Freedom To Create Naturally

From time to time...in my work as an artist...some people...chide me by saying..."why
didn't you...or why don't you...write about such and such". Only yesterday...I received an e-mail...that in part...was a compliment about my work...but in part...was one of these chidings. When this happens...I get the feeling...do people who overstep the boundaries of others like this...have any idea...what has made you tick all these years?. I can't speak for any other artist...but I know...unless I was working on a
commission for writing songs...with the subject area known...before I even started...
my natural inclination...has been to create things...organically...as a subject seizes
me. I've found that once the subject for a song...for instance...is something someone
tells me..."I must do"...I tend to lose interest...as just about a reflex action. Sure
...I've tended in the past...to have a vague notion...ahead of time...some of what I
would like to write about...but I tend to wait until I am naturally triggered to write a specific song. Over the years...the main offenders in this area of my artist's life...are people with a political agenda...who assume they know what my politics are...or should be. It seems they sometimes mistake me for a propagandist...doomed to write about the same family of subjects...for all time. Nothing would bore me more than that. It is the freedom to write about something that's not totally predictable...at times subtly...about one of the many dimensions of being human...that helps me to keep fresh as an artist. Not being able to contain myself at times...as I feel outraged by something...I've written some not so subtle songs. I may have a need to write these kinds of songs at times...but they are seldom the songs that make me feel when I listen to them after..."I really hit the spot there". Anyway...this is one approach to my work as an artist...I hope to keep taking. Ultimately...this approach...keeps me going...in a way...that writing what I should...according to what someone not standing in my shoes commands...could never do. Long live the freedom to create naturally!......Quester.