Navigating the Seasons

Well it’s Official. The furnace is on and I’m extracting leaves from our property quite frequently. Before we know it, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New Year will be upon us. I already miss Summer!

Living in Northeast Ohio all of my life has taught me the firm attributes of anticipating and navigating through predictable weather patterns. But I became a wiser EntreMusician once I learned how to traverse the creative seasons of my musical journey.

This lesson has nothing to do with age, although the older I get, the more capable I am at recognizing what doesn’t work for me faster than when I was younger. I am speaking here about how creative methods formulate and how you can learn to embrace your seasons for greater effectiveness.

Once I was of the mindset that the level of energy I saw in others should dictate my own workload and output. Or worse, that my level of energy should be the absolute model for musicians in my camp. This brings nothing but frustration, confusion and shall we say, interesting, relational issues! While there are clear advantages to the “Work, Work, Work” & “Write a Song a Day” philosophies – if they don’t Work for you, they shouldn’t be employed. Conversely, there are methods and strategies that I would not adopt, which work very well for other artists. It really is about finding your own groove. Transformation happens when you can work well with others who are comfortable in their unique seasons of innovations.

I have learned how to be in the season I’m in. When I’m the Songwriter (Winter into Spring), knowing my methods take several weeks, I don’t push. I allow the juices to flow and bloom into the process! As the Performer (generally Summer & Fall), becoming a solid player and engaging with audiences both on and off the platform, take center stage. When I am the Producer, (Fall and Winter) I revel in the recording, editing, overdubbing & mixing. Although I still must dawn the business hat during each of these seasons, My Entrepreneur truly awakens in the dead of Winter; planning, plotting, reviewing and setting goals. Thankfully, my Incredible Team keeps business on target year round, freeing me to be the best EM I can and should be.

I would love to hear how you navigate your various seasons and what works for you. Feel Free to Comment!

While writing this, I am replaying the remix of “Izidreal” coming to a groove near you early next year…