Creativity in computing, with music in the mix

An edition of my Artists' Career Stories series…

Larry has been in the computer business for a long time…and he's been playing guitar for even longer. I interviewed him to find out how he combines the two and how his computer work feeds his music, and vice versa.

Who: Larry, age 49, full-time software engineer and amateur guitar player

Where: Denver, Colorado

Audio clip: Larry discussing creativity in software work:

The Interview

BH: What kind of music do you play?

L: I play jazz, blues, lots of different styles.

BH: How long have you been playing guitar?

L: Almost 40 years, since I was a kid.

BH: Have you ever played for money, or are you strictly amateur?

L: I played for money back in college. I did solo acoustic stuff and played with a few bands, but nothing really big-time.

BH: What set you on the path toward where you are today?

L: I was a music major in college, and I was getting a little tired of doing nothing but music all the time. It seemed like when I was growing up, music was something I did more for enjoyment, and when it got to be work, I wasn’t enjoying it as much. Plus, I was always interested in computers and tech., and it seemed to be passing me by. Back in those days, there wasn’t a lot of synergy between the computer and the music interests – it was before home music technology.

I started taking math and computer science classes. I mainly wanted to have a job when I got out of college, because a lot of my music major friends were graduating and not getting jobs, and I didn’t want to put in that much effort and not be able to get a job. So, I guess a lot of it was fear, but I was interested in computers and math and took off with that.

BH: And you’ve been doing both ever since?

L: There have been times when I’ve given up the guitar except to play now and then, and there was a time when I started working part-time because I wanted to devote more time to the music. For the most part, it’s been trying to find a balance between the two things.

BH: What are some of the biggest challenges with working full-time and finding time to play guitar?

L: Sometimes after working in front of a computer all day, I’m tired, my eyes are tired, it’s a little hard to maintain the energy level you need to have for music. But then other times, I feel tired after work, and I start playing and get a second wind. The challenge then is that it’s late at night, I start focusing, and I can’t seem to turn it off. I don’t want to go to sleep then, I want to stay up all night and play, but I have to transition to the next thing. Sometimes it’s hard to transition from one activity to the other. I want to play music, but I have to do the software stuff, or the other way around.

BH: What do you like about the software work?

L: It’s really creative, I do a lot of problem-solving, it’s like solving puzzles. I like the interesting twists and turns it takes when I’m trying to diagnose a problem. I enjoy the creative part of it, working on new projects.

BH: Can you talk a little more about the creativity? There’s an impression amongst a lot of people that computer work isn’t that creative, that it’s technical, therefore not creative.

L: You don’t follow a set of steps – it’s not mechanical. Sometimes, you try things and they don’t work, and you have to think, “What if I tried this, what if I did that?” Sometimes the answer is something you never would have thought of, something that doesn’t logically make sense, but it works. So people often don’t understand that, but it really is very creative. You learn from the patterns from past problems you've seen, but then you also have to not be so tied to the past answers, because you might be seeing something new. You have to be really open-minded and have a good understanding of things. The facts sometimes contradict each other, and you have to learn to think your way around those things.

BH: Do any of those types of problem-solving or creative thought processes apply to your music – is there a connection?

L: Yes, there are similar things in music, like working with a set of facts and trying to find a solution. It’s kind of the same when you’re trying to create something or play something a certain way. There may be 6 or 7 different ways to play a chord, and you have to solve that problem. How does this chord connect with the music I’m playing right now? It’s a similar thought process, a lot of trial and error and trying to think of new ways to do things.

BH: Tell me about your typical day, if there is such a thing.

L: I usually try to start with a plan for what I hope to get accomplished, and usually all sorts of problems come in, or people ask me a lot of questions and I get sidetracked. In the ideal world, you’d be able to pick what you wanted to do and go with that all day, but my job is almost never like that. I take the different sidetracks, solve different problems people are having, ask people questions, research things, and then actually write code and do some debugging and work on the problems I’d planned to work on. It’s not nicely set up so I do one thing and then the next. I’m switching back and forth all the time.

It is frustrating, because I like to get into the “zone” and not be interrupted, yet sometimes when I take a different track, I am subconsciously working on the first problem and thinking of things I might not have thought of before. In some ways, that can be good. But it drives a lot of people crazy, and it sometimes drives me crazy. It works out most of the time, and is something I have to accept.

