One thing I’ve never been big on, especially in creative endeavors, is competition. I don’t want to say I always fold in the face of adversity or anything like that, but I tend to lose interest when something becomes a contest. I can’t play chess or Scrabble with my friend Ben anymore because he’s always been highly competitive and the games just aren’t fun since he’s also better than me.  And although it seems ironic, I think it’s actually related that I am not terribly good at cooperation, either.

But one thing that will make me strive to be better is: if I’m surrounded by other people doing something I’m interested in, and they’re creating something good, then I’ll want to also create something good, not because I think I can do it better than them or even because I want them to see me do something good. And although there are times when I might look at something really clever, cool, or unusual that someone did and say, “Wow, that’s a great idea,” and then go ahead and steal part of that idea, more often, it somehow becomes an inspiration to come up with something completely different.

I do plan on posting some things about the songs I’m writing, but looking back means I’m not looking forward. When you’re dangerously short on time to create so much material, there’s just no way to use up mental space on a tune or lyrics that have already been committed to a recording.