Shinybass journal entry 05-19-21

But where’s my lightning?

Before I type any further, this week’s inspiration comes from my friend (first), and fitness trainer (second). He has a very famous voice and I won’t mention his gig here, but if you are a country music fan and have attended the Grand Ol’ Opry or listen to Sirius XM, you’ll know who I am talking about. Much like hairdressers, personal trainers hear all the news of the week and offer a non-judgy ear to all that is going on. To have a shoulder to lean on is very important in these times, as well as to have someone push your physical limit further than was previous imagined. So here is credit where credit is due. Thanks for the inspiration.

On to the lightning. I heard some fantastic success stories recently about ‘lightning’ being captured. Studio friends had big albums fall into their laps, others are seeing their original music come up on TV and motion pictures, and for some, they even found their way into crazy money via Dogecoin. (Collective eye roll here…). Whereas I am happy when someone succeeds, deep down we all want these calls, these opportunities, these flashes of greatness that streak across the sky and are experienced by only a lucky few. The rest of us are gnawing on government cheese sandwiches and looking for loose change in the couch. Why? I mean, do other people have better ‘ins’ than we do, or is it truly luck, or is it something else?

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison

Let’s talk about the perspiration part. In a nutshell, the work, the true honing of the craft (especially in my business) is what gets people the calls. And of course, the networking, to an extent. But at its core, focusing on the right things is what can get us on the right track. In our world, we seem to have a lot of pressure to be everything – good at what we do, social media guru, video whiz, etc, and it gets downright exhausting. I know because I am in the middle of it on a daily basis. But will I be me without all the other stuff? Am I still cool if I don’t post pictures of chorizo and eggs?

Let’s say I practice bass 12 hours a day for a decade or so, a-la ‘Bill and Ted’. I emerge from the cocoon the greatest bass player the world has ever seen. Then what? Do I get calls for records? Maybe? Maybe not. Some of the internet’s greatest players are making their money on YouTube and have never seen the inside of a studio. Does that make them better or worse? Absolutely not. It’s just where they focused their energy. (Side note – a LOT of what successful musicians do is sort of a trifecta : play well, bring good ideas to the table, and don’t be a jerk. But that’s another entry for another time…)

What would you love to see happen in your lifetime? Really? Open an art studio? Make goat cheese? Be a world-class falconer? Well, how are you going to get there? How about that perspiration part? You can’t just sit and wait for it to happen. Even to play the lottery you have to peel your locked-down behind off that couch, get to the store, and buy a ticket. There has to be some effort in order for there to be payoff. And to be fair, the payoff may not be what you think it will be, so let’s keep that in mind.

Maybe you start that goat cheese stand, and your goat cheese becomes the favorite of someone. You know, that is an achievement in of itself. You made an effort and some thinks that your effort is the best one available. That in itself is high praise. It’s kinda like that starving artist thing, sadly where we have art that people love dearly, yet we struggle. But what if you are the favorite of ten people? Then you are a little busier, because ten is all it takes for a revolution. And then if you price it in the atmosphere, some will think it’s priced that high for a reason. (That’s just a free bit of retail advice). But you see the chain of events? It’s that whole ’something you love to do as work’ thing. That spark, that idea is how it is born.

There is a super-popular YouTuber that is crushing it right now. He bottled lightning at the right time, which was during the pandemic. He worked for 2 years on his channel – 2 years every single day – and then something just clicked with the public. He knew nothing of the platform or even much about video editing, and now he calls celebrities friends and is watched by millions every day. If I were watched by millions every day, that would mean that I have to shave more often, and you know, it’s just so much hassle… (SEE? THERE’S THAT DEFEATIST ATTITUDE WE DON’T NEED AROUND HERE! SQUASHING DREAMS BEFORE THEY EVEN SOME TRUE!)

We can give ourselves so many reasons to no do something. Oh, there’s already a hamburger place. I shouldn’t make hamburgers. There’s already a donut shoppe, so I shouldn’t think about opening one. ETC ETC ETC. C’mon, folks. We’re better than that. We really are. If we spend less time questioning ourselves and more time asking questions of others, the mountains would become merely scenery on our way to the infinite possibilities in outer space. Yep, I just wrote that. Just now.

We are scared of lightning at an early age, and maybe more so of thunder. The loud noises aren’t as beautiful as the streaks of energy that cross the sky during a storm. Yet, somehow we all want to make a big noise and be heard rather than focus our energy to become the lightning. Lightning strikes are random, however, they need the conduits to become reality. That’s where you come in.

“It is lightning that strikes, not thunder.” – Matshona Dhliwayo

So I’m going to stop here. Yep, right here. No more pep talk this morning. We all have stuff to do, and you know exactly how to do it, you really do. You have been thinking and rethinking your life over the past 15 months, so make some moves. It’s 5:00 in the morning, for crying out loud, and I have to make sandwiches for the last week of school. But seriously. You can sleep in, or you can get to work. It’s really kinda that simple. And if you love it, I promise, it’s not work.

See you on the road!