Savannah – Savánnah Mehran

Five Ways To Defeat Writers Block

Savannah — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 19:47:12 +0000

Writer’s block; what a songwriter hopes to never endeavor but always meets with every once in a while. Writer’s block is one of the most frustrating moments that a songwriter can encounter with; wanting to write so badly, but not being able to. It reminds me of being exhausted but not being able to fall asleep; both frustrating and painful. Although events like these feel as though they are never ending, there is always a moment that breaks the block and allows you to continue moving forward. How are you supposed to move on yourself? What can you do to personally defeat writer’s block yourself? Don’t worry, songwriters, I understand it seems impossible, it seemed impossible to me, too. But before you doubt me any further, here are five ways to defeat writer’s block.

Task number one: Don’t think. Yea, I understand that it is much easier said than done, but all you have to do is take a load off. Calm your mind from the thoughts of “this isn’t good” and “this is a dumb idea”. No idea is dumb! Every idea has potential to be something great. Allow your thoughts to flow and don’t let anything hold you back from continuing to invent and create. You’ve clearly done this before, you’re just stuck in this moment of writer’s block. Don’t let it get you down, continue to move forward.

Tast number two: Think on your feet. Get out of your bed and get out of your head! Go for a walk, grab a piece of paper and allow everything in your head to evolve outwards. You can’t think of anything you don’t yet know, everything you know is in your head. Make observations about the world around you and allow that to create an entirely different view of everything in your head. The ideas in your mind are always going to be the same; jump out of your mind and get it on paper. By putting your ideas on paper, your able to externalize your ideas and instead of visualize them, they are there for your eyes to see. It is amazing to see your ideas on paper because you evolve new ideas from seeing what is on your paper. This method helps you to keep that initial idea and continue to create new ones and evolve from your original idea. You can put your thought process on paper and have every idea down and move very quickly instead of sitting and thinking about one consistent idea.

Task number three: Steal from other music. Wait, before you bail out on me, listen in on this one for a second. Listen to some of your favorite artists and find what you love about their music. Take their meaning or feeling you recieve from that song and write about it. Take chords from a song and take the strumming from another song. Don’t worry about being “original”, no song is “original”; most songs have evolved from other songs, so you can do the same thing! One of my teachers in the STAC Program at my highschool created this writing strategy: listen to a brand new song you’ve never heard before and try to write down the lyrics as you listen to it once. You’d be surprised how different your mind hears the words in the song rather than what is actually being said. By doing this, you create lyrics that are beyond your minds creation and you create something that was based off of something else unintentionally. Your ears may have heard a beautiful lyric that was never actually there. Now you’ve gotten something to work off of. It seems strange to want to create music by listening to other music, but you find what you love in other artists and you create your own specific style from that.

Task number four: Do something else! I know when you’re trying to beat writer’s block, all you want to do is sit in your room and try to punch out some lyrics, but don’t! Instead, go do another one of your favorite hobbies; dance around your room, watch a movie, write about your day in a journal, or talk to a friend. After doing that, see how you feel. Write it down. Even just simply writing how you feel in a specific moment or time is a special feeling that you can’t artificially create. The more genuine your words, the better. Even if you can’t write a song at that moment, you can go back and look at that specific moment and feel what you felt. This has always helped me write about one specific thing over a long period of time. Simply going back and reading something you’ve written some time ago is like looking into the past. This is an incredible experience and has a strange play on time. Not only is this experience beautiful, it helps your songwriting gears turn.

