that I’ve been living in isolation for too long.  Ooh, nothing like baring your soul in the deep, dark and dangerous recesses of cyberspace.  (And, no, I haven’t been holed up like a hermit in the Appalachian mountains – I just haven’t been associating with fellow-scanners!)

For too long I’ve been doing a ‘reasonable’ impression of being a specialist.  (I’m an executive PA in a media company so, to some, that might look suspiciously like a conventional career path.  And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I don’t want to get ‘locked in’ to the conventional career path mentality that means I have to mindlessly continue scaling the career ladder, regardless of whether it suits my nature or desired lifestyle.  At some stage, I may want to get off the ladder altogether and, when that day comes, I want to be surrounded by people who celebrate my choice rather than chide me for lacking commitment or stickability!)

The trouble is, most of the people that surround me on a daily basis do not share my values, interests or nature.  And this isn’t just my work colleagues.  Even a lot of my friends, while sympathetic and understanding, do not share this need to do quite so many things at once.  (I’m sure some of them think I’m slightly barking).

The reality is, If I share my aims with the majority of people in my life, at best I get a kind of ‘generous’ smile (i.e. if that’s what makes you happy, dear, go for it) or, at worst, I get a kind of cold look that says “And you’re wasting your time on that project for what reason..?”

You see, conventional people are happy for you to have ‘hobbies’ but when your interests start to overflow beyond the realm of hobby into something that starts to look altogether more intense or time / money-consuming, conventional people start to get uneasy at your ‘wastefulness’.  I mean, if it’s not generating income after, one, two or however many years, why are you doing it??!!

I’m not kidding here, I told someone at work that I was drawing a comic strip just as a kind of creative project and he basically looked at me like I was some kind of nutcase and said, “And, what, you’re not getting paid to do it?!”

And the only other alternative to this money-obsessive attitude seems to be to have no ambitions whatsoever and to go and live in the middle of nowhere, settle down and just enjoy a simple, family life.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with this either – but what if either extreme doesn’t appeal?

What I want to know is:

WHEN DID IT BECOME A CRIME TO DO SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE YOU ENJOY DOING IT?!

The psychologists have a nice term for the doing something for the love of it.  It’s called intrinsic motivation.

Apparently, it’s a great thing to have when you’re in kindergarten but, somehow, when you’re grown up, you’ve got to get ’responsible’ and have a real (and, usually, serious and boring) reason to do things!

Bullsh!t

(Apologies: but this attitude makes me REALLY mad.  CAN YOU TELL?!)

The truth is, it’s VITALLY IMPORTANT to do (at least some) things just because you love them – and it’s EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to follow your intrinsic motivation if you’re a scanner.

Anyway, I’m getting off track here, so I’ll pull myself together and move on…

So here’s the appeal.  (Drumroll, please…)

Are there any artistic scanners out there..?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’M LOOKING FOR ARTISTIC SCANNERS!

1. IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HAS A VARIETY OF INTERESTS IN ANY OF THE CREATIVE OR PERFORMING ARTS (SO THAT’S MUSIC, ART AND CRAFTS, CREATIVE WRITING, DRAMA, DANCE) AND
2. IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW STRUGGLES WITH THE NEED TO TRY AND BALANCE YOUR ARTISTIC INTERESTS WITH THE NEED TO EARN A LIVING…

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!  (And, while you’re at it, tell me what your biggest challenge has been).

I’M LOOKING TO GATHER A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO:

• HANG AROUND FELLOW ARTISTIC PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THEIR NEED TO PURSUE MANY CREATIVE INTERESTS (WETHER THEY HAVE DEVELOPED THEIR ARTISTIC SKILLS IN THESE AREAS OR NOT) AND / OR
• WHO WANT TO HELP EACH OTHER ACHIEVE THE CREATIVE GOALS / PROJECTS  /  LIFESTYLE THAT WORKS FOR THEM

Ideally I’d like to do this face-to-face but Skype is definitely an option if you’re not London (UK) based.

So, if this speaks to you, get in touch.  And if it sounds like someone you know, share this post with them.  (If they are a scanner living in isolation, you may well be throwing them a lifeline)!

