The Holidays are the Season of Giving. No matter how broke we are, we find a way to give a special gift to those we love…hoping with all our hearts that they will absolutely love it and use it with joy and gratitude.
But nothing can quench the spirit of giving more than if the receiver:
*Is disappointed with our gift (It’s not quite what I wanted)
*Compares the gift with someone else’s more expensive version
*Feels “entitled” to the gift (expects it or takes it for granted)
*Misses the spirit of the Season and gets caught up into the
materialism of the age
As I have been pondering the “Reason for the Season,” it has occurred to me that whether we are a musician, songwriter, producer or singer,…we have been given a very special gift…the Gift of Music. But, as with other kinds of gifts, there are many ways to receive it.
*We can be disappointed with what we have been given
*We can compare ourselves negatively with other “more gifted” musicians
*We can allow the gift to become our sole identity…to define us as people
OR...We can receive the Gift of Music with humility and gratitude.
It is my conviction that every person – gifted or not – has value and purpose as an individual in this world. Our identity as human beings must not be tied to the Gift of Music we've been given, or we will always feel inferior—-threatened by those with seemingly more talent than we have—-never at peace with ourselves. We can sink more and more into music as an “escape” from reality and will never have the confidence to find our true place in the world where our talent can find ultimate expression.
On the other hand, we can choose to view ourselves as equal partners with the rest of the residents of Planet Earth…no better and no less than anyone else. When we are blessed with the Gift of Music, we are humbled by the gift…gratefully receive it…and seek to polish it with hard work and practice into excellence where it can be a blessing to our fellows. Unthreatened by others with similar gifts, we will instead be an encouragement to them. We will recognize them as part of our team to be embraced, rather than competitors to be avoided. We will develop other interests and talents and become larger people with greater vision. We will live in a much larger world!
In the last eighteen months, we have lost many icons of entertainment. Michael Jackson’s sudden passing in June of this year re-focused us on his amazing musical genius but also his tortured feelings of shyness, inadequacy and low self-esteem. Although a loving and generous person at heart, Michael found his only real comfort and personal identity in his music…when he was writing it or performing it.
Contrast the life and talent of Paul Newman. An Academy Award winning actor, he was also a film director, racing car enthusiast, and an very successful entrepreneur. Developing his other interests and talents led him to create Newman’s Own Food Products, which still raises millions of dollars for charity. When interviewed a number of years ago, Paul was asked why he had such a self-effacing attitude about his own mega talent as an actor. He replied, “Because I realize that I am no better than anyone else. I have just been incredibly blessed.”
How are we receiving the Gift of Music this year? May we never cease to be humbled and grateful for what we have been given.
Have a wonderful and thankful Holiday and a New Year filled with purpose to make your gift excellent and useful to the world.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Why We Do What We Do...
We music types are a strange and exotic lot! Although the "music biz" is probably one of the most illogical and financially unrewarding careers anyone could ever enter, we somehow keep at it despite the fact that the moniker, "starving artist," is even more literal these days. Just this week a fellow songwriter excitedly called to tell me he had received several hundred plays in Europe through one of the Internet radio streams...and had earned a total of $2.80 in downloads from his site. WOW!
Which brings us to the question, "Why do we keep doing this thing called music anyway?" Especially now when the entire industry has collapsed and no one knows what to do about it or where any of us will be when the dust settles.
I don't know about you, but over the years I have discovered that Music (with a capital M) is so much bigger than the "music (small m) business." Music is as much a part of our humanity as the Human Genome. It's the language that must express itself, whether in a slightly off-pitch 3-year-old version of "Twinkle Twinkle" or in a stunning symphonic arrangement that endures for centuries. And somehow, we all understand that language at a level that goes far deeper than the human mind can conceive.
Many Parkinson's patients, for instance, who find it hard to walk at all...can dance without a stumble when music plays. And the American Music Therapy Association states:
Music is a very basic human response, spanning all degrees of
ability/disability...The malleability of music makes it a medium
that can be adapted to meet the needs of each individual
And then we move to politics and world powers. Music (capital M) can move nations. When the New York Philharmonic Orchestra recently traveled to North Korea, the language of Music broke through the levees of hatred and prejudice and flooded the performance hall with a harmony that went far beyond the notes on the score.
Music is soul-to-soul connection unlike any other form of communication. When something you have written or played or sung touches the heart of someone else -- whether it's a lullaby that soothes a crying toddler, or a hit song that "makes the whole world sing" -- the connection IS the motivation. We who have a song in our hearts MUST express it or explode. I think that's why we do what we do? What do you think???
