Supportive voices in my head (Writing songs)

As I mentioned previously, I have started to write poems that should someday turn into songs. For now there is nothing much I could tell about it, except that it is great fun and I enjoy it a lot. My poems might be bad, but I think with more exposure to lyrics of other songs for example, I will get the gist of it and be able to create my own.

The funniest thing that I tried was to ask ChatGPT to write me some songs. Obviously I am not using the results, because they don’t resonate with me that much. But it is very interesting to see an example of what a song could look like. This is the song ChatGPT wrote about Happy Voices in my head:

(Verse 1)
I hear them every day, they lift me up and say
“You’re doing great, keep going!” and “You’ll get through anything!”
Voices in my head, they make me feel so blessed
I’m so grateful for their love, it’s like they’re my own personal nest

(Chorus)
Happy voices in my head, you make me smile and shine
Your words are like sweet music, that’s always in time
Supportive voices in my head, you cheer me on every day
I’m so lucky to have you, in my own special way

(Verse 2)
Sometimes they’re so loud, I can’t help but feel proud
Of everything I’ve achieved, with them as my company
Voices in my head, they never put me down
Their encouragement is like a golden crown

(Chorus)
Happy voices in my head, you make me smile and shine
Your words are like sweet music, that’s always in time
Supportive voices in my head, you cheer me on every day
I’m so lucky to have you, in my own special way

(Bridge)
I don’t know where they came from, or why they’re here to stay
But I know that I must cherish, their presence every day
I’ll listen to their guidance, and follow their lead
And I’ll know that I’m blessed, with all that I need

(Chorus)
Happy voices in my head, you make me smile and shine
Your words are like sweet music, that’s always in time
Supportive voices in my head, you cheer me on every day
I’m so lucky to have you, in my own special way

(Outro)
Happy and supportive voices, I’m so grateful for you
You make me feel so loved, in all that I do
I’ll keep listening to you, and taking your advice
With you by my side, I know I can conquer any strife.

ChatGPT

Isn’t it just the most amazing idea to have happy supportive voices in your head? Most of us know only the nagging and doubting merry-go-round that is playing on our nerves and keeps us small. But what if you could change that to a support system that cheers you up. I liked this idea and that’s why I asked ChatGPT to write a song about happy voices.

Btw. You could ChatGPT absolutely anything and you would get an answer. I wrote more about ChatGPT here.

Songwriting. I can only recommend everyone to try it. It’s really not as hard as you would imagine. Previously, I thought Songwriting was something that only geniuses can do. Then I made a friend who wrote really nice songs and it occurred to me that maybe even normal people, like him or me, could write songs. So I tried it. Not even consciously.

My first song came to me when I was taking a walk in my neighbourhood. I recorded it instantly and I still know the lyrics and melody by heart. It was definitely a gift from above and some day I will surely share it. For now, it has only verses and no chorus or bridge, so I am thinking if I should work on it and add those parts. But I will see how it’s going, because I might ruin the whole thing since it’s pretty much perfect as is.

The other songs I write are only lyrics for now, but I hope that once I improve on the guitar and piano, I could also write some music around it. Actually it is not difficult to find a melody line for the singing part. I am just lacking the skills to write it down properly. But since I am just starting out on this journey, there is plenty of time to record and make up everything.

I have one million ideas about topics, some phrases I’d like to include or just random prompts I could use.

I guess in a few months I could show you some results. For now I end this blog post with a quote about songwriting that I got from ChatGPT:

“Songwriting is the art of taking the intangible and making it tangible, the invisible and making it visible, and the impossible and making it possible.”

Unknown

What are your thoughts on Songwriting?

About the 3 rules of creativity and daily creative responsibilities

It’s important to go small steps, this is the first rule of creativity, I get it, but what if you have too many steps to go again and again? Because the second rule of creativity is to repeat and repeat and repeat. Practise makes perfect.

Obviously I learned this in Dance Schools, but not only there. It’s inherent in all creative processes: writing, singing, playing an instrument, drawing, acting – everywhere!

