Creativity

So, the idea for this blog came to me after a friend shared a video with me last night.  She said her sister had shown it to her, and she thought it was hilarious, so she passed it on.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaAWdljhD5o]Now, I'm familiar with the song "Sail" by Awolnation, but I'd never seen a video for it.  So, when the video started, I thought that maybe this was simply the regular video for it.  A sexy young lady, dancing in the rain, singing the lyrics.  Standard enough.Then at 1:30 in, I officially said "WTF???"Then at 2:30, as you see, all hell breaks loose.  This video is oddly riveting.  Hilarious in a very non-conventional way.  And when it's all done...I suppose, a very natural question is  "Why?"Why make that?  Why spend the time?  What is the point?  We as a very time and efficiency driven society always have to know the point.So how does that relate to me?  Well, over the past few days, since this new blog of mine has garnered a bit of attention, from friends and strangers alike, and sparked some very interesting conversation, it isn't before long that someone asks,

Why do you do it?  What's the point of blogging?

It's a fair question.  Honest enough.  So why put your thoughts, feelings, and expressions out there for the world to see?  Most people can easily understand and grasp the concept of a diary...but that's private.  Why make it public?  What makes you think that anyone will care?  Are you some kind of egomaniac?Well, I have always been the kind of person to have a vice.  As a juvenile, video games were my vice.  If I wasn't in school, I could be found in front of a video game.  While I truly enjoyed books, video games were a distinct joy.And then I discovered music.  Music encapsulated and fulfilled my world.  I was decent at it, and it brought me hours and hours of joy.As I became more skilled and advanced in music, the joy of learning transformed into a desire to create.  Creating something new, as a musician, is one of the most riveting experiences that I suppose one could have.  And to have someone, enjoy that creation....I can't even think of a way to put that into words at this moment.And then life marched on, and things changed.  I was doing bands, rock music, and creating...lyrics and singing...it was all good.And then I got my throat crushed in a training accident.  I remember going 4 or 5 days without being able to talk, let alone sing.  And things have never been the same since.  There's not a day that goes by in which I wish I could still sing, at least as well as I could, and continue to create.  But it's so frustrating, and before I know it, I've just given up for the day...and the week....and months have flown by before you've touched a guitar, or a horn, or opened up Fruity Loops, or Acid Pro, etc, etc, etc....At first I was in denial.  I'm now ok with the fact that my voice is different, and it's now a different instrument.  In my brain, I think of it as my voice used to have valves, and now it has a slide on it.  I simply have to learn to manipulate it in a different way, to produce sound in a different way...but it is hella frustrating, and I don't think I'll ever be the same vocalist I was.While most people would now think of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as my vice, which it very much is in many ways...it's not really an art of creation.  Not yet...not for me.  It's more of manipulation, of borrowing and modifying someone else's creation.  Kind of like jazz.  I'm borrowing licks from everyone and everywhere, but I'm years away from being able to have a deep enough understanding to construct my own....but that burning desire to create doesn't ever really subside.  You simply find other ways to nourish it.  Blogging, oddly enough, has lended itself to be a perfect outlet.I've been told that I have a way with words.  I often refer to myself as a Chatty Cathy (I suppose that should be a Charlie, but it's all good).  I use words a lot.  LOL.  I also like to think that due to my rather varied life experiences, I have a fairly interesting if not unique outlook on life.  Few people can say they protested the wars in the Middle East, shortly before meeting Colin Powell, shortly before deploying to Afghanistan.  I once dated a woman who called me  a "dichotomy of contradictions."  She was probably right.  I probably still am.  I spent a year in a war zone, but I hate violence...yet I love Mixed Martial Arts. Hmm...But as I watch this video, I get it.  I understand the why.  A better question is

Why not???

What else have we to do?  Cure cancer?  Pray for world peace?  Why not create something that will endure, and resonate with people?  It'll either bring a smile to their face...perhaps even a frown, but you'll have affected them with your words, thoughts, or actions...and isn't that something unique and dynamic?I do find joy in the fact that my words, this blog, affects, and will affect, people in a way that nothing else quite will.  It may not affect them as deeply as other things, it may not be extremely profound, but the ideas that swirl in your head at this moment, and after....nothing else will cause that to be true.  So, in a way, my creation is utterly unique....and that is something special.  Not to mention if even 1 person reads my blog, I feel like John Grisham.  :-)I've watched that above video 5 times.  It definitely resonates with me.  Partly because I have a total fetish for lips.  Perhaps because I have a total fetish for redheads.  Perhaps because I love seeing a good cat fight.  Perhaps because a woman dancing in the rain is super sexy to me.Whatever the reason...it's definitely unique...  ...and over 33 million other people in this world agree.