I think sometimes, you have to bounce back by yourself, on your own time, at your own pace. That means trial and error. That means bursts of enthusiasm sprinkled in with flashes of sharp discouragement. This picture looks like life with my music has felt lately. It’s been a constant push hard and pull back even harder. My relationship with music is much like any other relationship — with peaks, valleys, and plateaus. I think that’s okay though. I think its important to acknowledge when things are hard. And let me tell you… things have been hard. Slowly but surely, I’m getting back to it.
I took this last month off from writing for my blog because I needed a chance to catch my breath and get my footing back. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m closer than I was a month ago, and I’m going to celebrate any step forward that I can!
Here are some things that these last few months have taught me:
1. It can be really exciting to learn something new. While my general formula for learning anything musical has always been “1. I can’t do this — 2. I’m not going to stop practicing until I get this stupid measure down — 3. *Two hours later* Wow, I can’t believe I thought that was so hard.” Taking some time to sit down with something that’s challenging and new can be rewarding.
2. It's okay to take time for yourself. Actually, I think sometimes you have to take time for yourself.
3. Nothing is as easy as it seems from the outside. I have to keep reminding myself of this one. It is really easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself/your music to others, and the truth is that you don't see the whole picture. You only see a glimpse, a little snapshot of what it actually takes to create the music. It's like that cheesy quote that says "Don't compare your behind the scenes to someone else's finished project." Or something like that. Cheesy or not...it actually has some truth to it. The majority of people out there are only showing everyone the good bits of their life, and even when they do share the hard parts, it is often still a watered down version of reality. You just have to put your head down and focus on what you are doing. You never win the comparison game.
I took this last month off from writing for my blog because I needed a chance to catch my breath and get my footing back. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m closer than I was a month ago, and I’m going to celebrate any step forward that I can!
Here are some things that these last few months have taught me:
1. It can be really exciting to learn something new. While my general formula for learning anything musical has always been “1. I can’t do this — 2. I’m not going to stop practicing until I get this stupid measure down — 3. *Two hours later* Wow, I can’t believe I thought that was so hard.” Taking some time to sit down with something that’s challenging and new can be rewarding.
2. It's okay to take time for yourself. Actually, I think sometimes you have to take time for yourself.
3. Nothing is as easy as it seems from the outside. I have to keep reminding myself of this one. It is really easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself/your music to others, and the truth is that you don't see the whole picture. You only see a glimpse, a little snapshot of what it actually takes to create the music. It's like that cheesy quote that says "Don't compare your behind the scenes to someone else's finished project." Or something like that. Cheesy or not...it actually has some truth to it. The majority of people out there are only showing everyone the good bits of their life, and even when they do share the hard parts, it is often still a watered down version of reality. You just have to put your head down and focus on what you are doing. You never win the comparison game.
I will be posting every Thursday (#thoughtsforthursday)
Next week, I will have a new cover video for you!
And I will be playing more shows in the next few months!
So Stay tuned, Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Next week, I will have a new cover video for you!
And I will be playing more shows in the next few months!
So Stay tuned, Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
*Side note : Right after I wrote this post, I was listening to "The Way Fam Podcast" and they had a couple musicians on the show and they ended up talking about the same comparison game thing that I have been going through. So I guess I'm telling you this because it reminded me why it's important to share things, because you never know who is listening/reading/watching. You never know who you might be affecting.