Tag Archives: inspiration

Thank you, Tift Merritt

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tift

Today I listened to an old NPR interview with Tift Merritt.  I haven’t heard something this real and encouraging from someone in the music industry in a long time.  She said “The spotlight isn’t that interesting of a place.”  She went on to say how the m

usic industry is a self-centered world- not music itself- but the industry.  And she just didn’t want to be like that. 🙂  Thank you, Tift.

She has won my heart, my respect and my applause.  I loved her music before, and now I love her even more for her humble and honest approach to art.

You can check out the interview and music I heard on NPR’s World Cafe.

Have a wonderful Tuesday folks.  And let me know if you have heard any other encouraging musician interviews as well that you’d like to share!

~lme

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A mind with a view

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Jessie Woodrow- thanks to this organization 

After listening to some thoughts from people last week, I realized that our whole perspective on life is really twisted.  We, and I, live in fear of aging of dying and leaving this world, but it shouldn’t be this way.  We should see our lives as the portal into eternity.  What if I always viewed my life that way?  I might not get so upset at people or worry so much about trying to make my mark or prove myself to this slowly vanishing existence.   I struggle with looking forward to death.  How many of us do- in a positive way I mean? Realizing that ultimately if we’ve only been spent by and for ourselves, we’ve really not left much of a legacy here.

It’s like a funnel, this life.  It’s only siphoning us into a much larger world of eternal existence.  I can’t imagine what that’s like and frankly, it freaks me out sometimes and I have to stop thinking about it.  I think the unknown scares me.  I think sometimes I fear I’ll be bored forever.  But I heard an uplifting sermon recently that talked about how heaven will be eternal bliss.  That feeling of newness and excitement continually overpouring like a fountain.  Trusting God is something I have to work at.  I need to remind myself that he made me and knows me and wants good for me and knows exactly how to fulfill me.  I have to remember that the reasons I groan and ache here are because I am not at home with Him.  At times, I get too comfortable here- thus the problem with our poshy lifestyles.  It’s probably helpful to get out of that comfort zone more than we reside in it.

In conjunction with the end of your life is the perspective of the rest of your life.  It is interesting to realize what defines you when you start to strip earthly things away.  If you weren’t able to paint your body like a canvas with tattoos or the latest trend in the fashion industry or do your hair in a specific way or stand behind an instrument every night or shell out your fancy business cards, what would you look like?  Would your character speak volumes about who you are?  I am blessed to have several people who have reminded me of this recently.  These “about us” things really are just tangents to who we truly are.  Sometimes it’s easy to let our material goods and talents define us.  We’ve been taught to express ourselves since we were little.  And though I don’t deny that being unique and an individual is something God appreciates, maybe we tend to value people more or less for what they can DO and not who they ARE.  Inhabit who you are and the gifts you’ve been given, but also be willing to set them aside of you at times and say- that’s not who I am at the core- those are things that I do.  I think this is becoming more real to me as I have been shifting in my passionate pursuits and the desire to feverishly chase a dream has been melting a little from my heart.  Maybe it’s age or maybe I’m just tired.  But, strangely enough, I have had more opportunities to play music live than when I was touting my talents to the world and trying to figure out how to market myself and who to talk to in the music industry.  Funny how things begin to fall into place once you let go a little and just truly enjoy what you do and relinquish some control.

I don’t know where I’ll end up with music or writing or my career endeavors, but ultimately it doesn’t matter.  At the end of my life, what will matter is the way I’ve walked the journey through life.  It’s exciting to think big- to imagine yourself on an Olympic pedestal or playing music for those who truly love it or winning a Nobel prize.  But all of these things are just things that will collect dust and after the moment will cease to hold as much excitement as they once had.  Therefore, how you grow as an individual, the hard work that builds character, the way you treat others and the lives you influence all hold more weight than the actual attainment of the goal.  Remember that.  Tell me to remember that.  And let’s not let people, places or things define who we are.

~lme

Awaken Not Helena

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Photo credit: OSU commons, Herman and Maud 🙂

Humble abodes

Where the humble abide

Wild writhing garden

Filled with seedlings, free of pride

Sowing seeds of goodness

Dark the night gathers round

And storms are welling up

Beyond the iron gate, without a sound

Love is a word

Abbreviated

For sacrifice

Insatiated

Awaken not love

Until your season comes

Awaken not thy heart

Though you be the only one

Let love sleep

That is not meant for you

Awaken not thy heart

For one who is untrue

Opposites attract and they hope

to polish me

when I prefer

footloose and fancy free

something in the windy willows

whispers from a dream

to never tame myself

or settle

for one who prefers a cage

and I to sing

Awaken not love

Until your season comes

Awaken not thy heart

Though you be the only one

Awaken not a heartbeat

That is not meant for you

Patience in the pages

Til you discover what is true

Let them build their houses

And we will build a dream

Stronger than their mortar

Lacking love between the seams

I will watch them build bigger barns

And I know it’s not for me

Lighten our load

To set sail on open seas

Awaken not love

Until the season comes

Awaken not my heart

Though I remain the only one

I’ll bide my time

Til I belong

Wafting in and out

Carried off within a song

I’ll bide my precious time

to discover what is true

I’ll teach myself to wait, she said

Holding out for you.

