When we did the New Song November Challenge last year, it didn’t take long to realize how important it was to have FUN! The challenge ended up pushing us to such edges that it was really easy to get frustrated and tense. Sometimes we would mess up the same part over and over, Nathan’s guitar chords would start to fall apart and our voices would get tired, other times the whole process would just feel like too much and we’d wake up feeling overwhelmed from the start. Either way, when the negativity took hold, the learning would inevitably take a dive. It became hilariously clear that when we were having fun, the songs came easier and the takes went more smoothly and we finished up so much more quickly (and joyfully) than when we tried to drudge and push and grind our way to getting it right.
We soon recognized this pattern and had started to do our best to lighten our spirits and stay present with the joy of playing the music instead of overwhelmed by the challenge of getting it all learned and recorded in one day. It was wild to watch as my mind would begin it’s complaining and story making. It is such a present pattern that sometimes I’d get swept into the negativity and stories before even realizing it and just like that I was out of the flow state and focus on the music, my attention torn between a stream of complaints and performing. Other times I could just loose myself in the music, and the chords and melodies would flow without another thought in my mind. They call this flow state. It is an act of being completely present. It is a place where we can tap into the joy and satisfaction available to us in every moment and every task. But when we start wishing things were different we become blind and blocked to that joy. We think we can construct a better version of now than the true now. The truth is, we can’t. This moment is the only one we have, we can just do our best to lose ourselves in the creative act of dancing with the truth of now, finding where we can engage more fully to BE in the present. Here satisfaction abounds and creativity grows. Even when it’s hard, or sad, we can find our power in the way we lovingly engage rather than cutting ourselves off from our creativity and power by rejecting what IS. I think fun and flow start with the same letter for a reason. It really helps to have fun.
This song was especially fun! Ada and I found a really natural way to make this tune our own and we quickly lost ourselves in the play of creation. We laughed a lot. Especially at the end. We hope you enjoy it with all it’s bobbles and mistakes, just like we did.
