Do What You Love
Do you love what you do?
If you do, would you trade that for being able to do what you love? I can't see myself doing anything but creating. That's what I love to do and after spending a weekend in KY and Pekin, IN creating with my cousin Russell and friend Jake, I know that there is nothing else on this earth I would rather do than be an artist. Hearing music and creating verses and videos or films that express how we feel as artists is something that makes me feel complete and gives me a sense of purpose.
I have been writing songs since I was 3 years old, the first being the all time classic you might have heard, "Paint My Fence". No? Well, here are the lyrics:
I don't wann go fishin' no/'Cause fishin' makes no sense
All I wanna do is paint my fence/'Cause fishin' makes no sense.
I wrote that jewel after a fishing trip with my Dad that concluded with an automobile accident in which he was thrown from the blue Chevy S10 we were in and I hit my head on the dashboard after crashing into a ditch. I guess you could say that "Paint My Fence" was my Dashboard Confessional? Womp Womp...
Anyway, I went to see Wicked recently and a friend of mine from college, Tiffany, went on as Glinda the good witch the night I saw the show. Seeing the spectacle and hearing the music from the show with which I was already familiar (thanks to an ex-girlfriend of mine who is a singer and musical theater performer), I was once again reminded of why I do what I do: I Love it and can't imagine doing anything else. Being onstage and performing in the bright lights while in costume and living in the world of the play as the audience is captivated, hopefully, by the words being said and the lights and set design and music gives me a huge rush. It is my climbing Mt. Everest or jumping out of a plane. It is my swimming with sharks or riding waves with Garrett Macnamara.
Performing is my crack pipe, my dime bag, my 6 pack or flask of Knob Creek. Don't get your panties in a bunch I don't "party" like that. What I'm saying is that when I'm creating music or acting onstage or even in the rehearsal room, there is no other place I'd rather be because I'm doing what I love. To me, that is very different from loving what I do. Everyday at work I see men and women who enjoy being in the office cracking jokes or making phone calls but are often heard talking about longing to be elsewhere doing other things. I hear of their passions and desires to do or be something other than what they've made a living doing over the past however many years.
So, are you loving what you do or doing what you love?
If you aren't, what the hell are you doing? Whatever it is, stop! Right now!! You can come back to this blog post, but right now stop doing whatever it is that you're doing and start doing what you Love or at least find something that you love to do. When I haven't been in a show for a few weeks and I go watch a friend or complete strangers onstage, I get antsy. I feel like running up there and joining in on the fun and saying a line or two. It is hard for me to just sit, watch and be entertained because I want to be right up there with them feeling the energy of the audience and giving everything I have inside of me to the audience in return for their attention. The biggest compliment anyone could ever give me after a show is, "I can tell you Love being up there playing that role". I don't even need the compliment! I don't act for praise or money or recognition. I act and write and sing and play because that's what I'm meant to do. I feel like that is my calling.
If you wish you were doing something other than what you do for a living, do yourself a favor and go follow your heart. Life is too short to sit around wishing you could. You know what? You can. No, it's not always that easy when you have kids or other situations that require you to be doing something other than what you really want to be doing with your life. I understand that. All I'm asking you to do is to allow yourself to experience the desires of your heart even if for only a few minutes in this life before you die. When that happens, you can die knowing that you truly lived without regrets.
If you do, would you trade that for being able to do what you love? I can't see myself doing anything but creating. That's what I love to do and after spending a weekend in KY and Pekin, IN creating with my cousin Russell and friend Jake, I know that there is nothing else on this earth I would rather do than be an artist. Hearing music and creating verses and videos or films that express how we feel as artists is something that makes me feel complete and gives me a sense of purpose.
I have been writing songs since I was 3 years old, the first being the all time classic you might have heard, "Paint My Fence". No? Well, here are the lyrics:
I don't wann go fishin' no/'Cause fishin' makes no sense
All I wanna do is paint my fence/'Cause fishin' makes no sense.
I wrote that jewel after a fishing trip with my Dad that concluded with an automobile accident in which he was thrown from the blue Chevy S10 we were in and I hit my head on the dashboard after crashing into a ditch. I guess you could say that "Paint My Fence" was my Dashboard Confessional? Womp Womp...
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| This is not a picture of the actual truck or accident. |
Performing is my crack pipe, my dime bag, my 6 pack or flask of Knob Creek. Don't get your panties in a bunch I don't "party" like that. What I'm saying is that when I'm creating music or acting onstage or even in the rehearsal room, there is no other place I'd rather be because I'm doing what I love. To me, that is very different from loving what I do. Everyday at work I see men and women who enjoy being in the office cracking jokes or making phone calls but are often heard talking about longing to be elsewhere doing other things. I hear of their passions and desires to do or be something other than what they've made a living doing over the past however many years.
So, are you loving what you do or doing what you love?
If you aren't, what the hell are you doing? Whatever it is, stop! Right now!! You can come back to this blog post, but right now stop doing whatever it is that you're doing and start doing what you Love or at least find something that you love to do. When I haven't been in a show for a few weeks and I go watch a friend or complete strangers onstage, I get antsy. I feel like running up there and joining in on the fun and saying a line or two. It is hard for me to just sit, watch and be entertained because I want to be right up there with them feeling the energy of the audience and giving everything I have inside of me to the audience in return for their attention. The biggest compliment anyone could ever give me after a show is, "I can tell you Love being up there playing that role". I don't even need the compliment! I don't act for praise or money or recognition. I act and write and sing and play because that's what I'm meant to do. I feel like that is my calling.
If you wish you were doing something other than what you do for a living, do yourself a favor and go follow your heart. Life is too short to sit around wishing you could. You know what? You can. No, it's not always that easy when you have kids or other situations that require you to be doing something other than what you really want to be doing with your life. I understand that. All I'm asking you to do is to allow yourself to experience the desires of your heart even if for only a few minutes in this life before you die. When that happens, you can die knowing that you truly lived without regrets.
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