surprise me

change up your routine

i recently switched up my morning routine. i’ve been feeling a little blah for the last few months, and, inspired by my compost heap (a Very Important Figure in my rural life), i decided to dig around and do some flipping.

when i’m home, i like to stick to a strict routine. go to bed around the same time, wake up around the same time. it’s regular enough that i don’t need to use an alarm clock, and my body loves being settled. dont be envious, there are still more days than not when i have to wake up at or stay up til ungodly hours for flights and drives and shows.

usually after breakfast, i sit down at my computer and do a few hours of administrative work. at various times in my career i have had more or less people to help me with this. i try to stay in the moment with it. while more help would be great, i know i am capable and knowledgeable, and anyway, regardless of my feelings, the work has to get done. so i do it. one of my favorite blog posts ever was amanda palmer’s 2010 inventory of her inbox. while clearing out her inbox, she kept a parallel document noting the task each email required. it remains the best record i’ve seen of what it is actually like to be a modern artist. 

so i spend a few hours sorting out travel for myself and my bandmates, poking promoters about potential shows, sending out miss you like hell sheet music to folks resourceful enough to ask me directly for it, inquiring about the logistics and pay of an upcoming teaching position, chasing down a check for merchandise stock i bought recently, setting up two interviews for the same afternoon to save time, finding a make-up artist for an upcoming shoot, trying to ascertain if the club i’ll be playing in two weeks can provide me with an amp and keyboard or do i need to find them myself. i could go on but you get the picture.

after a couple hours of this, i usually go for a run or for a walk with my neighbor. i am 100% that bitch that loves her fitbit and tries to meet its goals everyday. i find this extremely comforting, and actually harder to do at home than on the road.

by the time i finish working out it’s time for lunch and then tying up lingering bits of admin work. so now it’s early afternoon, and i have just a few hours left in the day to be creative. i have 3 different big projects on the stove right now, so i try to take a few cracks at one of those. in general my treat to myself is not to work after dinner. it definitely helps with the burnout. yes, doing a job you love based on something you feel passionate about can still burn you out. in the evening i try to see friends or go out to music or watch something good from the Golden Age of TV. i just recently re-watched the entirety of peaky blinders, and it was bliss.

you can guess where this is going, can’t you? in order to turn over my internal compost heap, i have now been spending my mornings being creative. after breakfast i don’t even touch my computer and head straight into my studio to see what i can make. the email and travel arranging and all that can certainly wait a few hours. it’s surprised me not at all that i’ve been feeling better, having more ideas, and been feeling more refreshed as the day continues. i’ve also been being creative at night and on the weekends. if i feel excited about making something, i’ve been letting myself make it all day or night if i want.

i know myself though. eventually i will need to turn the compost over again. i will need to wake up and get the admin done so my mind is clear for creativity. i’ll need to go back to protecting my nights and weekends from the ravenous creative vortex. my job really is just to pay attention to the changing weather. 

a favorite prayer of mine in the morning is “god, surprise me!” i’ll write another essay sometime on how and why i use the word god, but in the meantime, maybe this prayer will be useful to you as you turn over your own compost. you should definitely substitute out the word god if that will make this a possible prayer for you. “universe”, “higher power”, “spirit”, the word “please”, all of these work. i even have a friend who uses a bonnie raitt album as her higher power. “bonnie raitt album, surprise me!” why not?

i’m glad to be turned over and feeling fresher as we approach the holiday season. like many of you, it’s not my favorite time of the year. (tis the season again for my anti-holiday album "F*ck That!"). but however you feel about it, i do wish you resilience and a good pitchfork. dig deep and flip it!

speaking of flipping, GET OUT AND VOTE, VIRGINIA!

shows and all that good stuff below.

x erin

¡ME GUSTA! : SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
this month, there is only one thing that is my favorite thing because it demands our full attention: the 1619 project. certified genius nikole hannah-jones put together this extraordinary collection of essays, reported articles, poems, photography & audio to mark the 400th year since slavery began in the united states. the perfection of this project is not just learning the history you may not know, but the ways every aspect of our current american experience is still about slavery. don't forget to check out the accompanying podcast too. besides its compelling subject, this pod also has some of my favorite recent sound design. if you want to use the project in your classroom, check out this curriculum developed by the pulitzer center.