💡✍️ADN #093: Roses Are Forever

You know the side of you that you’ve seen in pictures?

When you were young, you were carefree, and little things like (literally) smelling the roses were enough to make your day.

When you would run just to run, not because you needed to lose a few pounds.

When you couldn’t help but dance when music came on, even in a crowded room.

When one little moment was enough to make an entire day.

A song, a sound, a smell, a sensation…

Our younger days are all about discovery and the intake of the world we were born into.

A magical place where we crash land one day while everything around us is already in motion.

We spend our hours exploring and studying.

Then, we experiment with how and where we fit into this puzzle called life.

As time passes, we feel the weight of our years.

We aren’t as light as we once were.

Everything isn’t new.

And with that, we become desensitized to all the magic surrounding us.

The flower is just one in a million.

The run wears you out.

You are self-conscious of your moves on the dance floor, so you sit out the song.

When we reach this place, we have two choices:

1) Continue to fit into the world around us, sinking further into the middle at the risk of losing sight of our joy and perspective.

2) Remember where our curiosities were first found and lean into them, using the wisdom and experience gained from our time on earth to fit out from the crowd.

 — — -

The times when you feel the furthest from the carefree person you once were are the exact times when you can look to your past for inspiration.

The simple pleasures and appreciations you once felt are your reminder that they are the constant.

The worries and weight of time are fleeting.

The constants, like the smell of fresh roses, are forever.

Your work, writing, and Artist Development depend on your ability to find joy and perspective in the little things that were here then and will be around long after you are gone.

To write a timeless song, study timeless themes.

To leave a lasting memory, play a concert that can’t be forgotten.

To reach an audience, tell truths that won’t be washed away with the next news cycle.

But remember to do all of these things through your lens.

Your perspective.

Your interests.

Bukowski says, “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

If you find what you love and do it with the consistent passion only you can, you will develop your craft and an audience in return for your effort.

Fit out, not in.

See you next Sunday -

Neil

----- Want to dive deeper into your Artist Development?  1. Work with me 1:1 to grow your brand or business. 2. Lyric Copy - 10-day lyric writing course. 3. Fit Out Community - Free tips, tools, training, and a community for the music industry to fit out. Join for free.