I spilled a lot of words on this blog earlier this year and then suddenly in June, the carafe appeared empty. Other muses called my name - music performance and improv training. I've spent a lot of time the last few months working on my live show and playing a series of live music gigs. Still lots of work to do to make my live show more engaging but slowly making progress.
It took me a long time to realize performance is radically different from practicing. It's like the difference between having a conversation and public speaking. When I was with the Speed River Valley Boys we used to meet at a friend's place in Guelph on Thursdays after work and just play in a circle either inside or out on the back porch if the weather was nice. It was lots of fun and there were occasional moments of brilliance.
Then we would do a live show, stand in a line at the front of room or on stage, amplify or plug in our instruments and voices then wonder why it was so hard to find the back porch magic. We slowly got better as a live act but never rehearsed in a performance environment.
I write almost every day but only in my journal. It is writing but not the same as sharing words with an audience which requires more thought, effort and vulnerability. I have a list of over thirty blog post ideas in the back of my journal - time to stop practicing and get back to performing.