Creativity Without Competition
By Matthew Wilson I used to measure my progress as a musician in ways that weren't particularly kind to me. I'd hear a well-produced song or watch someone move easily through a collaboration and wonder why those things seemed so much harder for me. I had a picture of the musician I ought to become: technically proficient, productive, able to remember what I'd learned and pick up where I'd left off. Nobody handed me that standard. I made it for myself, and I kept coming up short. Living with schizoaffective disorder has complicated that picture. Memory, processing, and energy aren't always dependable for me. I can learn something in a music program and still need my notes the next time I open it. When I compared that experience with someone else's fluency, I usually ended up frustrated. For a while I thought the answer was to work harder or find a better routine. Sometimes a new approach helped, but comparison followed me into whatever I tried next. I could finis...