Getting Into A Creative Habit

Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Blog Post 1 - Getting Into A Creative Habit

This semester is especially stressful for me for a wide variety of reasons. For one, I find myself as the lead in the South Bend Civic Theatre's production of In The Heights, which is already taking about 12 hours of my week right now and even more once we start performing, but I'm also responsible for composing over 30 songs this semester for a very important musical I'm writing. On top of that, I'm trying to maintain good grades in my classes (all of which I'm finding difficult), and as I'm typing this I am currently waiting to see if I get a callback on another production I auditioned for. If there's anything I need to be able to do, it's get into a creative habit that is efficient and easy, as all that is important to me right now involves creativity.

Slowly but surely I think I'm getting into my own creative habit like the ones Tharp mentions. I sit at the piano in the chapel of my dorm and do a cover of a random pop song that is either fun to sing or stuck in my head. This causes me to automatically warm my voice, my mind, and my fingers up all at the same time. This is my ritual. After this, I open up my notes for the song I need to compose and then I start fiddling with words and medleys until something catchy sticks. Many times I will just write words, the essential message the song is trying to convey, whether they rhyme or not, and then focus on making the rhymes later.

The only problem is that I still haven't implemented this as a fully fledged habit in my semester so far. I need to be more disciplined and consistent, and hopefully sooner than later will I find my rhythm and get my creative ball rolling steadily.

Comments

  1. jdoutJanuary 24, 2018 at 9:05 AM

    Sounds to me like you are making excellent progress on various levels, Jorge! As we say in French, "bonne continuation!" If I were you, I would get a nice big calendar to write all the deadlines on, and start making weekly lists of the most important things to do (long-term) and urgent tasks (short-term), and just keep on going. Limit input, as Tharp says, and do what needs to be done.
    From my experience, I'd say that the main things are: to remain focused, to trust yourself, and to consider saying "No" now and then. Or even withdrawing from one of those commitments, if it feels too stressful. You have the right to change your mind, after all!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thing 11, Foreign Aid, Paternalism, and Africa

In class yesterday something very interesting was stated by either Ashley, Manuel, or Professor Douthwaite Viglione on the topic of foreign aid and how it is actually harmful to some developing nations. Thing 11 (Africa is not destined for underdevelopment) piqued my interest because this topic comes up so much when discussing global development. The greatest issue with how the media portrays foreign aid and the "wonderful" picture that they paint of poverty is that it is not a complete depiction of what the issue actually is. The issue of poverty is far too complex to mark it as something clear-cut, or “black or white” that can be solved systematically with a “quick fix” such as volunteers coming in and heroically fixing every issue that plagues a country. Social problems are not "one-time" issues to be conquered and that's that, rather they are often cyclical and reoccuring. So when celebrities travel to these countries and show videos of the barren land and...
Read more

A tie in to my art talk and sending out hopeful messages

María Mendoza - Blog post 1 Last week during my art talk, I really wanted to emphasize the point that there is a lot of social commentary that can be made through various forms of art. In particular, we see contemporary art as a great medium for expressing ideas because it is so recent and relatable to most people. Difficult and uncomfortable topics can be discussed more readily through art, which I believe is essential to its existence. Besides appreciating the beauty of a work, one must also take into consideration the message the artist was trying to convey. Often, artists wish to tell the audience something through their masterpieces.          Art in itself is very powerful and important because of its power of persuasion and ability to send out hopeful messages (though not all art will portray the same message – that all depends on the artist). But to that point, I think all art will have some sort of purpose. Just thin...
Read more

Billet de 20 francs-- Debussy

Image
Billet de 20 francs Debussy Ashley Lo The bill I received was created by the Bank of France in 1980. It came into circulation in October 1981 and, as the Franc currency was replaced by Euros in 2002, it too went out of circulation.  Created by the painter Marcel Baschet, , this note depicts a portrait of Claude Debussy, famous French composer, with a turbulent scenery of the sea in the background that echos with Debussy’s “La Mer.” Debussy was one of the most prominent Impressionist composers. He was made “Chevalier of the Legion of Honor” in 1903 . Some of Debussy’s most famous works include “Clair De Lune,” “Reflets dans l’eau” and “Arabesque No.1.”   In reality, Debussy indulged in luxurious life and often spent more than he earned,   It’s quite interesting that, Debussy, who was at one point over 42,000 Francs in debt to Durand, his publisher, then becomes the face of money more than six decades after his life. I personally love...
Read more