Last but not least, task number five: Don’t force anything. You’re in writer’s block and nothing is working for you? That’s okay! Don’t stress about it, eventually things will fall back into place. Don’t try to create something when you’re not feeling it. You can’t force art when it doesn’t want to be created. This doesn’t mean give up completely, it simply means take a break. Remove yourself from the activity and reset. Once you reset, you’ll feel a whole lot better, sometimes even better enough to go right back to writing! You’ll eventually be able to write again, so don’t force it too much and take your time. You’re brilliant and you can do this, I know you can because you’ve done this before and you’re strong enough to overcome anything. Simply apply all of the strategies that you can and move on from there. Moments like this help you grow and make you stronger as a songwriter. Think of it as a beautiful thing, you can only move on from here, it is simply which path you choose to take, and each path is a lovely path full of new experiences, achievements, and outcomes. Now go ahead and be the best songwriter you can be, because you can be and you are! Just remember: sometimes it takes a fall to stand up tall.

Blast Into The Future

Savannah — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 02:03:34 +0000

7 AM. Rise and shine. As I run into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I scurry myself to my closet to decide what I want to wear, same as usual. I make my way downstairs to the kitchen to get myself a granola bar to eat on my way to work. I get a reminder that I have 6 clients to speak to today. I loved my job. I am a child psychologist. I love helping people with their problems, because it was something I appreciated as a kid. I balance my day out knowing that I will be done by 6 PM tonight. As I leave, I repeat the same 3 words I repeat every single morning. Cell phone, wallet, keys. I lock the door behind me and make my way to the car. As I pull out of the driveway, I turn on the radio. Christmas music is of course playing in the car, it’s December. A chilly morning has given me the idea to get myself a nice cup of hot chocolate. I am on my way. Once I see all of my patients, I feel good about how I helped them with their problems, once again. I make my way to my house to change into my workout clothing. I repeat the same 3 words everyday before I exit my home. Self phone, wallet, keys. I am on my way to my dance class to keep up with my technique and health. Once I reach my home, I clean myself up, and run upstairs to my bedroom. I read 9:00 pm on my clock. I instantly pull out my ukulele to begin my writing. I have about an hour to get some stuff down. I take my sweet little time. I am practicing some originals for another coffee house I signed myself up for. As I begin to yawn and my eyes feel heavy, I put away my ukulele and drag myself to bed. I send my mom and my dad a good night text and sending them my love, as my nightly routine. I set my alarm for tomorrow for 7 AM and plug my phone into the charger. I sink into the pillows and let the sheets fall on me to warm me up. Today was a good day, as it usually is.

The Fear Of Improve

Savannah — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 02:54:58 +0000

This week I decided to talk about improve. When I used to hear the word improve, I immediately would get intimidated. The thought of having to come up with something on the spot sounds really scary. Not having control of where the situation may go sounds like you’re leading yourself towards disaster. As much as I can extremely relate to these thoughts, I have found a way to overcome these overcome these thoughts. As much as you may afraid to “make a mistake”, every single person in that room is probably going to do the same thing. You have to remember, you’re not the only person that has no clue what’s going to happen next. Everyone else in this room is probably afraid and has no clue what’s going on either, so just give it your all and I promise you, everything will turn out fine. This mindset has really benefited with my acting skills and has helped me not be so afraid. Fear is one of your worst enemies in art and life! It hold you back from finding out your passion and learning something new. Once you finally understand that you’re not the only one, it no longer feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. This idea of not being afraid also can apply to cold reads. I’ve always been intimidated by performing a script for the first time in front of an audience without every seeing the script. But what you need to understand is that no one else knows the script, so you’re not the only one. If you give the script your all and just allow yourself to be okay with making mistakes, then the cold read won’t end up being as bad as it seems. Once you understand that you’re not alone in a situation and that your not the only one feeling that, then it allows you to understand that it’s okay to be nervous, is okay to make mistakes, but don’t let that hold you back from giving it your all and being your best you. Because as much as you may not believe it, fear can stop you from getting stronger, improving, and giving the script and the audience all you’ve got, but you have the control to let it not. Once you have applied this mindset, improve and cold reads will seem much less intimidating.

