Two Thousand

This is blog post two thousand. Wowie wow wow. One post one day at a time and they add up. Add up to what?

Going from zero posts to one thousand posts reoriented the way I see the day-to-day.

Going from one thousand posts to two thousand posts has shed light on the responsibility and opportunity I can take to utilize my viewpoint for the benefit of others.

Each night I open up my laptop on my charcoal couch or the black and brown chair next to the couch and it’s time to put something new together. 

Sometimes it’s an idea I had from the day. Sometimes I use an idea I’ve written down from a previous day (the Note titled ‘Blogs’ on my phone probably has a thousand unused ideas). Sometimes I put my feet on the coffee table. Sometimes there’s an episode of Seinfeld cued up. Sometimes I’m eating a snack. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing.

And sometimes a lot of other things. 

Lots of of other distractions.

That’s another thing writing this much as shown…it’s always possible to make the jump from not being creative to being creative. And it can be quicker than originally thought. Creativity doesn’t have to be such a big mystery…which has added to the mystery and the fulfillment.

I love the writing. I love the process. I love the hard parts. I love the connection.

And I’m glad to have you along for the ride…it’s better this way.

Here’s to many more.

Onward and upward.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The Volume

First Monday of the month means new Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple.

I would be interested to know if there’s a measurable relationship between the volume at which you listen to a new song and how often (or how much) you’d say you like the song.

And if you’re an artist you know how often you’ve sent demos to friends with the caveat ‘listen on headphones or speakers’.

So let’s go with it…If you’re hoping to like a song, turn it up.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Stop and Help

There’s a long list of people who won’t stop you.

There’s a short list of people who will help you.

With this information, the first thing each of us think of is ‘who is on each of my lists…especially that second one?’

But it’s also worth considering ‘whose lists am I on…especially that second one?’

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Getting Coffee Again

The only thing scarier than getting coffee with a friend is getting coffee again with them too soon.

I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about.

There are friends and acquaintances and associates who are on the six week rotation or the ten week rotation. And that’s because it takes that amount of time in between to feel good about getting together and having pretty much the same conversation all over again. It’s fun, it’s fine, its great to check in and connect a little bit.

But if you get coffee and then get coffee again with the same person just three days later, you’re sure to tread into new territory…because you won’t feel ok about rehashing all the same stuff since it’s only been three days.

It could get awkward. It could get boring. There might be some silence. But there also might be a new question. A question that digs just a little bit deeper than usual. And that’s where it goes from relationship maintenance to relationship growth.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Ad-Libs. Establish and Deviate.

Ad-libs go at the end of songs. The ad-lib is a deviation from the established melody. It’s bouncing off of what is already familiar and now the familiar gets a twist.

Ad-libs have a harder time being effective at the beginning of songs because the foundation hasn’t been set yet. We appreciate variations much more when we’re sure about how it’s ‘suppose to go’.

This is also why ad-libbing is pretty tough in the studio. The artist has just recently written the song, maybe never played it live, and is going to record the vocal but the melody isn’t ingrained enough in their head to be able to bounce off of it.

To add to that…As fans, it’s easy to wonder why the recorded version isn’t more like the amazing version we experience live. Well, it’s partly because all those cool nuanced things that are happening in the live version weren’t invented until long after the recording. After the artist has played the song a hundred times on the road the ad-libbing and creative modification (within in the boundaries of the song) can go way up…and with much more confidence and ease.

Establish and deviate.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The Frosting And The Good Cake

The key is to have something that people can understand and enjoy quickly…quickly enough to want to engage with it again and when they do they discover there’s so much more here than what they first thought.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple