I had one of those off nights just last night. The mood was left over from the previous evening. It'll pass, but until that time it becomes a challenge to not lose perspective. Maybe it's a Moon phase that alters our course and sends us into an uninspired slump. It is a good idea to have some place and/or some other activity to retreat to when these moods strike. Taking one's mind off difficult circumstances by moving into another area of interest or stepping away from what may be an off situation can help to clear your mind and allow you to see things with a renewed vision.

Being something of an idealist, I've often wondered why so much angst seems to surround my involvement with musical activities. Creating music and performing with others seems to depend upon the participants uniting toward a common goal of harmonizing with one another and yet I have experienced some of the greatest difficulties in my life with those same folks. When things are happening right it can be absolute heaven, and then there's the other side of the coin that always seems to rear it's ugly head. I'm not so blind as to deny the existence of the negative side of life. It is after all eternally and inevitably tied with all things positive. I guess, like Guest, I just figured that after all these years of practice and working together it'd be easier to be able to find and maintain that joy that comes from giving, playing, and harmonizing together. It seems that the closer we manage to progress toward that goal, the greater the obstacles have become. It causes one to question. Why continue to pursue this musical passion when the reward is only ever counterbalanced by an equal measure of turmoil?

I once thought that working with other partners might be the key. Finding different folks to play with helped for a while, but ultimately it led right back into the same kind of cycle. That saying about familiarity breeding contempt might be applicable.

It even seems easier to accommodate unfamiliar audiences than those who have seen what I've had to offer. The former has fewer expectations and are generally open and willing to give a listen, while the latter becomes split into two distinct positions of either wanting more of the same, or demanding something new or different. While those wanting more of the same can be easy enough to please by performing their requests, that other bunch can get a bur in their britches if you are unable to meet their insatiable desire for more, but different, material. Having that kind of an audience to contend with, a slump in the creative juices is a never welcome occurrence.

It might be time to set aside the musical toys and explore expression in some other art form for a while like Mudlark is doing.