Opening Presents

A lot of us get caught up in the ‘opening’ part of opening presents.

During the opening, the excitement level is at an all time high…our imagination is running completely wild and free. Anything could be in that box. So we fill it with every hope and expectation possible. Maybe this one will be the one.

And then we are finished opening the gift and we’re simply left with the gift. The actual thing.

The new gift (i.e. the new opportunity, the actual conversation, the way the event turned out in real life) alters reality not in an imaginary way but in an actual way. And we have to deal with the truth instead of what we hoped the truth might be.

The truth, the reality, the actual gift is often different than what we hoped for but it’s real. And that’s a gift.

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Family Christmas Singalong

We all want to be a part of a spontaneous super special magical moment.

The interesting thing is, in order for us to bask in this moment of bliss, someone ELSE had to be very intentional about making it happen. i.e. it didn’t just magically happen out of thin air to them, but it did to us.

The best way to make special moments happen is to initiate them.

If you want the family to break out in song on Christmas it’s best to bring the guitar and be prepared to rally the family.

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What's Going To Hit?

Whether it’s songs, gifts or party dips…we just don’t know what’s going to hit.

We make best guesses. We survey the landscape. We consider what others’ expectations might be. We review the relationship history. We listen to our hearts. We add creative spin.

We do our very best with everything we know and can reasonably infer.

And then we just gotta put it out there and see how it connects.

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A Free Lesson In Mystique

Does mystery still work?

Is being an open book better?

Can open books be mysterious?

Nowadays fans expect a certain amount of access to their favorite artists. But the wonder of the unknown will always be a magnet.

This video from the Almost Famous directors cut is a free lesson.

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When The Gig Changes

You thought it was full band but when you show up they want it acoustic.

You thought it was acoustic but when you show up they literally only want one acoustic guitar.

You thought it was a forty-five minute set but now it’s only fifteen.

You thought it was a forty-five minute set but twenty-five minutes into it the person in charge says this is your last song.

You thought the stage was forty feet wide but when you show up it’s only twenty.

You thought you had access to the full light rig but now you’ve only got a static look.

You thought you had the 8pm festival slot but something happened and now you’re on at 2.

When the gig changes last minute, how quickly can you forget about what you thought it was going to be and embrace the new circumstances? Because the goal is still the same and the goal is still attainable. The goal is to connect emotionally.

The more gigs you’ve done and the more weird gigs you’ve done help you get better and faster at this. Because with this type of experience you’ve seen that the show always happens and it’s simply up to you to take the lead and do something with it.

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Relying On Deadlines

If deadlines are the only things that motivate you to get stuff done, then it pays to get better at setting and enforcing your own deadlines.

The alternative is waiting on other people to set deadlines for you. But then you’ll always be dependent on others for you to get your stuff done.

The problem is we hold the deadlines other people set for us as more valuable and important than our own promises to ourselves.

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