Gina Trapani is the founder and a writer for a blog that I follow called Lifehacker. At the beginning of the year, she blogged about a wonderful little ebook called What Matter Now from which I have received a number of thoughtful pieces of advice. I’d like to share one of these little tidbits with you at the beginning of every week for a few months in hopes that they might be a help to you as you live, teach, or compose.
Lesson #1 Passion: (Page 51)
This is obviously great advice for a young person or student. But, if you can’t think of how this might apply to your life as a composer, then I’ll share how it has spoken to me of late.
I almost always write with a purpose. I like to have something to write about musically, so I am always brainstorming about new ideas. I find that though I can write decently for assignments given to me, my most creative writing comes when I write about that which I am passionate. I have found that “finding my passion” is not some abstract, difficult thing to do, but rather just finding out what excites me and places me in a state of wonder or fascination. I like that Derek defines passion as that which excites you and scares you every day! This is not always obvious to me, but when I search with those criteria, I almost always find something to write about and usually with good results.
#1 by Elissa Milne - February 1st, 2010 at 18:54
Wendy, I LOVE visiting your blog – there is always something to inspire, and today very specifically so…. Thank you!