Why Opportunities Matter

Since the onset of my creative urges involving music, there have always been goals in mind. From the initial goal of learning chords and songs, to the adventurous goal of songwriting, to the very ambitious goals of gigging and CD recording, there has always been something to work towards. But what happens when goals simply aren't enough?

The past few years I've been stumped on a couple lingering goals- 1) create a full coherent and consistent solo album and 2) have at least one piece of my music featured in film, tv or advertising. The former has been a hang up for a few reasons, mostly revolving around the fact I am extremely indecisive when it comes down to direction. By the time I would create 2 or 3 songs for a project, I would move on to writing something to fill another personal order. Of course the cycle eventually repeats itself, but the time between disconnects me from the original inspiration.

Although my first goal is not being helped by this cycle, I'm still creating music, which means I can make attempts at the second goal. Problem is, it doesn't matter how many tracks I create, unless I find someone interested in using my work, I cannot fulfill this goal.

Until somewhat recently, I had been too reserved to even openly share what I created, let alone try selling it to someone. I always wanted to succeed, and I never wanted to fail. I've come to terms with the fact this is not feasible, especially in the arts. More importantly though, I've come to realize that not all failures are created equal. To fail by trial is much more admirable than failure out of fear. So I gathered my best, put on a game face and tossed myself out to the world. Almost 1,700 plays later, I'm on a new path to progress.

I'm writing this to remind us that opportunities matter, and they will all pass us by if we sit idle. It's an obvious fact, but it's so easy to become oblivious to. Remember, no one can ever be guaranteed a next time.

I cannot give a lot of detail on the music being created for the current project, as all aspects of it are still in development. What I can say is that it will be tense, dynamic and creepy. I mean, it is a horror film after-all.

For detailed information about the full project, please visit James' blog.