Are Donations Bigger than a Breadbox?
Hey Everyone,
Well, since no one has deigned to vote then it falls to me to decide the fate of this journal. Indeed, it has been hinted to me by some that that has been my duty all along and that I was a fool to think that I could pass it off to others. Perhaps they are right. However, I choose to see this journal as a public interface for ideas, and since my very vocation in life is consumed around serving an audience, it seemed the natural thing to ask them for what they wanted and to give it to them. Perhaps I'm too serving of others. But that's another topic for another day.
My college group just got back from the Reno Jazz Festival, which we won. Reno's a dump, really. I've been to Vegas and Reno, and I can tell you all that if you didn't really like Vegas, then you'll hate Reno. It has all the flaws of Vegas with none of it's redeming qualities. Blegh. Anyway, the trip in and of itself was pretty boring, though it was good to hang out with the group some. Gives me more of an idea of what my peer group is like in general, which is something that I often loose touch with. Winning was also nice, but it was pretty much in the bag and I can't say I feel any kind of personal pride in the accomplishment since I don't really contribute much to the group in an individual manner.
Which, of course, leads me to a topic that has been buzzing around in my head for a bit of time now: Whether or not to stay in the group next year. Now, obviously, the group it fun. Lots of good people, good music, but I tend to expect something more out of musical participation. If I wanted fun and friends I'd just, well, hang out with my friends. I think what really gets me most is that I don't feel like I add anything to the group. They already have three other people on my part and they have many people there that has skills far above my own, and I'm uncomfortable with the idea that I'm just around for a bit of extra richness for the group sound. Now, there's nothing wrong with being a back-up singer, or a group singer. I've been doing that for some time now, and I'm not complaining. However, this group takes up a lot of time and a lot of money, two things that I am running out of very quickly, and unless I'm contributing to the group in any kind of essential way, I really can't justify that further expense.
The thing is, I've also been thinking about my musical career. There's still a lot I need to know and a lot I want to know and I've got this strange itch to get out into the real musical world, to do constant gigging and really plunge into the more work-aspect of it. After all, Brit Quinten (Lead Counter-Tenor for M-Pact! A fine musical group based out of L.A. GO LISTEN TO THEM!) who is one of my idols, once told me that, as much as school learning is invaluable to the musician and gives you a wonderful basis for the skills that you need, you need to eventually decide for yourself that you want to be out there working for a musical career or just give it up. I believe that this idea relates to one I've had before.
Now, life, as I see it, is presented to us in the form of obstacles and challenges. From the very first day we are presented with things to do and learn, lessons that we must accept in order to fulfill our ambitions. As we grow older these continue, progressively getting harder as we, in turn, get better at moving through them. In this sense, life is nothing but a series of challenges that we must overcome. However, as we get into adulthood, we are presented with choices. Instead of being told which challenges we must face, we are presented with the opprotunity to choose which ones we wish to tackle, specializing ourselves into one field or the other. These decissions are made based on our feelings toward what kinds of challenges we like to face, which ones get us excited and interested. I believe that we must eventually get to a plataeu of sorts, or a place where we suddenly find that we don't crave new challenges. However, I believe that that occurs far, far into old age and that, for some, such a state never comes. I can only hope that I shall be one of them, though I suspect otherwise.
In any case, the desire to leave a group or experience or existence that one is comfortable with in exchange for a new more challenging, uncomfortable one, is an extension of that same human desire to be challenged, the progression of life beyond the mundane. Perhaps not all of us shall become the heros of the modern day, but I know we all shoot for it. That's what makes humanity such a wonderful thing.
I hope that everything's going well, faithful readers.
Join the Fun
~Weiler
Well, since no one has deigned to vote then it falls to me to decide the fate of this journal. Indeed, it has been hinted to me by some that that has been my duty all along and that I was a fool to think that I could pass it off to others. Perhaps they are right. However, I choose to see this journal as a public interface for ideas, and since my very vocation in life is consumed around serving an audience, it seemed the natural thing to ask them for what they wanted and to give it to them. Perhaps I'm too serving of others. But that's another topic for another day.
My college group just got back from the Reno Jazz Festival, which we won. Reno's a dump, really. I've been to Vegas and Reno, and I can tell you all that if you didn't really like Vegas, then you'll hate Reno. It has all the flaws of Vegas with none of it's redeming qualities. Blegh. Anyway, the trip in and of itself was pretty boring, though it was good to hang out with the group some. Gives me more of an idea of what my peer group is like in general, which is something that I often loose touch with. Winning was also nice, but it was pretty much in the bag and I can't say I feel any kind of personal pride in the accomplishment since I don't really contribute much to the group in an individual manner.
Which, of course, leads me to a topic that has been buzzing around in my head for a bit of time now: Whether or not to stay in the group next year. Now, obviously, the group it fun. Lots of good people, good music, but I tend to expect something more out of musical participation. If I wanted fun and friends I'd just, well, hang out with my friends. I think what really gets me most is that I don't feel like I add anything to the group. They already have three other people on my part and they have many people there that has skills far above my own, and I'm uncomfortable with the idea that I'm just around for a bit of extra richness for the group sound. Now, there's nothing wrong with being a back-up singer, or a group singer. I've been doing that for some time now, and I'm not complaining. However, this group takes up a lot of time and a lot of money, two things that I am running out of very quickly, and unless I'm contributing to the group in any kind of essential way, I really can't justify that further expense.
The thing is, I've also been thinking about my musical career. There's still a lot I need to know and a lot I want to know and I've got this strange itch to get out into the real musical world, to do constant gigging and really plunge into the more work-aspect of it. After all, Brit Quinten (Lead Counter-Tenor for M-Pact! A fine musical group based out of L.A. GO LISTEN TO THEM!) who is one of my idols, once told me that, as much as school learning is invaluable to the musician and gives you a wonderful basis for the skills that you need, you need to eventually decide for yourself that you want to be out there working for a musical career or just give it up. I believe that this idea relates to one I've had before.
Now, life, as I see it, is presented to us in the form of obstacles and challenges. From the very first day we are presented with things to do and learn, lessons that we must accept in order to fulfill our ambitions. As we grow older these continue, progressively getting harder as we, in turn, get better at moving through them. In this sense, life is nothing but a series of challenges that we must overcome. However, as we get into adulthood, we are presented with choices. Instead of being told which challenges we must face, we are presented with the opprotunity to choose which ones we wish to tackle, specializing ourselves into one field or the other. These decissions are made based on our feelings toward what kinds of challenges we like to face, which ones get us excited and interested. I believe that we must eventually get to a plataeu of sorts, or a place where we suddenly find that we don't crave new challenges. However, I believe that that occurs far, far into old age and that, for some, such a state never comes. I can only hope that I shall be one of them, though I suspect otherwise.
In any case, the desire to leave a group or experience or existence that one is comfortable with in exchange for a new more challenging, uncomfortable one, is an extension of that same human desire to be challenged, the progression of life beyond the mundane. Perhaps not all of us shall become the heros of the modern day, but I know we all shoot for it. That's what makes humanity such a wonderful thing.
I hope that everything's going well, faithful readers.
Join the Fun
~Weiler