“Voices, I hear voices…” – Russ Ballard
People have asked me, how do come up with all that music? That’s easy, I just listen to the voices in my head. Wait, what did you say?!? Honey, get the holy water!!! Seriously though, I don’t know why my left brain works this way, which exact synapses got crossed, but music just speaks to me.
I have this internal tuning fork that pings harmoniously when all is in balance, and I listen for it constantly. Truth be told, these pings come across as thoughts: the drums do this, the keys could go here, backgrounds should do this, etc.
When these thoughts flash past, they are paired with a soundtrack, the parts I hear. They’re soft like whispers, and easy to miss. That’s the closest I can come to clearly describing it.
Some people attribute that as some type of gift, a mystical bestowing that allows proficiency, maybe even greatness. And while talent does play a part to creating, there’s more to it.
Similar to a “chicken vs egg” paradox, there is the causality dilemma: do we pursue interests because we have talent, or do we have talent because we pursue interests? The reality is, it’s a healthy mix of both, and who knows what else, depending on the home brew recipe.
In my recipe, I call it imagination. Really great imagination. And it’s powerful stuff.
According to merriam-webster.com, imagination is the (1) act, or power, of forming a mental image, of something not present to the senses, or never before wholly perceived in reality. It’s a (2a) creative ability, that allows us to (2b) confront and deal with a problem, the product of (2c) the thinking or active mind. It’s sometimes a tangible (3a) creation of the mind (i.e. art, destruction), or sometimes just thoughts we hold to ourselves, whether (3b) fanciful or assumptive or empty.
For simplicity, let’s just summarize: it is the ability to create with our mind. Pure power. It’s so powerful, there’s a cliche’: “If you can see it, you can be it”, reminding anyone who’ll listen to tap in and let it rip.
You truly can create something tangible out of nothing, and not just music. What one can create is as varied and unique as any other random interest or dislike one may have.
Like stories, create an imaginary friend and tell about their life. Prefer needlework, create your own cross-stitch patterns. Or even just learning to cook from scratch, it all relies on imagination.
But don’t minimize the impact that imagination, creating something out of nothing, can provide. It is simply life-changing, being able to imagine what one wants, and how to get there, and it has led to pretty much every success I’ve had in my life.
Now we might disagree on what success ….. sorry, my imagination…. too powerful.
I just got an image of pastrami on rye, and I know I can make that reality.
Until next time,
Bobby James
