For a long time I’ve been flipping back and forth between two things I absolutely love, trying to produce something in one medium or the other. The first is my love of music, which I’ve had as long as I can remember. Songwriting is a passion, understanding different types of music and what makes them enjoyable or beautiful is something I’ve spent a huge chunk of my life thinking about while listening to my latest favroite record spin. The other is storywriting, which I have pursued through Never Ending Stories, short story competitions, and a number fictional worlds.
For the longest time I’ve been pulled back and forth like one of Dr. Doolittle’s Pushmepullyous. I’ll start writing a book, and then stumble upon a new band and get lost in the music, after which I’ll decide to compose music or play some guitar. Halfway through either, I’ll think about the connections between all of us as people or a compelling story, which will prompt me to write a short story or blog. The cycle goes round and round without me really putting enough effort into any of my projects to make it worthwhile or produce decent results. It doesn’t always change as fast as I’ve made it sound, but it’s there. I’ve got what some might call A.D.D., but it’s really just a love of too many things. Remember that kid in grade school who never knew what he wanted to be or always wanted to be something different the next time the teacher asked? Yeah, that’s me.
Fortunately, I’ve had another “eureka” moment. The conclusion is quite obvious, but in all honesty, most “a-ha!” moments are. So often we can “get” something without really “getting” it until we look at it a different way. The different paradigm is not explainable in any tongue, it’s not really all that different. Yet somehow it makes all the difference in the world. That’s how it was for me. Stupid? Perhaps. Obvious? Definitely. Strange? No, not at all. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s something we all experience, we all feel at some point.
For Isaac Newton, it was an apple. For Timone, it was a big rock. For me, it was a song by Sonata Arctica.
Why not combine the things that I love? After all, it’s only Common sense, Genius.
The Common Genius 