I don't think I am unlike most people when they have moments of doubt. When the winds of change come howling and along with them seems to also be the direction of our lives, or our projects, maybe even ideas, we freeze. We guess, we question, maybe we pray, asking, "where do I go from here?".
A couple of months back, I found myself doubting the direction of music for me and I wasn't sure how to rectify the spin of questions and doubts in my head. I then reached out to a fellow musician who has been in the industry longer than myself. I sent her an email, pouring my heart out as to how I was struggling, hoping she could provide me with a play by play plan for my music. I had a whole scenario planned out in my head. I was going to hear the ping in my inbox. And as I feverishly hit the mouse, a PowerPoint presentation would present itself outlining my road to success, one bullet point at a time. She responded alright, but instead of finding the Cliff notes to success in the music industry, she asked me a simple but poignant question... "ask yourself if you must write, and be brutally honest about whether it is/is not truly a must." My goodness, what a simple, but deep and soul searching question... I have to admit, this question knocked me back on my heels a bit. Then she followed it up with this thought, "My take on it musically is that one plays/writes because one plays and writes regardless of whether or not there is an audience, it is just what you do, create." WHOA...... heavy... but... TRUE. I write/play because I love to do it, regardless of whether there is an audience or not. The magical process of hearing a melody in my head, slowly humming it, fumbling around with chords to bring it out of my head to my guitar, imagining a story and finally, bringing that story to life by combining words with the music. BOOM! It never gets old.
This helped me so much! I will create music whether or not it brings material success or not. I will create music whether I live in Navarre, FL or Nashville, TN. I will create music whether I am in the city of Philadelphia or lost on the side of the mountain in North Georgia. I will create music because of how it makes me feel... how it awakens my spirit, broadens my connection to the world around me, and deepens my connection to people.
So many of us forget our passions. Life gets in the way, whatever that means. And with the distance we put between us and our passions, do we not also broaden the disconnections to ourselves, our spirit, and each other? How much more richness, enthusiasm, joy, and adventure could we bring to our own lives just by bringing those passions back? Some of my most vivid memories with my father are of him and myself sitting on his back patio in the summertime with our sun-kissed brewed iced teas jamming on our guitars. Maybe it's piano, maybe it's cooking, or in my wife's case, baking. Maybe it's a sport. Whatever it is, DO IT! BRING THEM BACK! You owe it to yourself and those around you who will automatically be lifted up by the sense of pure enjoyment your passion brings! Ask yourself what it is that you must do, and do it! I know for me... I must write!