Tunnel Vision

Savannah — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 02:02:10 +0000

Many people let themselves down by saying they can do something. They find as many excuses as they can to try to overpower the reason to do something. But the truth is you can do anything. If you set your mind to something and you set your goals high, you really can do almost anything. Many people find ways and say things such as “I don’t have enough time” or “I don’t have the talent” or “I am incapable if doing that”, and lastly “It’s impossible”. The truth is that you really can do anything, it’s just that you can’t follow through with it. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be shocking and very difficult to follow through. Some people don’t have a strong enough mindset to tell themselves that they can do it, although it’s just an excuse to saying they don’t want to better themselves. Now, if you’re trying to better yourself and become more successful, how do you do it? You have to narrow your view. You have to have tunnel vision and be able to focus on what you want. Don’t let the distractions take over where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Sometimes the distractions can make it harder to focus on your goal. Many things can get in the way of your success, even distractions such as being denial to succeeding. You have to be able to not let those thoughts of giving up come to your mind. Allow those thoughts of “giving up” not to be an option, because in order to achieve success, “giving up” isn’t an option. In order to force those first reactions away from your attention, you have to focus more of the success and results you will receive in your practice. Focus on how your going to get here and what will bring you to your best ability of success. Once you have passed that state of denial, make sure you never turn back, because once you’ve started something that is benefiting you, it should be too hard to follow through with it because you are receiving positive feedback, therefore, continues to not let those distractions get in the way of your success and achievements. If you fall back from something, it will also be very difficult to get back onto that same scheduler and discipline, but not matter what circumstances that may apply to you, if you have the right mindset to do the right thing, you can do anything.

New Year Resolutions

Savannah — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 01:02:50 +0000

One of the main conversations as of today is New Years resolutions. You guessed it. New year new me. This year I’m going to change. Although many people start to create these resolutions, others say that they never work. The issue with New Year resolutions are that people only limit them to the new year. Being able to commit to something that isn’t so easy isn’t extremely simple to continue. Even as an artist, committing to something that causes a ton of effort isn’t always easy to sticking. Something like a 365 or practicing something to get better at it is not always easy when it’s painful. In other words, in order to get what you want, you may have to do things that you won’t want to do. For example, in order to get good grades, you have to study and work hard for them, in order to get better at drawing is to continue to practice as much as you can. Sometimes that journey to get where you want to get can be a frustrating rollercoaster. You may go through times where you are doing well and you also may go through times where you want to give up, but you have to stay strong and continue to move forward to not let yourself fall back and return to the start. Another issue with New Years resolutions is when to finish. When many people are satisfied with their results, they end up thinking that they don’t have to continue with it any longer and then they loose their results. For example, if someone wants to get better at playing an instrument, they’re going to practice as much as they can, and once they think they’re good enough, they stop practicing and then eventually their results will slowly decrease. It’s important to have a goal and continue to follow through with it. The truth is that these new year resolutions should never come to an end. Staying strong and following things through will bring you to success and an ever longing of your results. Continuing with mind over matter will give you the strength to be able to have a lot of control and discipline for yourself, and that will bring you that much farther in life and help you achieve. It will give you the power to be able to make decisions and resolutions and changes much easier than the person that doesn’t have strong self discipline.

Acting

Savannah — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 00:06:31 +0000

Acting is a difficult thing to comprehend. Many people, including myself, don’t understand how simple acting can be many people believe that acting is something that is forced, meanwhile most people everyday are acting and they don’t even know it. Acting is being able to take into account your own feelings and experiences and applying it to the scene. Good actors are just people who understand how to put their own feelings into their scene. They know how to take what they are feeling and letting it take over their character. Many people also don’t understand that the lines are not what is important in the scene. The way you perform the lines and who your character is and the way they say the lines is what’s important. My STAC teacher, Luke, was telling all of the students this and it has changed my viewpoint on acting and behavior. Many things we do everyday, our reactions, the way we talk, the way we think, is normally represented through very simple actions. For example, when we think, we don’t scratch our head or bring hand to our chin, all we do is think. We don’t have any over reacted actions that we do when we thing, we just think! It has truly opened my eyes and really helped me understand how acting is truly a natural and real thing. Acting is truly a way of representing what actually happens in real life and in real life situations. Normally, when you see good acting, it is when the actors understand real life situations and their real emotions in the moment and applying it to their character and the scene. In acting, the way your character reacts to things will have something to do with how you actually feel in the moment. If you’re nervous before you perform a scene, you should allow your character to feel nervous as well and you should perform the scene as nervous. As well as manipulating your character, you can also manipulate your lines because when you see the script, the lines are not what’s important. You can also manipulate your lines in many different ways as well. The same script can be said in many completely different ways if you change the character and what they are trying to get across. Therefore, your lines is not what’s important. It was truly a life changer to understand what acting actually is. It has helped me understand that acting is a real thing and something people every where do every single day.

