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Trigger Yourself

© Cindy Lee Haddock

TRIGGER YOURSELF

I've seen a lot of material of late on this subject in various motivational newsletters, and it seems to be a good technique for getting yourself past bad things and getting you to do your very best. Many of us eventually learn that jerks know how to push our buttons and get us upset just by saying a word and invoking a bad memory, and we can learn to undo that by recognizing that it is just a trigger and we are in control, not them, and we can change that image that it conjures up and make ourselves laugh when they do that instead, and make them upset realizing that their ploy won't work on us. In the same way, we can create triggers for ourselves that can make us want to get playing, and relaxed or excited enough to do the songwriting we need to do. Here are a few ways you can learn to push your own buttons to help you with your music.

WHAT GOT YOU STARTED?

Sometimes, when it seems that you just can't get excited about music anymore, it is a good idea to think about what got you into this mess in the first place. What got you up and wanting to make music the first time? Can you recreate the moment in your mind, and drum up that excitement? What sensations did you feel? Were you hot, cold, flushed with excitement, shaking with nervousness? Was your mouth dry, or did your hands sweat? Where were you? Do you have any pictures of that place, or old furnishings that might have been around that would remind you of that moment, especially musical instruments of a certain model, old record players, and so forth? What did it smell like? Was it musty, or were there the scents of old woods or was it outdoors? This may seem very silly, but sometimes, just remembering the scent of something can bring that old wonderful feeling back, as can the image in your head of something nice, even if it is just a thought of the first grand piano you ever saw. If you can find an image or remember a thought like that, try and keep something that will remind you of that around your music area, in your instrument case or in your journal to help push that important button when you need to get fired up and working on your craft.

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