Kevin Carlson: Blog

A lot of folks have asked me where my inspiration comes from for my songs.  Well, it usually comes from somewhere least expected.   Recently, I started writing a song, still untitled, that draws from a recent experience while traveling.  You may have read my previous blog post about being stranded in Munich due to the volcano.  Well, this is where the story of this song began...

A few weeks ago while stuck in Munich for about 5 days awaiting a break in the ash cloud so I could fly back to Atlanta, I had a lot of time to contemplate things.  One thing I couldn't put my finger on was why I was so bothered by being in Munich a few extra days.  Obviously, I wanted to get home to see my family, but I knew that would happen eventually, even if I had to book a ticket on a transatlantic cruise :-)   I decided to sit down in the room one afternoon and really dig into what was bothering me -- sort of meditate on what I was feeling at the time and really try to pin down the source.  What I discovered really surprised me.

It just made no sense to me.  I was in a great city, had a nice hotel room in the historic center of Munich, was able to get to the Spring Festival, had friends keeping me company, but I was still really bothered by the flight cancellations.  What I finally came to understand was that I wasn't just stranded in Munich, I was stranded in my head.  Yes, of course, I was in Munich, but I had this expectation of what should be happening stuck firmly in my mind and that was causing all the anxiety.  Once I let go of that expectation and just went with the flow, things got better.

I began to think about how many folks must experience the same type of "strandedness", stuck with expectations of how things should be and afraid to fly in a new direction.  While the volcanic ash and the prevailing wind was keeping me from flying anywhere, it's the expectations I had and the fear of facing change that were really keeping me on the tarmac, so to speak.  Over the past two weeks a song has begun to take shape about facing change and uncertainty and not being afraid to look into the winds of change.  After all, a plane takes off easiest when facing into the wind.  Seems like that might apply to people, too...