I don't know what precipitated this little editorial from David Ackert, but I certainly appreciated it when I saw it. I further appreciated this piece by Dave Carlock, in which he references Ackert's couple of paragraphs and then responds to a commenter attempting to rain a bit on the parade. I'll share this excerpted highlight with you:
The point is that musicians push through an incredible amount of uncertainty, risk and adversity to bare their souls and give something to every community that they play in, to every person who can hear them. That makes them unique, that makes them valuable to the human race, if for no other reason than their motivation isn’t only dollars.And then, only a few days ago, this piece from Seth Godin's cool blog:
You are brave.
Such a generous soul, someone who doesn't hesitate to leap when others shrink in fear. Your work means so much to you and to the people you share it with, we can't help but be inspired at the way you make your magic.
You're a warrior in the service of joy and you never seem to stop standing up and speaking up and doing your very best work.
Sometimes, a particular audience doesn't deserve you. But that doesn't matter in the long run, because of your relentless generosity in sharing your gift.
I can't wait to see your next work, and the one after that.
Every once in awhile it's good to feel like somebody out there gets it - not only gets it, but understands it, supports it, encourages it, & rallies around it. In the world in which we live, "music" is usually associated in people's minds with stardom, fame, wealth, and all the other Hollywood/celebrity nonsense that goes along with them. Some of us, though, while still retaining dreams of playing Red Rocks and Wembley Arena, really do love performing music for people and would love just to make a living doing it. For some of us, it's about something other than having your picture plastered all over People magazine or getting to date supermodels.
For those of you regular readers out there, you've probably noticed that I haven't been writing overly often here at the Electric Medicine blog. Truth be told, 2014 has been a rather difficult year for me so far in regards to the pursuit of my musical dreams, and it's hard to summon the will to write about music when you feel like you're struggling to just put one foot in front of the other on the road toward wherever it is your talent & passion are taking you.
The simple truths that I seem to have to learn again & again are that people let you down, music is and up-and-down game, and the romantic notion of the struggling artist we all had when we were 18-years-old isn't so romantic when you're actually living through it. Honestly, I've been fighting to hold tight to the hope that this season shall pass, things will pan out, and I will one day yet make a career out of this thing.
So, it's good to come across some random and unexpected encouragement. It's good to be loved by a wife who supports me even when things are tough. It's good to have friends to vent to, to confide in, and to receive wisdom from. And it's good to be a part of projects that - even though still in their early stages - show promise for the future and are uplifting and exciting and satisfying to the nuances of my musical inclinations.
I hope to share some more material from those other projects with you all soon. But, for now, I hope that if you're struggling with your own dreams or with remaining steadfast in the pursuit of your own passion, understand that there are others out there struggling right along side you. And there are still others who - though they may not understand your specific situation - really do appreciate what it is you're striving for. I understand that none of this may be of much help to you right at this moment, but take what you can from it. This too shall pass, and things will pan out.
Trust me: if I didn't believe that, I would've already given up.
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