I just passed my 40th birthday. There are many things I would like to have accomplished by now. But with my aging, maybe I’m also gaining some better perspective as to what’s important.

One thing I had hoped to finish by now was an album/CD for which I had developed a concept well over a year ago (maybe even two?). How much progress have I made on that? Well, I have all the lyrics and a general idea for the whole album, but only recently have been able to get started doing some recording of the scratch tracks.

What I’m learning is that completing the goal may not be as important as working towards the goal. That is, the value is in “the going” and not in “the arriving.” And, as I go, some of the things that capture my time and attention – sometimes seemingly unrelated to my goals – may actually be more important to the bigger picture and even to my goals.

There’s a proverb that says, In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

How we get where we’re going is often much different than we thought, isn’t it?

I used to feel I needed to “pump out a ton of stuff.” Create a lot. Be prolific. Quickly! (Because that’s what leads to “success.”)

Now I’m feeling a little differently. What if that one CD is my “life work?” What if one song is all I have? What if your one book is it? One poem? One sculpture? One photograph? (I’m guessing there’s a whole lot more to our “life work” than what we create. . .)

I’m finding we need to enjoy each step. We need to pour ourselves into each moment, never blowing it off as simply something we must endure to arrive at a distant goal. This allows you and I to take the time to make each step deliberate, worthwhile, and gives us the mindset we need to actually enjoy the “now.”

Fully present. Fully engaged. Every moment.

What’s going on around you – right now – that you can’t see because you’re looking so far ahead?

–
PS I see that this is a bit like my last post. . .I guess you know where my head is at, eh?

PPS As I wrote this, I was (literally) also working on a song for my daughter – not a part of the album I mentioned above, but probably more important. Exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about here. (More on the song later. . .)

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Encouragement matters.

When you see something good, or see someone using their talents or gifts for the good of others, please show these people some love by letting them know.

And I don’t just mean saying, “Good job!”

Anyone can say that – whether they experienced something good or not.

No. To make encouragement meaningful (and believable), specify what was good about what you experienced. Tell the person

1. How it impacted you
2. What specifically you liked or what specifically moved you

You may not realize this, but there are a ton of creative people out there doing amazing things – maybe even touching or impacting you – and they have no idea whether they are reaching anyone with their work.

Tell them.

The truth is that most creative people don’t get meaningful feedback.

Hugh Macleod’s first rule of how to be creative is probably right: Ignore everyone. To be creative, you do need to ignore everyone – at least what they are telling you to do. Instead, we have to listen to that still, quiet voice to direct what we create.

But it means the world to those who create when someone says,

Wow, I was really touched by the video you put together. The way you drew me in and set that scene up and then reworked it with a complete twist. Man, that hit me hard!

or

Wow, you know what? The sound in [some venue] yesterday was really good. Normally I cannot hear what the electric guitar is doing, but you took the time to make sure all the instruments on the stage were heard. Good job!

or

Whoa! That presentation was excellent! I saw the violin sitting there behind you as you spoke, but had no idea why it was there. Then, at just the right point, you introduce this incredible musician who plays an amazing piece that absolutely drives your point home. That was incredibly powerful!

or

You know what? That graphic you created to represent the cleansing power of water really moved me. It fit so well with all the other visual elements.

Giving specifics shows you really paid attention. Telling them shows you cared enough to write/say something. Telling them something good encourages them to do more.

And creating more is what creative people live for.

When you see something good, tell them. And be specific.

Spread the love.

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I’m feeling like I may be ready again. Ready to write here. I had taken time – a lot of time. I’ve journaled in the privacy of my own home, on actual paper, and worked through many things. Now, I may be back.

I’ve known about Hugh Macleod for years. Thomas at Vendorprisey hipped me to him long ago. However, I never took the time to read one of his most popular posts, entitled, “How to be creative.”

I’m going to work through that a bit. I like a lot of what he has to say (as if he could care). One of the things he says is “blog.” Well, I’ve blogged. I’ve blogged for work, and I’ve blogged for personal reasons, but I feel I haven’t achieved that level of simply blogging to share what I create.

If I continue here, as I feel I will, it will be to blog about what I create. I’ll probably open up some new areas that I haven’t yet shared, and just get some things out there. I’ll probably close down a couple categories on this site that were good ideas, but not necessarily areas about which I ever created much content. I may add a new category. A new section to the site.