Get somewhere

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Photo credit: Geodesic

How to get somewhere in life.  Not that I have it all figured out…

  1. Narrow your search.  Your mom was right.  You can be anything… but you can’t be everything.  Focus your energy.  Figure out what you’re good at and let that be some of the fire in your career endeavors.  I realized that as a bounced like a pinball from hobby to hobby and activity to activity, I was getting nowhere in my professional life.  Once I narrowed that and began to work more often in specific areas, I felt I was starting to see some positive results.  They don’t come overnight, but once you invest several years, you can look back and see that you have made some movement in the right direction.
  2. Let Confidence always be combined with humility.  These two characteristics sum up how our attitude should be in the music industry.  I don’t care whether you’re a performer or a manager or a promoter or a studio musician.  We must all learn how to combine this sense of confidence and boldness in our talents without the air that we are better than others or in some way higher.  Never be considered more of a taker than a giver.  If you only come to people when you need something without first developing a relationship with them, they can smell your false nature stench.  Don’t be that person.  Or do.. but know that it will get you fewer true friends, fans and collaborators.
  3. Don’t expect perfection.  Laugh when you are ridiculous and accept that you are imperfect.  Always try to work each day to be better, but also don’t let failure ruin you.  Because you’ll fail a lot.  Well, I mean, if you try anything.  But if you don’t, you’ll never fail.  You will also become disappointed in situations and people, so don’t let it become the end of the world when it happens.  Something I am trying to work on is to not let my emotions be driven by the situation in which I find myself.  I must learn to cultivate a core character that is able to withstand many different situations and trials, not letting others dictate my emotions.  Do I fail at this still?  Yep, so much.  But it’s one of my goals this year.  Two months in- and I can see some tiny progress.  Being aware is at least part of that battle of change.

So take a breath, center yourself, narrow your search, marry your confidence with humility and don’t expect perfection. Happy Monday.

lme

Day-break-dreaming

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Photo Credits:  Mark

Springtime breezes

Only imagined felt

All my imperfections

Lined up neatly on the shelf

Swinging on the front porch

Of a painted cottage

Small

Home to jack-a-lanterns

In October fall

~~~

Envelop me in daybreak

With promises unbroken

And before the others

Expect of me

And I can dwell

In a world

Inhabited only by me

~~~

Daffodils dance the pathway

And oak trees protect us

Standing stately

Like soldiers on the street

And as oft the ones with tough exterior

are tender flesh beneath

they seem unafraid

To wave their timid leaves

~~~

Love may be fierce

Or take another form

Like rushing water

Or trickling after the winter’s snow storm

Calm breathing

Like an easterly breeze

on a sprightly, slowly wakening

anticipated springtime morn.

~~~lme

3 Undeniable Truths

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  1. People will always surprise you.  They can warm your heart and make you realize you misjudged them at the onset.  They can also go the opposite way and make you realize you held the bar way too high.  Or a sorority girl will flip you off and bum you out bigtime. True story.
  2. You are limited by time and capacity.  Though I know many people who truly believe they can be super mom or the most amazing entrepreneur/small business owner, etc etc, the truth is that they cant.   No one can do everything effectively.  Try to do it all and you will inevitably fall short in some area of your life. We are limited.  There are only so many hours in the day, and therefore, you must choose wisely.  What is worth your time? Who is worth your time? How much time to you spend running for naught and for your own pointless pursuits?  What do you spend most of your time pondering?  That is what you are living for.  Scary isn’t it?
  3. It doesn’t take long to let a bad attitude fester into disease.  If you allow yourself to stew over wrongdoings toward you and words unfitly spoken, you begin to let it eat you like cancer.  Like I did with the mannerless (it’s not a word) sorority girl.  It’s easier to think the worst of others than to have love and strive to hope for the best in any circumstance.   Learning to love people is something that will take a lifetime of work- to not let my initial reaction be the one that I ultimately let prevail.  Often what comes naturally is not the best route.  So you have to train your body to do what you say it will do.

~lme

Home: Not quite where the heart should be

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Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anguskirk/

Some reasons I don’t think I’d like to spend my money on large homes, fancy cars or copious material goods… Unless of course I have the opportunity to live in an Irish castle someday.