The latest addition to my creative daily routine is writing poems. That could only take 5 minutes, but where do I find 5 minutes for a poem, if I can’t find 7 minutes for morning yoga?

Other creative tasks include morning pages, writing blog posts, playing guitar, researching for my book, vlogs and now poems! (Which should eventually translate into songwriting some day.)

I WANT to do all of this on a daily basis, but on 10 out of 10 days I fail. I can do some of these things on a good day, on a bad day I do morning pages and that’s it. I haven’t ever caught up on all in one day.

Pushing myself makes me feel stressed and stress is the enemy of creative flow.

This is the third rule of creativity: Be relaxed and the muses will find you!

Artistic Break aka. Working on other Projects

It has been quiet on this blog and I would like to tell you Why.

I made a brainstorming about my brand Leila Yuliyah. I had been thinking about changing my focus and wanted to start posting different content. Reflecting my brand or persona has however given me another idea: I don’t want Leila Yuliyah to become one of the many persons on the internet that give advice.

Mainly because Leila Yuliyah is an artist and not a teacher.

I want to leave it this way! I want to use this account to experiment, to rehearse and to perform. As a dancer, as a model or maybe in the future as a musician. But I don’t want to give advice about creativity, at least not from her point of view.

I am however working on a new project that will include advice on creativity and many other topics. But it will be in German. I am working heavily on it and have prepared most of the material already. If you are interested in it, drop me a line and I will make sure that you won’t miss the launch.

But I am also working on my bellydance blog Y2B. It is in German, too. At the moment I prepare the bellydance video advent calendar. On 24 days in December I will post bellydance videos. I have been doing this in the past years and it was always great fun. This time I try to engage the bellydance community by including a mini interview from the dancers. I have not come as far as I would have like to come but I think I will manage it until the end of this month.

After that I will launch the new project.

First show after the pandemic

Yes, we suffered, yes we had to stay home, yes, we couldn’t perform. But now the times seem to get better and we are able to go back on stage.

I want to share with you my first live performance of this year, the first show after Covid hit us. It have been tough times and I am very happy to be back.

I must also admit that even before Corona I didn’t do a lot of shows. I was even thinking to quit dancing alltogether.

But I changed my mind. Belly Dance is a big part of my life and I don’t want to miss it although I am not doing weddings & other parties anymore.

Now I just dance for my own pleasure, for my friends and my followers. I have many new videos prepared and I am happy to share them with you.

This performance was on September 11, 2021 in Klosterfelde near Wandlitz.

When life has other plans

I really want to return to a more artistic life, but it is not so easy. It was probably naive of me to think that I just need to announce that I am starting a new life and everything will fall into place. Spoiler: It didn’t. I am still struggling. I am still fighting. But at least I know that I am in the right place doing the right things.

What is going well?

I did a little demo video with a percussionist. In the future we want to collaborate, rehearse and make more videos. We just need to find a good location for it.

I had a show last week. It was my first show in years and it went well. Now I need to edit the videos and upload them.

I am posting regularly on Instagram on my Bellydance account as well as on my lifestyle account.

What is going not so well?

I was not yet able to edit the new videos and upload them. I just don’t find the time to do it. I hope that this weekend will give me an opportunity to work on this.

I am not playing the guitar. I barely find the time and I am also afraid to do it. It is very frustrating because I don’t even know the basics yet. Everything sounds horrible and I make many mistakes.

What is the plan?

As you can see from my summary, I am mostly returning to my old life as a belly dancer even though I wanted to leave it behind. But I also don’t want to waste 15 years of training and expertise. So I keep going even though I don’t know where this path will lead me.

But I really need to get the new life started! I want to play the guitar, sing and make music. Unfortunately I am heavily struggeling with this.

Eventually I will get there. And in the end it will not matter if it took me three month or a year to achieve my goal. So I have still hope.

I want to do this and I will do it.

The short term plan is to keep posting old stuff, edit all the videos, create new material and learn playing the guitar.

Will you join me on this journey?