If you’ve been here for a while, thanks for sticking with me. I hope you enjoy where I take this.

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I’ll make the first post of 2008 a great one!

I had a chance to sit down with Peter Mathews and ask him a ton of questions about his project, Far From Haggersville.

We cover everything from the themes of the story as well as the various ways that Peter is giving you to interact with this creative project. We also discuss dreams, the challenges of being an independent musician and film maker, and his recommendations for overcoming those challenges.

You can download the complete interview with Peter Mathews here.

You can open the interview with Peter Mathews in iTunes here.

The complete conversation is just under 20 minutes, including music clips and some sound clips from the short films that are a part of the project. A full download of the MustardCast is about 18mb.

You can learn more about Peter Mathews and Far From Haggersville at www.haggersville.com.

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(That’s about -2 degrees Fahrenheit for the metrically-impaired.)

Discipline is doing things you know you should even when you don’t feel like it. Today it was negative 19 degrees Celsius at about the time I usually go for a run. I skipped yesterday for a number of reasons. (Ok, it was only actually one – I was grumpy.)

But today was different. I slept last night. A lot. I got up early. Had time to think – clearly.

My wife has told me – more than once – “You think too much. Stop thinking and start doing!” She’s probably right (most wives are, aren’t they?).

If you’re sort of joining me on this journey to being closer to who you were made to be; if you’re trying to move towards working in areas about which you are passionate; or if you are a creative type would like nothing more than to create, then here’s the deal: you’ve got to take steps in that direction. Regularly.

And sometimes that takes discipline.

Going for a run today reminded me of that. And it felt good.

I bet you’ll feel better the next time you do that thing you know you need to do, too.

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I really enjoyed listening to this interview as I edited it. I know you will enjoy it and learn from it as well. This is not just for musicians, but for anyone seeking to make their passions a bigger part of their life. I’ve broken the interview into two MustardCasts and used a less “high fidelity” setting to make the file sizes a bit more manageable. I hope you audiophiles will be ok with that.

Part I (MustardCast 3a)
Length: 16:27

Play or Download MustardCast 3a
Play MustardCast #3a, interview with Brit Rice, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast 3a, interview with Brit Rice (5.6mb)

• Intro / How did you get into the music business?
• 3:30 How did you crack into the studio scene?
• 5:20 What’s your favorite part? Playing, producing, songwriting? What’s the role of the producer?
• 7:55 Do you feel that the concept of album/cd is a lost art? Is there still an audience for the album?
• 10:35 What do you feel is essential for great music?
• 13:00 What do you feel structure does to the ability to deliver emotion in a song?

Brit’s recommended listening:

• The New Congress
• Chris Coza

Part II of the MustardCast (3b)
Length: Approx. 19 Minutes

Play or Download MustardCast 3b
Play MustardCast #3b, interview with Brit Rice, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast 3b, interview with Brit Rice (6.6mb)

• 16:45 Talk about some of the sacrifices you’ve had to make to do the things you love.
• 21:10 What do you struggle with as someone trying to work your passion?
• 22:20 Would you share your mom’s philosophy of drumming?
• 23:10 How important is it to you to have your parents support what you are going after?
• 27:27 What do you fear the most as a musician?
• 30:08 What encouragement could you give to people who want to move towards doing something they are passionate about?

Learn More About Polydream
Listen to samples and buy Polydream music at iTunes
Polydream’s MySpace site
Polydream’s Website

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I’m happy to say that I’ve finally got this ready for you and I hope you enjoy it.

Play or Download MustardCast #2
Play MustardCast #2, interview with Charlotte Otter, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast #2, interview with Charlotte Otter (16.4mb)

This is a 18-minute discussion with Charlotte Otter, a wonderful writer you can visit at Charlotte’s Web.

Here are the questions we discussed:

• What would be your dream writing gig?
• Are you going after that?
• Do you have a plan to make that happen?
• You’re a mom of 3 and wife of a busy husband – how do you do it?
• Is blogging helpful to writers or should they stick to their “serious” writing?
• What do you need as a creative person from your spouse to help you go after your dreams?
• What discourages you the most?
• You’ve done corporate, done journalism – how have you handled the adjustment to staying home with the kids? Discuss that decision and any struggles.

Charlotte also shared some tips and a short story:

• Recommended Books by Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way, and The Right to Write.
• How to Exit Gracefully from a Hammock by Charlotte Otter. (112 Kb PDF)

Update: Added link to Charlotte’s short story.