  1. I don’t want to spend all my time and efforts creating an environment I never want to leave.  I love to see, go and travel too much to invest so much in the four walls where I could merely sleep and eat.
  2. I don’t want to invest copious amounts of money into something that will only feel big and empty and where recesses are there not touched by light, laughter and music.  And should I need room to breathe, I should not look to a larger cage, but a natural expanse of space. Should I desire to fulfill my senses, I can take to the mountains, the forests, the waterfalls.
  3. Investing in large homes, fancy cars and diamond rings sometimes gives one a false sense of security.  Feeling safe in a world of man-made objects should never be the goal.  Rather, one must test ones comfort zone.  You must allow the world outside your door to become not a puddle you dip your toe in but rather an ocean in which you plunge into with reckless abandonment.
  4. Having a modest home will remind me of who I am and where I am bound.  To have the things we need, with these we shall be content.  But to be rich in travel, experiences that take our breaths away, people who change us for good, learning to give of what we’ve been given and hope of a future, with these my life will be abundantly full and blessed.

truly thoughtful Tuesday- have one 🙂

lme

Thursday wisdom from Seth Godin

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IMG_0260Some thoughts from Seth Godin and my own commentary to remember as you navigate the music industry.

1.  Safe is Risky– So, then the smart thing is to dwell at the fringes.  How does this apply to musicians?  You can’t dwell in the “what’s already been done” area.  You can’t think- oh this worked as a great marketing tactic or facebook contest.  If you’re studying everyone else’s music career, stop.  You can’t expect the same scenario to be recreated.  Because let’s be real- we are all living different lives, know different people and have influence in different circles.  Can you draw ideas in regards to revenue generation and creative strategies? Of course.  Just study for a little while and then be willing to launch out into some uncharted waters.

2.  Not everyone will want what you have.  But that does not matter.  You need to find those who desperately want what you have.  Find those who are obsessed about what you do.  How does this apply to me?  Well, here’s the cold hard truth.  Folks, people will not always love you (gasp?).  Yes, I get upset about this as well, because who does not want to be well-liked.  The need for belonging is deeply entrenched in our psyche.  But it’s time we shook off those who would rather move on and say it’s alright.  Maybe someday they’ll change their mind and return.  After all, no use in crying over spilled milk.

3.  Sell to those who are listening- and maybe they will tell their friends. I’ll take this a step further and say that not only should you hope for good fans who will tell their friends, you should also REWARD them for spreading the word.  When you have great fans who are willing to share, you should give back.  Give them swag, host a concert in their home, send them a holiday gift, write a thank you card.  We are losing true connection with our fans and people in general.  When we lose this, we lose a massive part of what music is supposed to do for us: connect us and unite us.

4.  Acknowledge that what has worked before does not necessarily work anymore.  We used to think of marketing in terms of television where if you could buy enough ad space, you could change the world.  Then we think advertising- push it on the world.   It gives the idea that you are in charge and you’re going to get things done.  But with this idea of connection and social media came the rebirth of the Tribe.  It is something that people have wanted forever.  We have work, spiritual and community tribes.  The internet was supposed to homogenize us but rather it has created silos of people with similar interests.  You can connect if you WANT to be connected.  It is not that you force people but that they want to connect.  It then becomes a movement.  So, as an artist, what characterizes your movement?  If it sounds like something you’ve heard before, get back to the drawing board.

5.  You can’t do it alone.  Begin to find your supporters and build your inner cabinet first.  Find trustworthy, dependable people who you enjoy working with.  Don’t waste your time with people who drag you down or who do not support you in your vision.  1000 true fans is the solid foundation to get you to the next rounds.  Work on cultivating those relationships and be true as the tribe leader to the vision.

Some final thoughts from Seth Godin:

Who are you upsetting?  If you aren’t upsetting, you aren’t changing the status quo.

Who are you connecting?  People want to be a part of a culture and they want to be missed when they are gone.  Do you create that sense of community for them?

Who are you leading?  They’re waiting for you to show them where to go.

So, get goin’ 🙂

And remember…. “It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.” ~Proverbs 25:27

~lme

Truckin’ along with naming the band

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Keep truckin’

Like a good truck brand,  a lot goes into naming a band.  I’m currently in the midst of such an endeavor.  A name says a lot about who you are, what you do, your style and how seriously you hope to be taken.  No pressure right?  Throughout my word perusings for the ideal name, here are some thoughts to consider:

1.  Band Names must be interesting yet easily recognizable.  Whether it’s a created word (the Lumineers) or the putting together of 2 different words or concepts (The Head and the Heart), it must catch the reader’s attention before it catches their ears and later their heartstrings.  It must be somewhat easy to say, since word of mouth will be an ideal marketing tool for you in this industry.

