It’s something I lost track of years ago in my struggle to be a professional musician. I was a professional—paid to play, teaching at two different music schools—but was always so afraid of making mistakes and failing that I lost track of what I loved about playing. This piece by Macklemore names exactly the thing that I think I’m still looking for: that feeling of joy in making and creating music, not because I have to but because I get to.
What I couldn’t find in a hotel room, on the road or in Seattle, I found in the middle of nowhere. No reception. Making music not because we had to, but because we got to. I had forgotten how to do that. Not being afraid of the platform we were standing on. Not creating from a place of “don’t fuck up” but creating from a place of “fuck it up.”
It’s what I try to teach my kids and it’s what I want for myself.