The Perfect Guest. The Perfect Host.

The guest and the host are sitting so close to each other. Sitting in identical chairs, speaking into the same brand of microphone, engaged in the same conversation…and yet the skill sets are completely different.

The perfect host uses the power of interest, curiosity, care, and excitement to highlight the guest and guide the audience into connection with the guest.

The perfect guest uses the power of imagination, presence, insight and humor to do more with the host’s prompts and questions than the host ever thought possible.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Velvet Rope

We want what we can’t have.

We’re mystified by what we don’t know.

We long for what is just out of reach.

Even though many artists document so much of their lives for anyone to consume, the above statements still hold true. Just because people want more doesn’t mean that’s what’s best for the relationship.

A little mystery, a little wink, a little velvet rope goes a long way these days.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Proximity To The Mountain

For lack of a better metaphor…

The further you are away from the mountain

the easier it is to see the top of it.

the easier it is to act like you could get to the top.

the easier it is to think it would be easy to get to the top.

the easier it is to criticize those who aren’t making it to the top.

And then the flip side…

The closer you get to the mountain and it’s top

the more you have to strain to see it.

the more you realize how giant it is.

the more exhausting every next step is.

the more appreciation you have of others on the same journey.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Pairing Habits

I used to forget to take my vitamin. Now I never forget.

I had been trying to institute the vitamin habit cold turkey…to go from never thinking about vitamins to always remembering to take it sometime in the morning. And it barely worked. No consistency.

And then my vitamin breakthrough.

I was already in the habit of topping off my my water bottle before leaving the house. So I decided to pair the instinct to fill the water bottle with the need to take the vitamin…with the real key being to take the vitamin BEFORE the existing habit of filling the water bottle.

If you want to do something new, pair it with something you already do.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Daily Rhythm

You move to a new part of town or a new city and desperately hope you’ll get along with your neighbors. Why don’t you just move in next to your friends instead?

You hope the new gig is going to have a great culture. Why don’t you start your own gig and make that culture?

Someone says a prayer that this food would bless our bodies. Why don’t we eat food that actually blesses our bodies?

The rhythm of day to day life matters.

We often make choices that hover around our true desires and yet are a world away from creating the life we actually want.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Learning Harmony

Learning harmony is all about developing a sense for what an added voice can do to make a song feel better, while not being the main voice.

The only way to learn harmony is to try singing harmony. Turn on a song, hear the melody, and then sing something else over the top of it. Does it sound good? If it’s your first time you’ll probably stumble upon some notes that work and some that don’t. Perfect. Keep going.

And you won’t know the theory behind the notes that seem to work but that will come later and isn’t as important anyway.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple