Hi Friends,
It’s been a while since I’ve written here but it’s time to bring this back. I’ve been working on a way to revamp the content of this blog because it didn’t feel authentic to keep writing about my journey with Focal Dystonia, that’s just not where I’m at in life anymore. It is absolute a huge part of my journey and was a turning point in my life and career for so many reasons, but I’ve continued to grow and to keep returning to that mental space would only hold me back.
And on that note, today’s topic…
Audit your life.
Today is my birthday and more than in past years I’ve really been taking time recently to look at my life from an outside perspective. Am I surrounding myself with people who are helping me grow? Am I making choices that move me in the direction I want both personally and professionally? Am I happy?
These are the questions that are on my mind right now, and I don’t say this to be preachy at all. People who know me know that that would be the last thing I want to do, this is genuinely my thought process. This act of taking a step back and looking at what you’ve been doing, who you’ve been spending your time with, and listening to yourself has been VITAL for me to do anything worthwhile in recent years. And it can’t have any judgement attached to it. This isn’t a study of right or wrong, it’s just an observation of what has actually happened.
Moving forward, I’ll be auditing my life quarterly. Once a year just isn’t enough for me to stay on track and more importantly, stay happy. Being a musician is hard enough, we don’t need to make it even more difficult. I’m hoping this blog will be a resource for young musicians, in particular, to keep growing as musicians and people and ALWAYS keep the focus on the music.
I was just introduced to Omar Thomas’ music ( https://www.omarthomas.com/ ) in February when I was a guest artist at Ball State University and his piece “Come Sunday” was on the same program I was playing on with the BSU Bands. It absolutely floored me! You can find interviews where he talks about the piece but in a nutshell, he wanted to emulate characteristics of the Hammond organ in the black church without actually using a Hammond. It was amazing to meet Omar and hang out a little bit after the concert. He’s such an incredibly warm human being and his music really resonates with me. Do yourself a favor and take a listen...
MUSIC. It's good for ya.
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