Trip Log 5
10/26/2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
Ever been told that your chosen craft is too saturated with people doing the exact same thing for you to have any sort of chance at “making it”?
Those people are right, you know.
They’re right if you’re attached to the same notion they are. That “making it” only equates to achieving some sort of major fame or fortune...
They’re right if you do what they more than likely have done, which is let that big, fat, limiting belief hold you back from even attempting to pursue what really matters to you.
They’re right if you believe them when they say you can’t. But here’s the thing-
You can do whatever the hell you want. If you aren’t too attached to any of the garbage mentioned above.
Nick and I have been on the road for the past week moving all of his stuff to Florida, an effort to bring some more of our combined dreams into reality. We’ve gone from Utah to Arizona, to New Mexico, to Texas, to the spot I’ve been dying to check out for a long time- New Orleans, Louisiana, baby!
So many people come here to pursue careers in the arts, especially music, and I’ve been curious about the challenges they must face by choosing careers in such a saturated industry.
We sat down in this little bar with our beers in hand and jaws immediately on the floor. Our minds, hearts, and ears blown wide open by a bluesy two-piece that was rocking a practically empty house.
I see them and I wonder about their personal lives… How often do they get swept up in feeling like they should be more or do more or make more money? How often do their friends and loved ones tell them they need a “real job” or that the world already has enough musicians or to “wake up” and realize that some dreams are just too far out of reach?
If the dream is to express themselves through music and make a comfortable living rather than gain worldwide recognition and a butt ton of money, I’d say it isn’t too far out of reach at all. And to boot, they seem to be enjoying every second of what they’re doing.
It takes a special type of person to dedicate themselves to their craft despite the near constant criticism of others. These guys choose to live in New Orleans, a place that is absolutely sopping with incredible musicians and yet, it doesn’t hold them back from being incredible musicians themselves. For them, this is something life wouldn’t be the same without.
Do you know what that’s like?
I’m willing to bet that there is some sort of indescribable feeling housed deep inside of you that longs to be expressed in a particular way. Whether it’s through music, numbers, medicine, athletics, or anything else really, that feeling is universal. But what are you more attached to?
Expressing it, or all of the garbage that often surrounds it?
Your answer to that question is what determines your ability to tell the people who attempt to discourage you that they’re wrong.
They’re wrong if they think that just because there are a lot of people pursuing a similar thing it isn’t worth pursuing at all.
They’re wrong if their definition of “making it” is more so a list of hollow desires.
They’re wrong to tell you that you can’t do anything. Because the truth is that you can do whatever the hell you want.
As I watch these two musicians, eyes closing and opening as if they’re coming in and out of two different worlds, their instruments bridges between them, I can’t help but think that if on an individual level we would honor and pursue whatever does that for us, we would see more people out there encouraging others rather than trying to direct them down a “safer” path.
I like to believe that we all have a shot at arriving to a place in life where we feel we’ve “made it”, and money and fame aren’t going to get you there, nor will taking that safe road.
What gets you there is doing the things you love day in and day out until you realize that you’ve successfully created a life you’ve enjoyed the crap out of living.
Is what you’re doing right now leading you towards or away from that?
If you’re leading yourself astray, what needs to change?
_________________
by Alexa Francisco
New to Grandeur?