“We don’t really want what we think we desire” The other day I stumbled upon this piece from “theorist and provacateur” (read: best job title ever) Slavoj Žižek. I was particularly drawn to the title, as I spend a lot of time investigating the nature of creativity: “What Fulfils You Creatively Isn’t What Makes You Happy” Happiness is a strange thing. Personally, I think we are a tad obsessed with it. I’ve always struggled with the fact that “happiness” seems to vaguely hover

I have a love/hate relationship with the feeling of melancholy. It happens to me a lot…sometimes for inexplicable reasons. My mother had it too, and I always remember when she was sad and didn’t want to communicate with anyone she delved into some creative project- sewing… painting…or even building a tiki bar! Perhaps I inherited it, but the more overwhelmed I am by these “blue funks” I seem to want to create things. Most of my song lyrics for History for Music Lovers were wr

Today is Vincent Van Gogh‘s birthday…and there are so many thoughts going through my head. Perhaps the most spot on thing I’ve ever learned from him is the concept of “active melancholy” – yes, that is what he called it and it’s just perfect to describe the sort of creative frenzy one can go into while one is in a very dark place. My most creative moments have been in these times and I’m sure I’ll have many more. It’s a mixed blessing, of course. Given that Vincent wrote so m