BH: A lot of creative people worry that a full-time job will be too structured or that it won't have enough variety. This doesn't sound like the case with your job.

L: I sort of have a routine and far as the hours I keep, but other than that I'm always doing different things. There's almost never a chance to get bored, and it isn't repetitive.

BH: Has it always been that way?

L: When I started, I was doing testing, and that was really boring. I took the job because the economy was really bad back then and I took the first thing I could get. But I made some recommendations and got involved in helping the company automate their processes, and that part was interesting.

BH: What motivational challenges do you face with your music, considering you have a full-time job?

L: Most of the time I really look forward to coming home and playing. The challenge is that to really progress as a musician, you can't just play the same stuff over and over and do the same things. You have to take the time to learn things, slow things down and try different things, do some research, and listen a lot. Those are the little things I cannot do as much. And when I can block out an hour or two to play, I really want to play and sound good, not go back and struggle with things I'm practicing. There are times when I really can't motivate myself, but other times when I'm a little more receptive to it.

I also find it motivating to listen a lot. I listen to music when I'm at work. I can put on my headphones and block the world out when I am working, although I can't always focus on the music as much as I would like to.

BH: Who are you listening to these days?

L: Robyn Ford, for blues; Pat Metheny; Frank Vignola; lots of guitar players.

BH: You did a show recently.

L: Yes, my guitar teacher and a couple of his professional musicians friends and I got together and did a show at the D-Note in Arvada. I did about 10 songs with them. It was really intimidating with all these professionals, especially because I don't do it on a regular basis.

BH: So it is possible to have a full-time job and prepare for and put on a show at a public place.

L: Definitely. Sometimes I have to work long hours and stay late at work, so it would be hard to be in a full-time band, but I have friends who do that because they have more regular hours. Instead of playing in a band, I just play by myself and learn things on my own.

BH: Do you have any particular visions, dreams, or goals for yourself as a musician or as a software engineer?

L: I don't really think about a lot of long-term goals, but I always want to improve and to learn. The technology with software engineering changes so much, so I don't always have a lot of goals because it changes so quickly. I learn what I need to learn at the time. With music, it's a little different, because a lot of the foundations of music are still the same as they were when I first picked up the guitar – the scales, the chords. My goal is to learn as much I can, but my interests change over time, so it can be hard to have goals with music.

BH: What would you tell someone who is just starting off in their career and who has interests similar to yours?

L: When I was younger, I felt like I had to pick one or the other and throw everything into the that one thing. As I've gotten older, I've realized it's OK to do more than one thing. Maybe I won't be as good of a musician or as good of a software engineer, but it’s really satisfy for me to be able to do both things. Just because you're a musician, you don't have to do music all the time. If you have a lot of different interests, don't be afraid to pursue other things. Having outside interests can in some ways make your music better. Likewise, keeping up your music keeps you happier at your day job if you have one. You can be good at more than one thing, and it's OK.

BH: What connection does your happiness as a software engineer have to the income you're able to generate?

L: That definitely had a lot to do with my decision back in college, and it definitely matters now. It's a big motivation. Lessons and equipment are really expensive, and my job helps the musical part of my life. I appreciate having a dependable (well, I hope it's dependable!) income to support my music. But, I definitely have an interest in computers, so it's not like I'm doing something just for the money.

Thanks, Larry!

Are you a clone?

I am finishing up Kazuo Ishiguro's creepy novel Never Let Me Go (also a movie), about a group of kids raised from infancy in a special British boarding school for cloned kids. I won't say any more, in case you want to read it. But I will say that human cloning truly creeps me out, yet there's a little bit of natural intrigue there as well. Isn't that human nature – to be fascinated with that which repels us? (Today's Halloween, by the way).

The cloning theme reminded me of a much more mundane type of copycatting that is perhaps not creepy but that can be an impediment to doing what you want to do with your life.

I often ask people who their major influences have been and whom they most admire. It's inevitable that we learn from people who hold influence over us, for whatever reason. The people in our lives who are positive influences can be excellent motivators; if we know them personally, they can directly guide or mentor us to new levels.

This does not mean we should try to be just like them. In junior high, many of us tried to be clones of each other, or of the "cool" kids. You're not in junior high any more, thank god, yet some habits can linger. It pays to become aware of any tendencies you might have toward trying to mold yourself into a clone of your parents, teachers, friends, boss, mentors, or anyone else.

