We laughed about this. If you just stand still, turn around and look back, you can see that you've been transforming the entire time. "Orit you just put out a new record. You've got another one in the bag. You LEARNED HOW TO DRIVE, for crying out loud! You applied for three grants. You've been writing. You learned how to do animation!"
Oh. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I did do all those things. Heh heh.... Oops. I tend to stare at the not-done-yet pile.
Putting music "out there" is the same, in a way. I don't have the kind of situation which makes new releases go BOOM and sell a million pre-orders at once, or get commercial airplay round the clock (industry secret: you need a whole lotta money to make that happen). And frankly, these days, hardly anyone is paying the artists for their work.
But songs that are out in the digital and physical world have their way of trickling along, touching hearts and souls, messages come in from time to time, from people I don't even know, from countries around the world, "thank you for your music, it helped me."
Let's call it a winter-darkness everything slow-mo, waiting-for-spring-is-hard syndrome. But if you're taking stock and wondering what it's all for - here's a first-person-account reminder that your impact might not elicit an immediate gratitude parade. But you should still be putting the best and most authentic parts of yourselves out there. Cause the stuff travels its own mysterious course.
I was lucky enough to be given this pep talk, and it's been swirling around in my head, so I thought I'd pay it forward.
And thanks to those of you out there who take the time to let me know whatever I'm up to creatively is making its little difference.
Lights in the darkness - we're gonna get brighter and brighter.
Speaking of which, I have a beautiful new album of Chanukah music to share with the world. A holiday all about the magic and power of a little bit of light! Have a listen, and if you like, please consider purchasing! It's up on bandcamp. Just click on my discography tab!
Thank you!