On February 1, I resolved to write and record 14 songs in 28 days. Specifically, the 28 days of February, 2009.
Why?
Because inspiration doesn’t knock. It has to be drug kicking and screaming through the streets, up your stairs, and into your room. It has to be hunted down like a wild animal that knows you’re in its territory.
Inspiration comes when you make it come, through sheer desperation.
This challenge isn’t easy. Not only do I have to churn out an average of 1 song every 2 days, I have to find a time to record them, working around my schedule, as well as the schedules of my brothers, who will assist me with recording.
And I’m fairly busy. I won’t even be able to start recording until February 5th, which is itself a busy day, and by which time I need to have written approximately 3 songs.
But forcing inspiration itself is the hardest part. To hunt down the inspiration I need, I’ll have to find time to focus on nothing other than the moment-to-moment experience of life itself.
That’s how I write, and it’s extremely hard to find that focus with all the potential distractions around me. Especially the ones I bring upon myself: email, Facebook, TV shows on DVD, and the presence of internet access itself.
This will be hard.
So this will be a good test case. If I can accomplish this, YOU can accomplish pretty much anything.
I attempted this challenge several years ago. Although I didn’t complete 14 songs, I did write several, including one that ended up on our last album - “Anger“.
This time, I want to complete the challenge.
14 songs written and recorded in 28 days.
Starting now.
Hello :) I am Anna and new to the site. Right now I live in Nashville (new to the area), and I'm a stay at home mom to my baby who is 7 months old. I recently got married (New Years Eve), and just trying to get involved and meet new people!
Even though we're halfway through February (wow time flies!) I'll post what my New Years Resolutions were... though I've already failed miserably at a couple.
Number One-Blog/Journal at least once a week. I want to write here at least once a week. I think I'll start something private too because writing has always been therapeutic for me, but I have yet to begin.
UPDATE: I'm doing it (and actually writing two now)! Success :). I am new to the blogging world and just loving it. For anyone who is curious, my blogs can be found at 
Number Three-Exercise at least 3 times a week. I got a Wii Fit for Christmas (YAY!) and I'm hoping to use it for at least 1/2 hour three times a week. I really need to work off this baby fat, and sitting around, doing nothing isn't helping.
UPDATE: Of course, I failed! I actually did really well, but couldn't stand being weighed every day. Then I got sick, and quit for a week, and never started again. With the nice weather last weekend, I walked for a couple of days with the baby, but that trail hasn't seen me since!
Number Four-PORTION SIZES! Phil and I eat pretty well, but we eat WAY WAY WAY to much! So, I've started cooking for two, or if I do cook more (for leftovers), I make sure we have leftovers. We kind of started this one before the New Year too, but not seriously. I mean we had a wedding and all with a buffet I wanted to enjoy! I've been doing a little reading on the subject and definitely need to do more. I think I'm going to invest in a couple healthy eating cookbooks.
UPDATE: We've been doing really well! I just dish out our food so that you get what you get! I haven't done any reading yet... I think I'll add it to the list for my next library trip.
I've also added one more resolution... I guess you could call it that. We're going to be DEBT FREE! We have started Dave Ramsey's program, took his class (FPU) in the fall, and are working on our debt snowball! I am blogging about the experience at 
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.