Acting Is Real

Savannah — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 00:05:31 +0000

Acting is a difficult thing to comprehend. Many people, including myself, don’t understand how simple acting can be many people believe that acting is something that is forced, meanwhile most people everyday are acting and they don’t even know it. Acting is being able to take into account your own feelings and experiences and applying it to the scene. Good actors are just people who understand how to put their own feelings into their scene. They know how to take what they are feeling and letting it take over their character. Many people also don’t understand that the lines are not what is important in the scene. The way you perform the lines and who your character is and the way they say the lines is what’s important. My STAC teacher, Luke, was telling all of the students this and it has changed my viewpoint on acting and behavior. Many things we do everyday, our reactions, the way we talk, the way we think, is normally represented through very simple actions. For example, when we think, we don’t scratch our head or bring hand to our chin, all we do is think. We don’t have any over reacted actions that we do when we thing, we just think! It has truly opened my eyes and really helped me understand how acting is truly a natural and real thing. Acting is truly a way of representing what actually happens in real life and in real life situations. Normally, when you see good acting, it is when the actors understand real life situations and their real emotions in the moment and applying it to their character and the scene. In acting, the way your character reacts to things will have something to do with how you actually feel in the moment. If you’re nervous before you perform a scene, you should allow your character to feel nervous as well and you should perform the scene as nervous. As well as manipulating your character, you can also manipulate your lines because when you see the script, the lines are not what’s important. You can also manipulate your lines in many different ways as well. The same script can be said in many completely different ways if you change the character and what they are trying to get across. Therefore, your lines is not what’s important. It was truly a life changer to understand what acting actually is. It has helped me understand that acting is a real thing and something people every where do every single day.

Obstacles Through Art

Savannah — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 21:58:55 +0000

Everyday people approach obstacles that they are not willing to face. The obstacle is not what is important, the way you attempt to go around is it what is important. Every person deals with their obstacles in different ways. Some people just walk away from their obstacles and completely disregard their obstacle, some people do things that try to go around it and force them to forget about the obstacle, and some people have different ways to approach their obstacle and maybe even overcome their obstacle. Throughout our lives we will have to deal with obstacles whether we desire to or not. As myself, I deal with my obstacles by facing them and finding ways to overcome they and live beyond them. I use art as one of my ways to face my issues and obstacles that come toward me in my life. It helps me face my obstacles and understand why they have shown themselves through this experience called life. It helps me cope with my emotions and live through the experience and eventually overcome it. No matter what experience you face, you have the ability to live beyond it in.m a positive way. Doing something that is harmful to who you are to try to deal with your obstacle is never an excuse. No matter who you are or what your experience is, you have the ability to live past your experience and cope with it in a positive way. Once you understand that you have total control of your decisions and how you cope with your experiences, then you will finally understand how to manipulate the negative moments into something positive and something that will help you grow. Every experience and obstacle approaches you for a reason and the way you deal with those obstacles says a lot about who you are and what your future holds for you. Everyone has the ability to become successful. You are the one who allows yourself whether or not if art is an option to go about your obstacles. Art is hugely impactful to the creator and the viewer. As long as we all stick together and help each other in ways we can all connect with one another, art will help the world be a better place. Creating art pieces that will help join people who deal with the same issue will help form a family of people who understand each other and learn to help each other in moments of doubt. Art is truly my way of expiring my obstacles and the people who understand my artwork immediately feel closer to me and feel as if they are able to talk to me and express their emotions and experiences with me, and I think the connection you make with people through your work is the most important.

