Million Dollar Beans

If you offer a toddler a million dollars to eat their lima beans they won’t take the deal.

And it’s too bad because that’s a lot of money…money that could buy any other food in the world.

But toddlers don’t value money. They aren’t playing the game of acquiring money to go buy what they want.

If you want a toddler to eat lima beans you have to get them to want to eat them. Toddlers want fun and excitement and funny faces and silly stories…which can be a lot harder to work up the energy for.

Sometimes I wish they’d just take the money.

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The Exciting Part

The most exciting part is when everyone thinks the rocket ship is about to take off…not when you’re at the top, already blasted off into the stratosphere.

The top is easier, more luxurious and more lucrative…but as for excitement…excitement is about potential…just how much is in the powder keg…the fuse has been lit and we’re about to find out.

Anticipating the explosion is always more exciting than talking about it afterwards.

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Unlikely Events

I had a fun conversation with a friend today about moments that ended up happening but not how we thought they’d happen. Getting on a tour bus for the first time, recording in a real studio for the first time, playing famous venues, meeting some of our heroes.

A couple things…

-Of course they didn’t happen how we thought they would. Unlikely events are already unlikely. It’s much more likely that an unlikely event will happen not how we thought it would.

-This is not to say you shouldn’t plan. The great part about following a plan, a specific desire and goal is that wonderful unlikely things are much more likely to happen.

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What Goes Into Getting On Stage

When you’re up on stage in front of everyone no one knows how hard it was just to be standing there.

There’s the career side…how hard it is to get a good agent, book the venues, sell that many tickets, have music people want to hear, have a show people want to see, build the fan base for years.

But then there’s the sheer logistics of the day…the airport, the waiting, the bus, the vans, the hotel, back into the vans, soundcheck, problems at soundcheck, what time is dinner, wait some more, share the green room with the other acts, try to facetime with the kids, poor internet connection, showtime…

The hurdles and hardships just to climb onto that stage are exhausting. It’s a miracle every time it happens.

But for those who get it…there’s something about that final step onto the stage that somehow makes it worth it and keeps a desire to do it all again.

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Walking Into New Places

An important part of the touring musician’s job description is ‘walking into new places’. We do that a lot. Way more than most people.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked where the bathroom is, where’s the stage, is it always this cold in here, what good restaurants are within walking distance, what’s that smell.

There’s a certain rhythm that unfolds when showing up to a new place which becomes oddly familiar. If you can be ok with that, you’ve got a chance at survival.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Tolerating Crazy

If you’re the kind of person who is willing to tolerate a lot of crazy, you’re going to attract a lot of crazy. So if you find yourself dealing with a lot of crazy and chaos it’s worth asking yourself how much of it is there simply because you don’t do much to get rid of it.

Tolerating crazy sure makes for some great stories but the shaky ground and exhaustion that is often left in its wake might not be worth the thrill ride.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple