Keep Going

Today: some words of encouragement. Our business is hard and our dreams are big. And, often times, the timelines of our dreams may not line up with what we had envisioned for ourselves. Dreams may happen earlier than expected or much later. They may happen in ways we had never quite imagined for ourselves. In the more unfortunate circumstances, they might not happen at all. Dreams are funny that way. 

Still, it is the dream that we must chase. Day-in and day-out we owe it to ourselves to improve, to write songs in the comfort of our rooms, to stretch ourselves thin in the act of glorious creation when need be, to gather with friends and pen the songs we want to hear on the radio, to work tirelessly, then to rest, and then to begin again. We owe it to ourselves to make the creation of art a practice and share our voices with the world whenever possible. 

Sometimes that will lead to streaming numbers in the hundreds of millions or titles that we seek: platinum selling songwriter, grammy winner, etc. Sometimes they will lead to a small group of people admiring that which you make with a burning intensity. The outcome is not always up to us. What is in our control is the act of creation: how many songs we write, how often we create, and whether or not we will release our fledgling songs into the world. And those elements that we control are beautiful things. 

I know that so many of you dream so big. And, I am proud to have spoken with hundreds of writers about their dreams and helped them carve out ways to pursue them relentlessly. I want to tell you that I believe in you. Do not give up hope. Do not despair when things get tough. You can get what you want in this life. Just keep going.