Trying to become a mini-whoever or a clone of someone we admire is exhausting and futile. Thinking you need to do things just as that person has done can suck the creative juices right out of your endeavor. It can feel phony as well as be extremely stressful to try to live up to another person's image or to try to mimic their approach step-by-step.

It's much better to ask yourself who you are and how other people can inform and inspire what you already know about yourself, rather than how you can mold yourself into a replica of that person.

(I know, Frankenstein wasn't a clone…but the picture works for the holiday and is pretty creepy, yes?)

Uncertainty in baseball and in life

Heads-up: This post is not really about baseball…

If you're a Texas Rangers fan, you might not want to read this post. Not that I'm really a Cardinals fan – I'm from Chicago and have seen what the Cardinals fans do to our helpless little stuffed bears in their baseball shirts. But Cubs fans do similarly nasty things to innocent stuffed cardinals, bright red with their pointy crests, so I suppose fair's fair.

In case you're not into it, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series Friday night in the 7th game, after the Rangers were twice one strike away from taking the Series in the 6th game. As the old saying goes, you just never know until the last man's out.

You never do completely know, do you? Life seems logical and predictable only until it isn't. You keep going for something, and most good things are worth the effort and the wait (more old sayings). Yet sometimes it just doesn't pan out (the Rangers), while other times your perseverance, hard effort, and teamwork hit the jackpot (the Cardinals).

What if you work your butt off toward a goal, and it doesn't work out as you'd planned or expected or dreamed? This is the chance you take by embarking on a path toward any goal. There is no certainty for anyone – not for the Rangers, and not for you.

The best any of us can do is get to know ourselves as well as we can, taking stock of where we are and what makes us tick, then develop a strong vision for where we would like to go. We can then establish goals and benchmarks toward our larger vision, and become skilled observers of the emotional roadblocks that stand in our way as we go along, learning how to set them aside and move forward.

Does this mean that we know for sure what the outcome will be? Certainly not, and our vision can change as we go along. But it does mean that we can keep checking in with the vision (our version of winning the World Series) and keep moving along in the direction we want to go. If, over time, our movements do not seem to be getting anywhere, we can change strategies while maintaining the vision.

The tricky balance is becoming comfortable not knowing for sure what will happen while maintaining the momentum to move toward what we want. Being able to accept a level of uncertainty in our lives and in each moment makes it easier to deal with the fact that life does not provide us with the safe parameters of a tidy 9 innings.

A good teacher goes a long way…

Friday night I took the Riverside Moonlight History & Mystery Tour at Denver's oldest operating cemetery. Very interesting – not spooky, just historically interesting. The tour guide took us around the old paths, warned us not to trip on the stones, and told stories about Denver's colorful historical figures – a bank robber in an unmarked grave (1,000 people came to his funeral); a prostitute murdered by a Jack the Ripper copycat; Augusta Tabor, who ended up rich while her ex-husband and Baby Doe did not. The tour took about an hour and a half but felt like maybe 15 minutes – I lost track of time while immersed in the stories and the place.

I majored in history in college. I hated history – until 11th grade, that is, when Mr. Dickman leaned back in his chair and began to tell stories, really interesting stories, not "Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, blah de blah." I learned that year that the same subject I'd deemed "most boring ever" was actually one of my favorites. I could get lost in those stories, too, and I learned how fascinating people really are, then and now. If it weren't for Mr. Dickman, would I have even been interested in the cemetery tour all these years later?

It's clear that one teacher can change the course of our lives, or can at least make us see something in a totally new way. It's helpful in career development to think about who your influential teachers have been, even as far back as high school. It's equally beneficial to consider the subjects you loved back then, even if you've long since abandoned them for more "practical" things (no, I mean especially if you've abandoned them). What lessons from these teachers and subjects can you look back on to inform your present and future life?

What did you used to love? Who influenced you in positive ways that you may have forgotten all about? Is there anything you can find in the answers to these questions that might help guide you toward your next pursuit?

How am I "using" history? Most of all, I still love stories. I listen to my clients' stories and synthesize what they tell me into the collaborative idea-generating process and into helping them see new perspectives on their situations. I listen to people's stories outside of work – at coffee houses, in folk music, at the movies, in novels…stories are everywhere. And before I became a counselor, I conducted personal history interviews, taught middle school history, and wrote lesson plans for other teachers' history classes. So the thread continues to weave through my life.

