I Am A Mountain Lion

I've written hundreds of songs now.  Each one comes out a little differently. Some songs write themselves in a matter of minutes.  Some take days.  And then there are those elusive, incredibly wily tunes that take weeks, months, and even years to write. 

I'm currently stuck on the latter. 

There is a song that came to me last year that I just can't get out of my head.  I could have finished it long ago with sub-par lyrics, but the melody is too nice to waste with sub-par lyrics.  Of course, I don't know what the words should be.  All I know is: I'll know them when I hear them. 

Again. Stuck. 

But something changed in me while I was working on the tune this week.  I adjusted my mindset.  I stopped calling myself "stuck." I stopped telling myself my only recourse was to hope. I stopped feeling like I was waiting around for the right words to come. 

Instead, I told myself I was in hot pursuit of them. 

With that subtle shift, I felt excited about the whole song again.  I almost felt an internal transformation. Where I was once passive--like a little bird waiting to be fed inspiration--I became a ravenous mountain lion, chasing down words like they were my last meal. 

Turns out it's more fun to be hungry than to be complacent. 

Reader, if you find yourself stuck this week, I just thought I'd put this out there: try changing the word "stuck" with "searching" and see if it doesn't open you up to more possibilities.  It's just a small trick, but I thought I'd share it, just in case it helps you, too. 

With that, this ferocious predator is heading back to my sunny spot at the piano bench for this evening's hunt.  I'll see you back here next Monday. -Em

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