Let me hear from you....
Which brings us to the question, "Why do we keep doing this thing called music anyway?" Especially now when the entire industry has collapsed and no one knows what to do about it or where any of us will be when the dust settles.
I don't know about you, but over the years I have discovered that Music (with a capital M) is so much bigger than the "music (small m) business." Music is as much a part of our humanity as the Human Genome. It's the language that must express itself, whether in a slightly off-pitch 3-year-old version of "Twinkle Twinkle" or in a stunning symphonic arrangement that endures for centuries. And somehow, we all understand that language at a level that goes far deeper than the human mind can conceive.
Many Parkinson's patients, for instance, who find it hard to walk at all...can dance without a stumble when music plays. And the American Music Therapy Association states:
Music is a very basic human response, spanning all degrees of
ability/disability...The malleability of music makes it a medium
that can be adapted to meet the needs of each individual
And then we move to politics and world powers. Music (capital M) can move nations. When the New York Philharmonic Orchestra recently traveled to North Korea, the language of Music broke through the levees of hatred and prejudice and flooded the performance hall with a harmony that went far beyond the notes on the score.
Music is soul-to-soul connection unlike any other form of communication. When something you have written or played or sung touches the heart of someone else -- whether it's a lullaby that soothes a crying toddler, or a hit song that "makes the whole world sing" -- the connection IS the motivation. We who have a song in our hearts MUST express it or explode. I think that's why we do what we do? What do you think???
Let me hear from you....
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Welcome to My Blog
Hi Everybody:
Thanks for coming by to visit my new blog. I'm really excited to have this little corner of cyberspace to share with my fellow obsessive-compulsive songwriters, and I hope to hear back from many of you.
I've been haunting the Internet for over a decade now...showing up in e-zine articles like those on the Writers Write (http://www.writerswrite.com) or the Muses Muse (http://www.musesmuse.com).
You may have run into me through my Internet radio talk show, "I Write the Songs" (http://www.iwritethesongs.com) or through my Dallas-based umbrella company, CQK Music Group (http://www.cqkmusic.com). Perhaps you have even read my book, "How to Get Somewhere in the Music Business from Nowhere with Nothing" (http://www.fromnowherewithnothing.com) --or taken one of my songwriting courses at Southern Methodist University.
Whether we have ever "met" before or not, I hope you will return soon and frequently. I will post a new entry every week. Most of the time my thoughts will center around songs and the craft of songwriting, but I may -- from time to time -- wax a bit philosophical, or don my promotional hat and talk about ways we can find our way through this maze we call the Music Business to the Oasis of Success.
Wherever my sometimes scattered mind may lead, I am absolutely confident that I will NEVER run out of things to write about. Music is as infinite as the universe and as much of an adventure to explore. It is the language of the heart, and the heart is never empty of emotions. As Shakespeare so beautifully put it in Twelfth Night:
If music be the food of love, play on!
All Good Things to You,
Mary
Thanks for coming by to visit my new blog. I'm really excited to have this little corner of cyberspace to share with my fellow obsessive-compulsive songwriters, and I hope to hear back from many of you.
I've been haunting the Internet for over a decade now...showing up in e-zine articles like those on the Writers Write (http://www.writerswrite.com) or the Muses Muse (http://www.musesmuse.com).
You may have run into me through my Internet radio talk show, "I Write the Songs" (http://www.iwritethesongs.com) or through my Dallas-based umbrella company, CQK Music Group (http://www.cqkmusic.com). Perhaps you have even read my book, "How to Get Somewhere in the Music Business from Nowhere with Nothing" (http://www.fromnowherewithnothing.com) --or taken one of my songwriting courses at Southern Methodist University.
Whether we have ever "met" before or not, I hope you will return soon and frequently. I will post a new entry every week. Most of the time my thoughts will center around songs and the craft of songwriting, but I may -- from time to time -- wax a bit philosophical, or don my promotional hat and talk about ways we can find our way through this maze we call the Music Business to the Oasis of Success.
Wherever my sometimes scattered mind may lead, I am absolutely confident that I will NEVER run out of things to write about. Music is as infinite as the universe and as much of an adventure to explore. It is the language of the heart, and the heart is never empty of emotions. As Shakespeare so beautifully put it in Twelfth Night:
If music be the food of love, play on!
All Good Things to You,
Mary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