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When I was in high school I worked at a place called Donutland – yes, that’s right – Donutland. I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

I don’t really want or need to go into detail about that. Let’s leave it at this – it was a short stint.

[sidebar – For you non-Americans, I’m not sure you all even know what a doughnut is. I’m hoping this wikipedia entry on donuts can help.]

I was visiting my inlaws one weekend and my mother-in-law had some donuts available for our breakfast. It turns out, those donuts were made by my old bosses (Bob and Bonnie) who have since left the retail donut business and gone wholesale.

In retail, you produce what you think the market will purchase. In Donutland’s case, they filled their donut cases as full as they thought they needed to be to sell a day’s worth of donuts – but they never knew exactly how many they would sell each day.

In their new wholesale business model, Bob and Bonnie only produce after they have received orders. So there is no wasted production. The sale is made before they even have a finished product. Granted, they have proven themselves to the market prior to orders.

Applying Retail vs. Wholesale Mentalities to the Pursuit of Dreams
When it comes to pursing our passions (and especially for creative people) some believe the wholesale route is the way to make it. That is, you create a sample (demo tape or maybe a few chapters) and hope to find a market (publishers or record companies) to buy before actually creating it all. In the retail model, you would simply create and hope to find someone to buy it after it’s created.

In business, I like the wholesale model because it mitigates risk. It’s safe, you know how much to produce and you already have the orders before you invest in the production.

In Life and Pursing Passions, I like The Retail Model
In life and pursuing passions, I’m leaning the other direction. Sometimes I think we let the market dictate whether we do what we are good and passionate about.

That would be the position of the so-called realist.

I’m a bit of a realist, but a realist who dreams and has faith in the purpose behind your gifts and passions.

I don’t believe you should let the existing market (or the markets you are aware of) be the sole dictator of whether you pursue your passions. Sometimes markets open up that were never possible in the past. You could not have known or predicted them. I believe the Internet has afforded many of us creative folks that opportunity.

Five years ago, maybe seven, I told one of my good musician friends that “the Internet is going to open possibilities for independent musicians like never before.” He disagreed and pointed to the entrenched music distribution model, record labels, etc. I believe he even said, “That will never change.”

iTunes blew that theory out of the water and continues to. Brilliant. (See the link under my blogroll for a catalog of online music distributors.)

Furthermore, just the other week, in the Wall Street Journal, Peter Buck from REM (I think it was Peter) commented on how broken the traditional system of music distribution is. Interestingly enough, that article was on how artists are leveraging the Internet to create hits without the corporatized, sanitized, and sterilized format of traditional radio (I should point out that, obviously, the lyrics of most popular music aren’t exactly “sanitized”).

Beyond iTunes, the music genome project (www.pandora.com) is another great example of how the music market is evolving.

Keep Creating, Keep Your Eyes Open and Be Ready

I’m going to explore and expand on some of this more in the future, but for now let me simply encourage you who are creative to do your best to keep creating – work out your craft, your niche in whatever art form you excel at and enjoy.

And keep your eyes open. Markets move.

When a market specific to your craft and your unique approach hits, will you be ready?

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I was at the library with my kids. After they had excitedly filled their arms with books, they asked me if I wanted to get anything. “Good question,” I thought. “Maybe I do.”

We wandered over to the audio book section (not much of interest today) and then to the CD section. In the “International” section, I discovered an Italian pop singer, Laura Pausini.

It’s well-crafted pop. And I’ve really enjoyed it. I may try to learn a bit more about her.

But one part of a song startlingly disappointed me. She switches over to English. And, when she does that, it suddenly becomes somewhat average to me. Maybe it’s the fact that the English words were so simple. Maybe it was just the song.

I’ve had the same problem with Brazilian pop singer Ivan Lins. I absolutely love some of his native tongue work, but have no desire to replay his English work – (well, at least what I’ve heard of it).

There is something about the sound of a foreign tongue that is so attractive.
Maybe it is the beauty of the language itself. . .

I think the attraction I experience may have something to do with the simple fact that it is “foreign” and therefore captures my attention as something new. Maybe Pausini’s Italian fans love it when she changes up for that reason?

I think there is a lesson or two in there somewhere – maybe one lesson is trying to find ways to incorporate something “fresh” into our work? Maybe another lesson is to stick to what comes most naturally?

What do you think?

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