You see because that’s the thing. In this crazy tumultuous music world, where do you fit yourself as a musician? Or wait, are we just entertainers? Or…both? Or neither…..
The experts will claim that to sell effectively you first need to truly define what you are. Pretty in-depth stuff for a bunch of EXPERTS wouldn’t you say? I can almost imagine a group of stoner hippies, in suits sitting around a hookah in a dimly lit coming up with this stuff. But I digress.
The hardest part of my own life/career/existence thus far has been that exact definitive. WTF am I, or supposed to be? At one of the shows from The Good Fight Tour, a strange dude came up to me, looked me in the eye and said something to the effect of, “Don’t worry about being anything other than yourself, that’s what people relate to, and what they react to.”
Now you have to understand, I had just finished my first set at this gig in Medicine Hat called the Ottoman Lounge and at first I thought this guy was hitting on me, cause he walked past me like three times before actually approaching me, gazing and smirking at me with every pass. As it turns out he’s a music therapist (I know, I couldn’t believe that was a job either) and he broke down the whole set for me, as to when I seemed comfortable, nervous, insincere, honest, self deprecating. I got a mini sessions with this guy and the best part, was the ease I felt after talking with him.
The thing is, being yourself is not only about finding that sense of knowledge, where you are operating in harmony with your consciousness… as in, “If I just punch this baby, that would be the meanest thing ever and completely idiotic, not to mention psychopathic and banana nuts, cause I know I’d be charged with baby punching and why the hell would I punch a baby in the first place, what does that say about me.” But that you are fine with who you actually are.
And that in itself seems to be the main issue… are we really fine with our selves. I wasn’t during that set in Medicine Hat; all I could think about was what these strangers 3ft away from me were thinking of me.
But hell, I’m sure even some hookers are fine with who they are and love their jobs (no pun intended). Why can’t I be? I’ve found that not only in myself but in many others a need to avoid the reality that is self, that is us as individuals. Either by fear, worry or some unknown. Because the unknown can be terrifying. But being who we really are not only lets us function on a balanced plain, it keeps your head straight, it lets you see clearer what it is you really want out of everything. It’s like formatting your computer as it were, or calibrating it at the very least.
The older we get or the longer we are involved with something (i.e. your job, relationships, bad habits) the harder it may seem to make sense of what it is we are doing or WHY it is. Taking a few moments, every now and then…or every day… whatever works best for you, to make sure you have defined a path for yourself just might keep you out of the shittier side of life and worrying less about hippies with hookahs… or Music Therapist with anterior motives.