In the meantime, if you or any scanner you know wants to do a bit more reading about this personality type, check out Barbara Sher’s amazing book, Refuse to Choose.  (Barbara is the first person to use the term ‘scanner’ in relation to personality type.  And reading this book, for me, was like coming out of the closet!)

I’ll probably be working through some of the ideas in Barbara’s book - with a focus on the ARTISTIC PERSONALITY (as that, my friends, is what God gave me!) 

If you’d like to subscribe to the blog to hear more about the joys and challenges of being an artistic scanner, please type your email address in the “Follow this blog” box at the bottom of this post.

All the best,

Nic

P.S. If you’re wondering what’s happened to my Mini-Creation idea, I haven’t forgotten about it – because I think little creative projects is the best way for people to unblock their creativity.  However, I’m currently focusing on gathering together a bunch of artistic scanners because I no longer want to try to do everything by myself. (And I can’t just rely on my Q bandmates to be my only means of support).

So there you have it!  x

All about Movember

Hey, talk to the TASH, man!!!

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned the sudden approach of autumn, which always reminds me of being back at primary school at the beginning of a new school year.  However, in recent years, a new phenomenon has overtaken the grey days of November…

MOVEMBER!

Yes, all around us, moustaches have been sprouting in the damp autumn like tantalising truffles (or prickly pears, dependent on your point of view!) all in the name of raising money for charity and raising awareness of men’s health. 

If you’ve missed the boat or are unable to grow a moustache yourself, feel free to sponsor J’s fundraising efforts for Cancer Research.  So far he’s raised £90 of his £200 target.  (His whole office were meant to be taking part but he was only one who followed through.  There’s a moral in there somewhere but I’m too tired to find it!) 

Talking of ‘morals’, I promised I’d also finish my mini creation from my last challenge – so here it is in all it’s splendour (a comic strip related to Q).

Meet Lenny & Larry

When Lenny Met Larry...

First I sketched this out in pencil, then pen, then I coloured it in Photoshop, which was another steep learning curve, as I’m new to that program!  (Yes, so far my colouring skills have been limited to Microsoft Paint). 

And, before you ask, yes I do rehearse in my lion slippers (and yes I have named them Larry and Lenny).

It was great seeing my ideas take shape and I may well give Larry and Lenny another comic strip outing.  (I think I may have a secret hankering to be a comic artist, which was awoken in me when this summer I happened to wander into a very cool comic shop, Gosh Comics, in Soho). 

Actually, this has been the most useful part of the Mini-Creation project.  It’s been a really great way of finding out interests I’ve forgotten about, discovering new ones, as well as learning new skills.  Even though I won’t be able to continue at this pace of a new Mini Creation each week, it’s been an invaluable experience for me so I really encourage you to try it out, especially if you can get a few friends to take part too.

We’re notoriously bad at keeping track of and making time for our interests, probably largely because we’re taught to think of them as ‘frivolous’ or ‘unimportant’. 

Personally, I think trivialising the things that we love ‘just because’ is one of the biggest mistakes we make as adults – and possibly, where a lot of us start to lose our way.  We need to value and nurture the qualities that make us unique – not just the ones that pay bills or provide for others.

If I’m nagging, it’s only because I care! x

All the best,

Nic

P.S. In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted recently – or finished my last Mini-Creation (of a new bassline), I’ve actually been ill.  Ask my bosses!  I even managed a short stint at A&E (that’s ER to my American audience) on Sunday morning.  Thankfully it was nothing too serious but I’ve been taking it easy for a while, as my day job’s pretty hectic and I don’t want to burn myself out.  Love to you all.

 

Mini Creation Update: The Importance of Comic Timing

Hello, fortheloveofQ-ers, I hope you’re well!  (I know you’re not ‘supposed’ to do greetings in blog posts – but I can’t help it! x) 

My Mini Creation for this week was to do a comic-style drawing related to my band, Q.  I managed to spend a couple of lunchtimes at work this week, designing and sketching out the comic strip.  (Yes, I decided one picture wasn’t enough and I actually preferred a little storyline). 

