...to do the thing you always wanted to do.
Ok fine…it might be too late to do the exact thing in the exact way you wanted to…but it’s not too late to do something strikingly similar. (ie. Time has run out on my NBA dreams but I could still play competitively everyday and coach a middle school team)
Usually when we say, ‘it’s too late’ what we really mean is, ‘Life didn’t hand me the right cards at the right time and now I’m screwed forever’.
You’re not. You’ve got time. It’s not too late.
Is the mistake a wrong note or is the mistake the distraction it causes you, which takes away from connection with your audience?
Is the mistake tripping over a cable or is it taking the audience for granted?
Is the mistake your voice cracking on the high note or is it a failure to prepare?
Is the mistake not hitting the lighting cue or is it the failure of giving the audience an extra special moment if you would have hit the cue?
Is a mistake missing dance step or the look you gave your fellow performer when they missed one?
Technical mistakes are the easiest to point out and the ones most often pointed out. But I don’t think many artists got into this to parade their technical perfection.
The types of mistakes you focus on goes a long way in revealing your answer to, ‘why are we doing this?’
If you serve the dinner mint right before the salad it’s likely that the salad isn’t going to taste how you hoped it would.
It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the salad…or the mint.
Putting on a show is the same way. Each song is setting up the next song. Don’t serve the mint before the salad. And don’t get rid of the mint or the salad. Rather, refine your service.
We seem to have well laid plans for what we’d do if we had an extra million dollars but are very unclear about what to do with the amount of money we have.
We attach an elusive dream to an elusive amount of money and live on hypotheticals as so called fuel for our hope…as oppose to making plans with what we have for the money and outcomes we desire.
It’s even more fun to be excited when it’s at the same time as someone else about the same thing.
The Paul McCartney six part series on Hulu is worth watching. (If nothing else watch until you hear the isolated vocal/drums on Sgt. Peppers).
Interlaced throughout the stories is the idea of excitement…about a chord, a song, a sound, an idea, a new way.
Excitement that came from coupling current joy about something new with curiosity about where it might lead.
That said, maybe excitement doesn’t only have to be bestowed upon us magically…maybe it could be something we learn to develop. Joy plus curiosity.
It’s certainly worth a try. Maybe even worth getting excited about.
We all wish we were in a band…to be in a gang with magical and musical connection.
We all wish we were a solo artist…autonomy to steer the ship.
Bands are the worst…you can never completely have it your way.
Being a solo artist is the worst…it’s lonely.
A band says…no one is bigger than the group.
A solo act says…I am willing to lay my name on the line.
There’s a wide range of give and take, pros and cons. It all centers around buy-in, connection, leadership, vision, chemistry…and luck.