More to the point, how might you weave the thread into your life? How might you "use" the subjects you love? Is there a potential career connection, or might you incorporate those subjects into your life regardless of what you get paid to do? Do any of these subjects get you to lose track of time, to be in the flow of your experience? By considering these questions, you can very possibly see what needs more attention in your life, either on a grand scale (new career) or in a more subtle way (reading a historical novel, subscribing to National Geographic, taking a French class, etc.).

Seeking amateur and professional artists, musicians, etc. who have found satisfying ways to make a living and do their art…

I'm currently seeking artists of any type (visual artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, actors, designers, etc.), both amateur and professional, to interview about their careers and the ways they've discovered to make a living. 

Why? Because:

• The stories I gather can serve as inspiration for my readers and clients.
• Artistic and creative people (that's really anyone, by the way) can gain ideas and insights from each others' stories.
• It'll give the interviewees a chance to talk freely about themselves, which, let's face it, most of us enjoy – and it'll give them some free publicity if they're seeking it.
• I can't share my clients' confidential stories, but I can interview non-clients and give them a platform for their stories.
• I love to interview people and have been told that people enjoy my interviewing style (perceptive and inquisitive, but not pushy).
• This topic fascinates me and a lot of other people!

If you know someone who might fit the bill, or if this applies to you, please contact me! I'm creating this new section of my web site to provide examples of people who have successfully* found ways to both make a living and create their art. This can include people who are:

• working full-time in non-artistic jobs that allow them time on the side
• working part-time gigs to pay the bills
• pursuing their art full-time
• following another model…

Please share this page with anyone you think would be a good candidate to be interviewed. If I choose to interview them, I can keep their identity confidential (if that's what they want), or I can provide a link to their web site and give them a little publicity (if that suits them better). I'll conduct the interviews in locations convenient for them and, if they're local, treat them to coffee and snacks…should be a good time for everyone!

Thanks!

~ Betsy ~

*By "successful," I don't mean rich and famous, although if you want to hook me up to interview one of my favorite bigshot musicians, I won't mind! I really mean people who are relatively content, having found success however they define it.

"Career advice" from the '80s

Oh wow, I went to a good show Saturday night! Sometimes the music of our youth comes back to grab us when we're much older, casting a spell that transcends the outrageous hairstyles of our high school decade (in my case, the '80s). That's what happened at the Howard Jones concert in downtown Denver. Remember him? No matter…back then, I loved his high energy songs but most of all his lyrics, and I still do.

There's some clear relevance to career development in lines like:

The world teaches us to think that life is full of limitations
The world tries to make us think that there are loads of limits

Welcome to Conditioning

and

This is a song to all my friends
They take the challenge to their hearts
Challenging preconceived ideas
Saying goodbye to long standing fears

and

And tell me, is it a crime to have an ideal or two
Evolving takes its time, we can't do it all in one go
Doesn't have to drive us all mad, we can only do our best
Let the mind shut up, and the heart do the rest

(lyrics from Conditioning, New Song, and Don't Always Look at the Rain, http://www.howardjones.com/lyrics.html)

I really didn't write this post to provide insight about my musical preferences. This is really about you:

• In what ways might you be holding back based on longstanding conditioning or "metal chains" that are no longer serving you?
• Where have your ideals gone? Are they still lurking somewhere? Are you in touch with them every day? If not, what can you do to get them back?
• What music inspired you in high school or your earlier days? Does it still? Can you return to it for comfort in times of stress?

Chance events

Have you ever had a ceiling crash down in front of you, a near miss? I have not. But a few weeks ago I went to a friend's CD release party at Denver's gorgeous (and old) Oriental Theater. Exactly a week later, I missed another show I'd considered going to. Immediately after that show ended, the ceiling above the stage caved in, crashing some large beams down onto the stage.

Wonderfully, no one was hurt. We might say the musicians who had just finished their encore were at the right place at the right time, even though a few minutes or a few feet would have changed that equation to wrong place at wrong time.

We've all had that feeling that we narrowly escaped something dreadful, just as we've all had important positive chance encounters that wouldn't have happened if we'd taken a later bus, gone out for pizza instead of Mexican, or watched Mythbusters instead of meeting friends out.