I fully intended (now you know what’s coming..!) to finish off the drawing yesterday evening with ink and maybe a bit of colour – but “life intervened” and it just didn’t happen.  But as I said when I launched my weekly Mini Creation project, the idea is not to add another guilt-inducing task to your already busy week but to try out new things and have a bit of creative fun.  So, rather than stress about it, I’ll finish it off at the weekend and post it up early next week.  ‘X’ marks the spot where I’ll attach the picture:

Feedback

While I admit I’ve found it challenging fitting in the weekly Mini Creation, it’s been a really positive experience trying out new skills and doing something outside of the usual routine.  It’s also been a great way to find out about myself (my interests and possibly untapped skills I’d like to develop a bit more) where I’ve got a bit stuck in a rut. 

 

Give it a try yourself if you feel life has got a little stale!  Better still, try this out with a few friends and get a little “Creative Juices” group going… 

 

Anyway, that’s enough for now.  I’ll be back next week to post you the results. 

 

Next week’s mini creation: 

 

to learn a new bassline (possibly 15 Step by Radiohead - I’ll let you know!)    (This one’s designed to be a bit of a stre-e-e-tch).

 

Thought I’d better do something bass-related, as I’m getting a bit out of practice.

:-/

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Nic

 

Molly was suitably unimpressed with Nic Packett's "The dog ate my homework" excuse.

The Freedom of Being In a Band

Today, I’m going to leave aside the usual ‘deep and meaningful’ post about dream-pursuing and just share with my few but highly valued readers the kind of day I’ve had.  (Yes, I know I’ve entitled this post “The Freedom of Being In a Band”.  I’ll get to that, I promise!) 

Today was the kind of grey autumn day that always reminds me of sitting, legs crossed, on the scratchy navy, carpet, listening (or not) to the teacher in the first few weeks of primary school, after the sprawling summer holiday had finally ended.  The summer sun (or what we get of it in this country!) had started to fade out of memory, hanging low and peeping only momentarily through the clouds before coyly scampering out of sight.  The work at hand seemed more pressing and less inspiring now the long days of summer were over, to be replaced only by the staccato-short, cold and dark days of the approaching winter.  Only the distant prospect of Christmas offered any consolation to me in the impending gloom of… the autumn term. 

So what did I do on such an uninspring day?  (Apart from getting on with my work, like the good executive PA that I am!) 

I thought of stupid stunts Q could do in our monthly newsletter videos.  (Anyone for rollerblading down a hill while simultaneously playing the bass?  Oh yes I will!  I just need to get some skates and learn how to stay upright…) 

And this is why I love being in a band! 

Mini Creation Update: The Therapeutic Power of Poetry

This week, my mini-creation idea tested me to the limit.

I’d set myself the task of writing a tongue-in-cheek poem about my rather lovely bass guitar strap, which I have affectionately named Roadie, because – like a roadie, it carries the weight of my bass – but also because it looks ever so slightly like road kill:

Roadie: a bass player's best friend!

To be honest, I really thought I was going for the easy option here, as there was no technical stuff to get my head around, no messy glue or glitter or any other paraphernalia to deal with.  The only trouble with writing a tongue-in-cheek poem, though, is that you kind of need to be in a tongue-in-cheek mood and, this week, I’ve been about as far away from lighthearted as you can possibly get (before actually throwing yourself off a balcony).

Not to go into too much detail, a few recent disappointments with people have made me realise that I need to extend my circle of friends a little further so I’m not overly dependent on any one person.  (I’m thinking of starting up a kind of fortnightly friends’ ‘hangout’ for any of J’s and my friends who want to pitch up at home and chill out on a Friday night.  The other idea, which I mentioned in my last post, is to start up a kind of goal achievement group – online or face-to-face - where people can get together, share their goals, chart their progress, brainstorm and set their goals for the following fortnight). 

So what mini creation did I do in the end?

Want to Escape from the Lone Wolf Syndrome?

Geoff hoped his ultimate Halloween party would be a howling success!

Yesterday was a disappointing day. 

It was one of those days when everything seemed to conspire against me to bring me down.  It was in this kind of ‘funk’ (what an abuse of such a cool word!) that I found myself desperately scratching my head, wondering what to post about, especially as I’ve promised myself to post more often. 

