Pure Dream

I was doing some deep thinking yesterday about the missing pieces of the puzzle.

We all have strengths and weaknesses that like a good video game avatar, give us advantages in some situations and handicap us in others.

The statement that triggered this thought process I’m about to share with you was this:

“What was your big dream when you were 16?”

According to this guy, the dream you had at 16 was most likely the “purest” dream because at 16 we are still fresh.

Naive in a good way. Clear. Looking at the world with Beginner’s Mind. We don’t know all the reasons why it might never work… We don’t worry so much about all the little details that have to happen… we just see this possible future waiting out there for us… Inviting. Beckoning. Welcoming.

I don’t know what your dream was, but my dream was to be a full time, professional singer songwriter. Still is. 40 years later.

I had this vision of being as famous enough to fill concert halls the size of Carnegie Hall, Troy Music Hall, in the same way that Cat Stevens, Pete Seeger, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Bruce Cockburn, Anni DeFranco… could fill those seats…

My dream was based upon the simple fact that when I sang my original songs, people were amazed. I had never done anything before that anyone was impressed with. I was never good at sports. I was never a straight “A” student. I was the quiet kid that faded into the background most of the time…

But when I’d play a song, people would suddenly treat me with respect and admiration. THAT had never happened before either…

And I liked it.

The encouragement I got fed my dream like good, dry hardwood on a fire… Was that my ego being fed? Or was it my Soul showing up and affirming that pure dream?

Regardless, I got good really fast because I was so filled with passion for writing songs… I wrote and practiced COMPULSIVELY and OBSESSIVELY. And fame and fortune seemed so possible. So within my reach. It was logical even. “I am really, really good at this. So of course, I will be able to make this my life and my livlihood…”

But…

• I didn’t really know how to perform very well. I got tight and nervous before audiences.
• I didn’t know how to get gigs. I was terrified of rejection.
• I didn’t know how to get people to come to the gigs. I was afraid people would think I was conceited if I invited them to come hear me play…
• I didn’t know how to get professional help to get my music to the right audience. I thought I had to get a “Manager” or a “record deal” but I had no clue how to do those things…
• I didn’t know how to deal with people who didn’t care for my music. I took everything personally and anyone’s lack of interest would literally deflate me, pop my balloon and I would feel horrible for a long time…
• I didn’t know how to deal with disappointment or setbacks or “rejection”.  Any little set back just destroyed me.
• I didn’t know how to handle people who were critical. What if they were right and I was fooling myself? What if I wasn’t good enough?

And every time I set out to overcome my resistance and put in the time and energy to go to open mic nights or hang out with other musicians, it just became clearer and clearer that becoming a well known singer/songwriter was almost impossible.

For me.

So I focused on how impossible it was…

and years went by…

I kept writing song, after song, after song…

So what? No one cared. Why should they?

The world is doing just fine without my music. What’s the point?

Indeed what is the point in any of us pursuing our passions?

Do you want to know the answer?

The point is that doing what we most love, changes the energy of the world. Even in some small way with my songs beaming out into the universe… it makes a difference… You doing what you love even  in some small way changes the world. Maybe it only changes YOUR world. But that is enough of a reason to do what we love. When we do what we love we are a hell of a lot more fun to be around! So when you change your world, you can not help but change the world of the people around you…

Whether I can actually support myself doing this thing that I love, that I am so freaking good at, is an entirely different question.

Over the years the pain of not being able to do this thing that I love, hurt so much that I started working on myself. Learning how to run my mind in a way that would support me in getting to where I wanted to go…

One of the things I learned how to do was to ask powerful how and why questions in order to “program” my unsoncisous mind to support and validate the presuppositions in the questions…

So I keep asking, better and better questions. Here’s a few that I asked just this morning:

• How can I get this music out into the world in a way that is congruent and ecological for me and for people who appreciate this kind of music?

• How can I find a way to touch the lives of hundreds, and thousands and even millions of people in a positive way with my music and words?

• How can I authentically share my talents with audiences of people who appreciate what I do, what my music does for them?

• Why am I led perfectly to the path of least resistance and most impact?

• Why does it work out better than I can possibly imagine?

• Why do I continuously and congruently hold in my mind  the vision of reaching real people with my creative work?

• Why do I continuously and congruently hold the idea in my mind of people savoring my songs, using my songs to stay balanced and happy, on track?

• Why do I continuously and congruently hold in my mind the idea of my music being valuable to people? Appreciated by people? Shared by a growing audience… Why do I imagine my audience steadily and continuously growing for the remaining time I have here on this planet.

• Why am I easily able to support myself doing music in ways that I deeply and completely enjoy?

• Why to I attract the right people into my life in the right way at the right time so that my music can beam outward like the light of a lighthouse on a dark night?

• Why am I able to authentically be me. Everyday. In every way that is possible?

• Why Does it work out better than I can possibly imagine?

“So enough about me!”, said the songwriter. “What do YOU think of my music?” LOL

What about you?

What did you want to be or do or have when YOU were 16? And when did you allow that dream to slip away?

What if that dream was your perfect mission map for all that you had to learn in order to truly live a MASSIVELY EMPOWERED LIFE?

At age 16 I did not have all the support tools  in place to successfully navigate the Music Business. I’m not sure I have all the tools I need yet, but I have all the tools I need to manage “me”, right now. I understand now about victim thinking and how fear, and lack and doubt are toxic to success in any endeavor.

If you want to learn, I can teach you how to change your mind so that you can begin to get more and more of what you desire in your life with less time and effort than it took me…

Today, I make part of my living/income as a professional singer/songwriter. I make $300-$1,000 per performance at libraries and schools all over the Northeast. I make $200 a week at my Unity Church gig.

I am not famous. But I AM still writing songs. I recently wrote song #500.

I am also in the recording studio as much as possible recording to preserve the hundreds of songs that if I die will be “un-sung”

Have you heard the phrase, “Don’t die with your music in you?” What if we re-stated that in a more effective way?

Why do you do today what you most need to do so that you’re dream becomes your reality?

I HAVE found ways to perform and places to perform where my work is appreciated. By holding my dream in the forefront of my mind and ceaselessly following my gut… I have been led to this present moment…

I want to make a positive difference in the world withy words and music. What do YOU want?

Whatever we want to accomplish “OUT THERE”… we first have to accomplish “IN HERE”.

In our minds.

I don’t know about you but my temptation is often to just give up because it is so seemingly impossible. But look around. The world is full of things that we take for granted every day that once were impossible.

• We fly through the air in comfort and safety.
• We can talk to anyone we want anywhere in the world and actually see them at the same time via our computer’s and cell phones.
• We can hop in our cars and drive pretty much any where we want at any time on well designed roads with increasing amounts of safety and conveniences…
• We have more choices and opportunities available than at any time in the history of the world…

And the question of the week is:

What if the challenges (aka “learning opportunities) you are facing right now are exactly, perfectly the right challenges for you to grow in exactly the way you need to grow so that you can fulfill the destiny you imagined for yourself when you were 16?

Questions? Thoughts? Comments?

P.S. If you have any thoughts or questions or subjects you would like me to reflect upon in future videos, click the button below and contact me today.

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