My life is on shuffle, and so are my listening and writing habits.
It should be simple to choose an album and listen to it throughout the day. Well, that part may be easy, but pressing play is really about following the stream of discovery and reflection toward sitting down to write. The listening and the writing parts are not so easy. My progress reflects my ongoing struggle between experiencing life and recording it and my resistance to commit to goals.
I have heard that the secret to achieving a goal is to write it down and to review it every day. I know this goal is here; I posted it on January 1. Perhaps another crucial goal is to weave this project into my life, along with walking the dog, making lunches, getting to school and to work, washing dishes, enjoying family time.
Listening to the music can be a social act. I can think about the songs and the lyrics and have conversations about them. Sitting down to write, allowing the words to come, the craft is quiet and solitary, and those moments are scarce.
That is why I love social media and being a curator. I am reading about the artists and albums I listen to. It is quicker to post a link to a great article by a talented music writer–and a short comment of my own–than to learn to become a music writer and drag readers along with me.
Instead of blogging, I have posted comments on several albums on Facebook and Spotify–David Bowie, Angelfish, Toadies are a few, along with some promising artists that have yet to release an entire album (Mini Mansions, Waterslider).
This past week has been a mess–on shuffle, which is the opposite of this project’s “ground rules”–searching for an appropriate selection for Martin Luther King Day (Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs), and a new release on Tuesday (Sleater-Kinney, or Fallout Boy, or Marilyn Manson [kidding!], or…), and false starts (Bjork, Belle & Sebastian).
It may not be pretty; the process rarely is. Just focus on the music; that is where the treasure lies.
Sandy Lashin-Curewitz 