Think about how many things in your life up to this point have occurred by chance*, either for better or worse. In career development or a job search, people typically don't want to leave anything to chance – but chance events happen regardless. We miss an opportunity because we just learned about it, and the application deadline was yesterday (I'd recommend applying anyway, just in case). But we also meet just the right person because she happened to be invited to the same Halloween party, and we took the initiative to put on a costume and go.

It might be worth thinking about both sides of the equation for yourself. What would you do if the ceiling crashed, so to speak? And how can you keep yourself available for the fascinating, and sometimes life-changing, chance encounters and random events that come up?

*I know, I know – many people will say "nothing happens by chance, there's a reason for everything." That's a perspective that can be helpful to take, and maybe a topic for another post….

That's someone's job!

I have a habit of looking at everything through the lens of the job, or the work, behind the subject. For example, I might notice an interesting track lighting setup in a restaurant, and my mind quickly goes to "That's someone's job to design lighting like that." In fact, it's also someone's job to sell the lighting to restaurants, someone else's job to market the company that sells it, etc.

I feel similarly when I take my cats to the vet, although I can more directly see who's behind the scenes. Wow, there are a bunch of people who have dedicated this part of their lives to helping cats like mine. Who else is back there, running the lab tests, developing the medications, designing the scrubs with smiling multicolored cats and dogs?

If you're hoping to change your career direction, or if you're entering the workforce for the first time, see if you can cultivate some of this curiosity toward the human labor behind everything. Questions like "Who did that?," "Where do they design that sort of thing?," and "What goes into making that happen?" can lead to a creative train of thought that could lead you to do some research in areas you had never thought about.

Look around – examples of interesting work are everywhere!

Do you have a hidden specialty?

You know how hairdressers have good stories about other people (sometimes referred to as gossip, but sometimes just interesting stories)? The other day, mine told me about his buddy in Omaha who has found a highly specialized way to make a living: he does nothing but repairing and detailing people's car wheels. He started off as a car repair generalist and, over time, moved toward this level of specialty. Apparently, he makes a lot of money doing so, and he knows just who in his community is most interested in keeping their wheels spiffy.

You're thinking "Great, I have no car wheel detailing skills, so what?" Me neither. But if you're looking around for ways to make a living without a job, the point is to think creatively about what you do know how to do. Consider all of your skills, even the ones you typically save for Sunday afternoon (are you good at shopping? organizing your files? making banana bread?).

If you get good enough at something, devote enough time and energy to it, and find people who will buy it (think "who lives in the upscale neighborhoods around here?"), you might be able to make at least part of your living doing it. People do earn money shopping for busy people, organizing the chaotic office or home, and baking their grandma's secret recipes…as well as shining up wheels. Might you be able to make something of the talents you take for granted?

Shyness

I have a song in my head today. Who remembers "Ask" by the Smiths? The same song was probably going through my head the first day of my first (and unsuccessful) attempt at graduate school in 1989 (more on that in another post…), so that dates the song, and me, considerably.

The first lines go:

Shyness is nice and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to.

It's a good song – catch it on Itunes – but that's not the point. The point is, it always gets me thinking about the truth in those words. I was a ridiculously shy kid, hiding behind my mother when people would come over to our house. I'm no longer hiding behind mom, but I think about how the vestiges of shyness can derail perfectly good ideas, work opportunities, and potential friendships.

Shyness can be so sneaky that we have no idea it's with us. Not having the energy to do something on your "to do" list, thinking "Oh, I'm sure she's too busy to talk to me now, maybe I'll try again another time," realizing that it's time to clean your bathroom so there's no way you can squeeze in that professional networking meeting tonight – sound familiar? All stalling tactics that may have their root in a fundamental shyness.

I'm an introvert*, and I need lots of alone time – maybe you are, too. I also still feel shy, sometimes – maybe that's true for you as well. But think about an area in your life that could use a little "oomph," a boost out of a rut, and then think about where your energy is leading you. Are you inclined to sit at home and think about it or plan for it, rather than take action? If so (I can relate), what's one thing you might be holding yourself back from on account of shyness, or the reluctance to put yourself "out there" with another person or a group of people? What one thing can you take action on this week to help move you out of the rut and prevent what you really don't want to see happen, letting shyness stop you "From doing all the things in life you'd like to."

*Introversion and shyness are not the same – you can be a non-shy introvert, craving time to chill out alone with a good book but not afraid to strike up conversations when the mood hits you.