When The Fire Starts To Burn
Creative Block To Creative Breakthrough
“When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread…”
Eric Thomas
When I first heard Disclosure’s “When A Fire Starts To Burn” in 2013, I was going through one of the longest creative blocks I’d experienced since college.
For over a year, I couldn’t do or make anything I would consider artistic or creative.
I had a job that was design-related, but strictly technical. And oh so tedious. At the end of 60-80 work weeks, I was left depressed, exhausted, and feeling more like a corporate cog than a human being.
Even after escaping that job, I couldn’t catch my breath. I had lost my creative confidence and direction. Long story short, I needed something to happen.
And then this mantra-like song came on the radio while I was driving.
In under 5 minutes, it sparked a fire that burned my creative block to the ground.
Don’t ask me how that happened.
Maybe
She wrote about creative living in Big Magic.
Highly recommended!
Back to the song: Until today, I didn’t realize there was a music video.
This music video is just as strange and, to me, enjoyable as the song.
Church and televangelists are definitely not my cup of tea, so anything that pokes fun at their expense is entertaining to me. And the seeming nod to Ellen Burstyn’s brilliant performance in Requiem of a Dream just worked…for me anyway.
After some recent setbacks, I’m experiencing more creative doubt than usual. I know ignoring it could lead to another lengthy block. And I cannot afford one right now.
So I thought revisiting the song that helped me over a decade ago might spark yet another fire…and stop the block dead in its strikes. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
