Music and Vulnerability

Singing and performing music in front of people is incredibly vulnerable.  You’re putting your soul on display.  All of the hours of practice that you put in alone.  All of your fears, insecurities, confidence, and courage – naked and beautiful for all the world to see.  Your whole spirit is involved.

Writing music adds a whole other layer of vulnerability.  Because the words and the melodies are yours, not someone else’s.  Like a comic trying out new material, you see what works and what doesn’t.  You get feedback.  You see what connects with people.

It’s an iterative process; you don’t get all the answers at once.  You try.  You learn.  You try again.  You learn again.  The only way to lose is to stop trying or stop learning.

If you stop learning, you will get bored.  Boredom is the sign that it’s time to learn something new.

Fortune favors the brave, and it also favors those who believe they belong.  At what point you stop being an imposter in music is totally up to you.  Freedom isn’t given.  It’s taken.  At what point you become free to make music is your choice.

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