Words and Movement

Savannah — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 20:14:40 +0000

This week I decided to write about a show I saw at Hofstra. On Thursday, November 29th, the dancers at Hofstra college had a modern dance performance. I was so unbelievably moved and some of the performances were so powerful, I didn’t want them to end. One of my favorite performances was a performance by a girl who talked about Bipolar disorder. The performer choreographed this piece and she made the decision to perform a dance and a monologue simultaneously. The way the movements connected with the words she would say and how each syllable and emphasis on the words affected the performance of each movements was so captivating. She said a lines that went something like “I am bipolar disorder and I am always in the back of your mind” and “Call me crazy one more time”. She would repeat certain words or phrases that helped the audience understand what the topic was and how significant each sentence was to this topic. Her performance really stood out to me in that I didn’t want the performance to end and I was so captivated by the topic and how the topic effected her every move and the way she would perform the monologue. This performance has truly inspired me to create a piece involving both movement and words. It has shown me that even though movement can be vague in telling a story, words can tell the story, and the movement is what takes your breath away. A piece of art work can inspire you to create something and expose yourself to that media of art. It’s unbelievable how impactful art can be and what it can do to only one person. It if has impacted me so enormously, imagine how many other people have felt the same feeling. How will they deal with that inspiration and who else will they tell and share this experience with? The way words get out to other people and storied are shared can cause one performance to be known of around the world in less than one day. The impact someone can receive from someone else’s brave performance in getting their story and artwork out will really impact the world and impose a new media of art and what it means to you. This performance was truly breathtaking and the way she was able to deal with her experience through art shows the world that anyone is capable of creating art and dealing with their struggles and experiences.

Preserved Memories

Savannah — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 15:50:38 +0000

Your past and your present. How impactful it may be to your daily mannerisms. Now a days, it only takes the click of a button on a iPhone to capture a moment and the simple tap on a screen to look through your camera room, although not everyone has that advantage. In a before time, people watched videoed through tape and taking a video and rewatching the video is not as simple as an iPhone, you need extra tape and a hand held camera to carry around and reload as the film becomes full. Although, some people weren’t or aren’t even able to capture that moment and looking at baby pictures is practically impossible. You have to go off of your memory to recap a moment in time. Some people may never actually remember what they look when they were an infant. Those memories were lost in their time and the only people who will remember that image of them at that age would be their parents. We’ve become so dependent on technology that we have the impulse to snap a picture or take a video or even write a story about it. Technology is everywhere and the impact it has in our daily life is so prevalent it’s unimaginable. As well as technology impacting our family, memories and daily life, it impacts our art. Art has branched our into many different media’s and technology is now one of them. It has formed our society and changed the way people think and the way people view their surroundings. People no longer capture memories in their mind, it is now captured on a device that hold color through tiny pixels that come together to create a photograph. Or entire lives are documented through photographs, videos and writings of memories, dreams, and projects. Without technology, our projects wouldn’t be documented. Without technology, photographs and videos would be lost. It’s crazy to believe that without photos on technology, some of us may never know who we were and what it was like when they were a certain age. People grow and times change, memories were held together by a video or picture and the entire family comes together to relive those moments together. Remembering the past and reliving memories brings that warm feeling of good times and different time. It has given evoked an emotion that has caused us to want to live everyday with as much confidence and positivity as life can give to us. We allow ourselves to grow and mold to what we do and who we feel we are and reliving those moments from the past reassure you that you’ve made it this far and that no matter what difficult times you may have went through, you have given yourself the power to keep moving forward and never give up. Looking back o those memories not only allow you to remember what times used to be like, but also show you that you had made it from then all the way until now and you’re still alive and living strong.