Passion FIRE can be about anything. Gaming, art, and travel are my top Passion FIRE pursuits, but really it can be about anything you are passionate about. That could be raising a family, saving the environment, or even going back to the arts and being a musician or actor.
As someone who is not musically inclined in any way, stories about music are lacking here on Partners in Fire. That’s unfortunate, because even if I’m not hugely interested in music, I acknowledge its significance as one of the most important forms of artistic expression, and that it’s a passion for many people.
I was thrilled to connect with a musician, who tells us in his own words how being a musician is about creative playfulness.
Have a look!
On Why Being a Musician is About Playfulness
Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. I’m not really 100% sure why, but I’ll play around with why that might be.
Doing The Job
Mondays are often the busiest part of my work week. Sometimes things pile up over the weekend because of gigs and taking care of our home. By Monday night, I’m often wondering how to keep my energy going.
Being a musician does require “work”. We must practice, develop our technique, and — if we are not signed to a label — do all the business side of this career. Little did we know that “playing music” would involve being an accountant, marketer, social media manager, and roadie.
I’m a recovering serious person. Left to my default mode, I would try to perfect and overthink everything I do. That’s simply no fun.
Intentional Play
Thankfully, over many years of working with various mentors, I learned to intentionally use playfulness in my “work”. Even after many years of practicing this, I find the intentional part is still most important. That default mode is always waiting in the wings to take over again.
Tuesday evenings, I meet with my creativity coach. We call these times “InterPlay (Easy) Focus Sessions”. Many of our practices in these moments help to bring out my playful energy. I learn more about myself and my creative craft through these techniques than any other.
I’ve used these techniques in my creative times with excellent success. In fact, my closest friends and fans have easily identified the tracks where I’m too serious. They will sometimes say things like, “What happened to fun Stan?” or “That song seems to take itself too seriously.”
Playful Payoff
So that’s the payoff to playfulness. I get songs and instrumentals that are more fun to listen to and definitely more fun to create. By incorporating play into my creative process, I get the joy that also comes through to the listener.
One misconception about play is that it must be frivolous or funny. The results of play can sometimes be the opposite. We can be inspired to action or consciousness-raising by art created through playful means.
Playfully Prepared
What can you do to incorporate play into your musicianship or other creative pursuits? Well, that’s about 100 blogs posts worth, but I’ll give you a couple of suggestions to get started.
- Whenever you find yourself focusing too heavily, imagine how you could lighten up your process
- Attend (they are often held virtually) an InterPlay playshop or two
- Observe videos of children playing — they have a lot to teach us
- Read a blog or a book about play
- Check out TED talks on play by people like Stuart Brown
I even used some of my “play techniques” while writing this post. It certainly made it more fun for me and hope you got something from it, too.