I was acutely aware that I lacked inspiration – and I definitely didn’t want to bore anyone with a jaded rant (no, actually, I couldn’t muster the energy for a rant even if I’d wanted to).  At the same time, I didn’t want to be one of those ‘fake happy’ (i.e. neurotic) types, who pretends that the world just accommodates their every whim and opines, ”If you, reader, follow this magic formula, you too will experience unbridled success and everlasting happiness…”

Bah, humbug!

In the end, I got home from work, watched the dumbest (but funniest) movie I could find, did a bit of bass practice (I’m still working on my pick technique!), had a bath and went to bed.  Tomorrow is another day.

So what’s this post about?

Yesterday’s disappointment made me realise something important:

We need like-minded friends to help us to achieve our dreams.

Mini Creation Update: More Than a Sum of Its Parts

Wow.  It’s been a long and busy week – and if I was looking for an excuse not to do this week’s mini creation, I had it.  (Long working hours?  Check.  Stressy boss?  Check.  Transport problems?  Check.  Pulled neck muscle?  Check.  Falling asleep and waking up the next morning with teeth bleaching trays in that I’m only meant to wear for 1 hour?  Check!) 

It’s a good thing I wasn’t looking for an excuse, then!  :-/

Actually, despite all the hassles I’ve had, I’m still finding that having a creative focus for my week makes me feel more in tune with myself. 

Think about it: a lot of the stuff we do in life is because we have to – even if it is for our own benefit.  And while I haven’t been flooded with warm, fluffy ‘creative me-time’ type feelings this week, making the effort to do something outside of the usual routine – something that I have chosen not because it’s “practical” or “important” but simply because it’s fun or interesting - seems to fill my life with more purpose.  Quite literally, I’m filling my life with more of me.

So what am I saying here?

The mini-creation doesn’t just inject more meaning and fulfilment into the part of the week it takes me to complete it.  Instead,  I feel the effects of it bubbling away in my subconscious throughout much of the week.  And somehow, the things (people!) who used to irritate me just don’t seem quite as prominent anymore.  In some ways, I feel a bit calmer, a bit more centred and a bit more connected. 

Progress Report – “Finish and Record a Song”

Honey, I just shrunk the dream (but expanded my vision)!

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...

When I first started this blog, in June of 2011, I was in a very intense phase of our band’s existence.  We’d not long decided we wanted to remain a band, even though we hadn’t been playing for aaages!  We’d gone for the ‘BIG DREAM’ and worn ourselves out with all the trying (buying the music gear, setting up and designing website, gigging around London, networking and sending our demos to people in the music industry, etc.  We’d had a few near misses – people with music industry experience and managment / label contacts who genuinely liked our stuff and recommended it to industry-insiders – but it just never came to anything.  In the end, the desperation almost killed us and it certainly didn’t help that, as well as being in the band together, J and I were a married couple with financial pressures, who both hated our day jobs, at the same time as trying to pursue THE BIG RECORD DEAL IN THE SKY).

So, when Q had a band meeting in our front garden this summer and decided we still wanted to stay together - after all the arguments and tensions in rehearsals (mainly between J and me!), all the niggling frustrations at people not pulling their weight, all the stresses of finding and retaining bass players, and all the disappointment of busting our keisters and not getting anywhere - it was a BIG DEAL.

Mini Creation Update – New FTLOQ Blog Logo

In my last post, “Stressed? Stuck in a Rut? Read This“,  I talked about how a healthy dose of perspective, served up with a delightful dollop of creativity can help us overcome stress (by having FUN!), as well as build confidence, develop new skills, new ideas and even new relationships. 

As part of that post, I volunteered to become your personal guinea pig  (I didn’t use the guinea pig analogy in the actual post because I’d already mentioned hamsters – and I didn’t want you to think I was obsessed with cute, small, furry creatures.  Ahhh… small, furry creatures…)

I'm not a pig and I'm not from Guinea... No wonder I have an identity crisis!

We're cute AND furry multi-taskers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough already!!  Stop getting distracted and get back to the brief!!