There are days… there are days when I just don’t have it. I poke around for ideas and nothing comes up. My energy is off, I’m tired… I’m slumping… I just can’t get going.

BUT… I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. Something in me says there’s still hope, so I’m not giving up on the possibility of finding some way to get my engine turning.

I was in this spot just  the other day.

What did I do? I remembered that I have a lot of scraps of paper in a small basket on my work table. I pulled them out and started going through the odds and ends…

And discovered (or was reminded) that I don’t always have bad ideas. Some days I have good ones. And, when I’m in my right mind, I write them down (on these scraps of paper).

Some of the ideas in this box were not bad… one of them got me going in an interesting musical direction. I started to get into it.

I also had some Titles in the box (I’ve got a separate list for Titles, but I hadn’t gotten there yet). One of the Titles fit with the musical idea… and there it was: I had something going. I was writing a new song.

For me there are two things to remember here. 1) Keep in one place those isolated ideas and fragments that pop up at odd times, so I can access them when needed or wanted, and 2) Remember, when I’m at a loss, that the ‘basket of stray ideas’ is there.

It’s surprising how often it’s easier for me to think, ‘I suck’, or, ‘Today’s not my day’, and forget that there were other days when I had ideas…. sometimes even good ones.

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