Thursday, February 18, 2010

Starting Over

This blog post was about something else.  And then I decided that it was a topic too complex to be fleshed out in 30 minutes.  So I cut my losses and started over.  Which is easy when it's a blog post.  Not so easy when it's your life.

When do you realize things aren't working?  How do you know it's time to move on?  What are the signs that a complete overhaul is a necessity?

It's not about starting over.  It's about evolving and learning and digesting mistakes and internalizing failure and progressing towards success.  Because you can never truly wipe the slate clean.  You can't unmake what's already been made.  The memories are there, hardwired into your brain.  Even when you break down technique and attempt to rework muscle memory, your previous habits will always be there subconsciously, informing your desires to unlearn the incorrect and replace it with proper mechanics.

What is this blog even about?

Oh yeah, starting over.

Too late now.  Gotta roll with the punches.  And figure out how I got here, and try to never make the same mistake again.

Case in point, note to self, (insert pithy catch phrase here)... it's pretty much impossible to watch the Olympics and publish a coherent blog post at the same time.

I've "started over" musically a couple times.  The grass was greener.  I could sing lead vox and play guitar, too.  Oh, wow, that's hard.  Next time I'll play softer and more controlled so I can work on my vocal pitch during songs.  Hmmmm... you know what?  Drumming is what I should be doing.  Gah.  That's hard work.  I think I'm gonna go the folk acoustic route....  All this starting over just muddied my intentions.  And "murky intentions lead to murky execution" (thanks again @toddsattersten).

So this time, no starting over.  Just open communication and a desire to put in the work and evolve and get better.

Here's the starting point.  One of the first improv songs we performed as Oh Girl:



1 comment:

  1. I can't decide what I like better the Post or the song ..Hmmm The post can be applied to so many situations, life, love,work and in your case music. You have the luxury of time to start over, and the insight to realize that time is precious. The song is just fun!

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