2.  Band names must have the ability to grow with your band.  Putting a number or utilizing a gender word can somewhat constrict your project (unless this is your long-term idea and you know you’ll keep the band the same always).  You have to keep it from being too narrow in concept but it also needs holding weight as well as wings to move in a direction that might later surprise you.

3. Considering connotation is imperative when choosing a name.  The words should give a feeling you want portrayed through your image and sound.  This, I believe, is the hard part.  Words evoke emotion, and it’s hard to get that just right.  It’s easy for me to write a list of words that have the same direction of feeling I want my audience to experience through song, but it isn’t so easy to create that feeling in a concise way through a name.  Here would be a list of connotation words that connect to me:

Farmouse

Southern

Home

Kinfolk

Wanderer

Tumbleweed

Harvest Moon

Seasons

Calico

Rose

Vintage

Fresh food

deserts, forests, valley, fields

Harmony

Traversing the globe

Lanterns

Imagery

Poetry, melodies

the Glow

Friends

Simplicity

Elsewhere

But finding that perfect name as well as one that hasn’t been snagged previously is a challenge.  So, my reader friends, here’s where you come in.  Kristen and I have a pretty lengthy list but we’d love to hear your ideas.  Feel free to post them in copious amounts on my music page, Leah Edwards Music over this lovely long weekend!

Thanks and we’ll keep you posted!

~lme

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Put your heart into it… or better yet, put it elsewhere.

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Photo Credit and rights: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/

This phrase is heard often in our post-modern culture.  “Seize the day- and put your heart into it!” What, praytell, is “it?”  Well, “it” can be anything we want to fill that absence within ourselves- religion, sports, music, academia, philosophy, writing, etc etc.

But I’m going to pose a new way of thinking about our tangible pursuits down here.  What if we don’t put our hearts and all of our focus into so many various parts of our life.  What if we do live a litte “air-hearded” in the sense of all of our everyday affairs, choosing rather to meditate on the spiritual concepts floating above our heads?

Put my heart into music?  No, then i’ll just be anxious and bummed when recognition often escapes me or when I see others who are farther in their successful careers than I am.

Put my whole heart into the stock of what others think, say or my actual relationships?  No, people will disappoint and I’ll spend my time vacillating with each relationship and worrying about how I’m inadequate or how much they’ve hurt or disappointed me or my ego.

Put my heart into creating such a comfortable nest I’ve created here that when it comes my time to fly this coop, I think, oh, but I love my life and stuff here. I’ve invested  so much of my heart and energy into this place.  So, then maybe it behooves us to put our energy and work ethic into what we do, but not our total hearts into what we do.  What do I mean?  Well, maybe our clutch should not be as tight as it is to our image, our talents, our loves (leah speaks to self).  What if we’re called to sacrifice whatever it is?  What if what we thought was our greatest contribution to the world is later revealed as merely a stepping stone to a greater plan set forth for us while we were yet being formed.

We should guard our hearts and, as Rudyard Kipling says, “If all men count with you, but none too much,” we must somehow learn to separate the situations in which we find ourselves and our emotions.  They must not be what drives us- rather, there should be something of far stronger weight acting as our anchor.  If heart is where your treasure is (Matthew 6:21), then where is this anchor?  Investing my heart elsewhere will lead me to less attachment and disappointment in the mere here and now.  Putting my faith and trust in a God who is vastly more powerful than myself will help my perspective be more fixated on better things.  I wont’t get as anxious or worried over politics, broken relationships, stressful moments in the hustle bustle and angry over what I feel I deserve or am owed.  This is part of the strangeness of life.  We see what others have and we want it too.  But sadly, those who have everything we long for often aren’t the people we’d really want to be if we were honest with ourselves.  Do I get giddy over talented musicians?  Why yes, yes I do.  Do I want their often dark and depressing vh1 behind the scenes life or their broken marriages or their exhaustion or addiction to pleasure?  I’ll be honest- aspects of the music lifestyle are incredibly tempting to me.  But then I think deep down, there is a part of me that knows there is so much emptiness in it as well.  I’ve experienced it- the heartache, the sadness, the decision by those I love to leave all for the music at the expense of themselves and others.  And about this whole getting famous bit?  I don’t think it’s that hard to do.  When you’re willing to sacrifice everything- family, friends, dignity, money- for music, you’ll make it out there.  But is that really who I want to be….. someone who has spent their whole life in devotion to self?

I must let my love and pursuit of God and good things be what seeps into every facet of my life will make everything else just compartments.  Instead of giving God his little box, why not view our lives as many boxes and all of them are floating in the same sea of God.  They all become submerged and eventually sink into His greatness.

~lme