1/3/2021 Here Goes Something...

 

Hi, my name is Wes and I'm a recovering musician.

Well, I'm still a musician really, at heart. I even played a few songs on Zoom last Friday, to an international audience no less, as part of an online carnival to close what was an intense, interesting and utterly compelling 8 week online course called 'Surviving The Future' (which is also the name of the main text we followed). There were guest speakers and two further discussion and reflection sessions each week and numerous readings, videos and concepts to engage with. If you enjoy talking with open and fascinating people and have an interest in any of the following I can highly recommend it: climate change, population growth, resources, play, economy, citizen artists, community, grief, societal collapse, animism, poetry, juggling, growing vegetables, eroticism, physics, ecology, intentional waste... I could go on.

The course has left me with some personal challenges and a stack of books and papers that I hope to read whilst I digest the course content further. As one person put it: trying to keep up with all the information flying around was like drinking from a fire hose. 

Anyway, this isn't about that, it's about what comes next. It's St David's day, March 1st and I am buoyed by the signs of spring I have seen this last week; honey bees, bumble bees, brimstones and tortoiseshell butterflies, young robins singing in the garden, great tits and goldfinches at the feeders. This is the day my plans for Developing My Creative Practice, a 6 month plan to engage with texts and nurture my writing habits begins. 

Last year, as my live music gigs dried up almost over night, I was prompted to think even more than usual about the future I saw for myself and how I make a living. I have been fortunate enough to be playing music in various set-ups and diverse ways for well over a decade and have enjoyed playing in so many places, collaborating, leading workshops, making records (here, here & here) and even a musical theatre show. The bulk of how I earned money to pay to live was from live performance and as fun as that can be, over time I realised it wasn't what I wanted to rely on exclusively and indefinitely. 

2020 forced my hand somewhat and prompted me to rise to the challenge of 'what next?' My 'career' as a singer songwriter has had points of promise but my trajectory and my destination was never Ed Sheeran-esque. Success, not fame, has always been attractive but a little tweaking of that definition of success over time means that on a good day I can feel accomplished, acknowledged, and appreciated enough. That's what everyone wants anyway, right? Job done. Music will always be my first love but words have always been my best friends. It's time to spend more time with them. 

It was my girlfriend, Lisa who made me aware of The Arts Council's 'Developing Your Creative Practice' funding that tis offered for people wanting to make a step change in their career. She kindly pointed out that my songwriting wasn't a million miles away from poetry and that I'd co-written a stage show (The Righteous Jazz) and already read some not awful pieces I'd written at a writing workshop we'd both done previously. Some pieces were there and others began to fall in to place. 

Over as couple of months I assembled a bid for this DYCP funding, making a plan for a 6 month period doing just that - developing my creative practice. The bid involves reading, research and writing time, mentoring by other established writers. It also involves this, a blog, as a point of action, regular practice,  explanation and documentation of the time. I am so grateful my bid was accepted and that I now have this time for self-directed study and development. 

If you're reading this, I'm honoured and flattered that you care enough to get this far. It's as much for me as it is anyone else but thank you, I appreciate it. I'll share this experience, my thoughts and intentions and bits of work as I go along. It would be great to hear back from you if you do follow. 

cheers,

w