Not that anyone has asked, but the fact is I haven’t been been entering any shows or exhibitions, nor have I been making any new videos for some time. Heck. I haven’t created a new piece in months! Here’s why.

Blocked

Yup….blocked. I’ve had literally zero motivation to do any creative photography. That’s NOT to say I haven’t been shooting. I’ve been pretty busy doing paid gigs, but certainly not near enough to use that as an excuse for not doing any personal work or projects. Sadly, I just haven’t felt like it. I know, I know……other artists, myself included, would advise me to just get off my ass and shoot. The process alone will spark the creative juices and before long I’d be on my way to creative bliss. Well, I’ve tried that….many times. Each time I came away with mediocre results. I seem to have lost my MoJo. But I think I know why….

I’m A Drummer

No, this isn’t a lead-in to a joke….as in; “What has three legs and an asshole on top?” “A drum seat.”

I’ve played drums professionally my whole life. I won’t go into my bio here though. I’ll just say that after decades of playing gigs, I just got burnt out. I decided to walk away from it. that’s when I discovered photography…..something that seemed to spark that creative force inside of me like nothing else ever did except music and drumming. So for roughly 5 years I sorta obsessed over shooting like I used to over the drums.

I won’t bore y’all with the details. Bottom line is, I started getting some calls to do some gigs. After so many years of playing I had built up quite network of connections, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Well, I had so much fun playing again!! I mean, look….I’m good at it! Been doing it for so long it’s almost second nature. Whatever had caused me to walk away was gone…..and my desire to play the drums came crashing back like a tidal wave. I mean, I was shocked! I though that part of my life was over.

Cut To The Chase Will Ya?!!!!

Right. This has been an interesting experiment in a way. What attracted me to photography was the creative aspect. What ALWAYS attracted me to music was the same thing….the creative part. So here’s what I’ve concluded:

• The minute you decide to make a living at the thing you love to do creatively, the “creative” part becomes compromised. You wind up thinking about the person who’s paying you……and rightly so so cuz…..er…..they’re….you know…..PAYING YOU!!! But that means the free flow of creative ideas becomes secondary….and ultimately crushed, sorry to say.
• Creativity seems to be a finite thing…..and difficult, if not impossible….to apply to more than one creative endeavor. I’m pretty sure I am wrong about this. I do a good amount of reading about creativity, and the research doesn’t coincide with my previous assertion. Ultimately that is good news, because according to the research, being creative musically should ALSO fuel my creativity in photography!! Since that hasn’t happened…….
• You need enough TIME to BE creative! Bingo!! That’s my challenge; finding enough time to practice (drumming requires hours of practice), enough time to shoot, enough time to hatch creative ideas in BOTH areas, etc. The fact is I’m not yet disciplined enough to pull all that off.

What About You?

So there you have it. The reason I haven’t been shooting…..the reason I feel I’ve “lost my MoJo” photographically, is that I haven’t been able to devote enough time to BOTH music and photography. Right now I’m freelancing as a drummer, which is to say I’m playing in roughly 5 different bands, all of which require that I learn the music, and of course require that I bring my A Game to the gig….which means a lot of practicing. The sad truth is, I just don’t have the energy after that to pick up a caemra or launch Photoshop, or whatever. Still working on a way around that.

So that’s my excuse. What’s yours?