What is holding you back?  This week we focus on how bridges get us across a barrier that if unnamed remains untraversed.  The goal is to keep moving.  Movement creates its own energy.  Don’t stop moving.  As we do, we give opportunity for new connections to be made, both in our own internal wiring and in our external relationships.  Take that step and watch what happens.

This week we stare down the bridges in our lives, those things that get us from our current road to our next one, and then the next.  We are going somewhere.  We see the vision.  The goal.  The end.  But we need the bridge to get there.  The only way to our dream is to cross that bridge.  Only there can we experience the cadence of purpose

Music in an escort into other worlds. It is our guide into emotional spaces.  There are things happening in art and its expression that we can not totally figure.  There are things happening beyond what can be measured.  Beautiful things.  Even amazing things.  In this final blog in our series on music, we will consider what would be missing in a world without music, the pixie dust of imagination.

Why do we love to sing in a stadium of people?  What is it about the experience that is so moving?  Even when the people are strangers, and there is no way of knowing them?  There are pychological reasons, to be sure, and communication theories.  But as we explore the unique power of music, we will see the live experience of it can also be maniuplated and cheapened, using it like a drug only for our next high.

Longing is a great gift, and one great art can uniquely produce in the human experience.  Though longing is literally foreign to us (we long for something outside of ourselves and our current existence), it is as native to us as breathing.  We start and end life with longing and wonder.  Though it may be uncomfortable, don’t loose it in between.  Let longing slow down time and awaken your deep homesick blues.

Through every performance of a song the music and lyric come alive. They are born again. Our tendency is then simply to scientifically measure its “success” by scores (likes, streams, sales). What if we did that with children right out of the gate? A song is a mystery given to certain writers for a particular time and purpose. How crucial it is for creatives to define success before the world does it for us.

Words and melody. It is pretty simple on the surface. It IS simple. But doing it well is anything but easy. There is something just magical about the interplay of a song that has both working together. Creating songs like these requires a unique gift, one different from honing the craft like a professional musician. This week we explore the difference between creating songs and playing them.

Music (espeically when paired with words) has a unique power to implant ideas deep within us. Sometimes we can’t shake a song or refrain from our heads. Sometimes this can lead to an obsessive looking for something new, the next song fix. And we worship novelty over beauty. What ordinary things we may have to offer will seem plain and insignificant. Hang tight. You still have something to say.

The purpose of music is celebrated and expounded as we give away was has been freely given to us. As the artist becomes less aware of him or herself, and more aware of his own gift of freedom received by art (and in this case music) success is less and less about “merch” sales and more and more about a real connection with other human beings (aka an audience). An actual relationship is born.

Some think entrepreneuring is sheer will power, ultimate manifest-destiny.  While we tend to give credit to the people, we often forget the idea. There may be something special about the person, but it was the idea that carried them. And what is that something inherent in the idea that compelled the person so? The real magic of entrepreneuring, then, is having an idea that compels such action, and listening well to the One who gives such compelling ideas.

Perhaps we fight fire with fire. Be part of the system in order to clog the system may be our best option to re-introduce wonder and to disrupt urgency. Efficiency is simply less important than beauty. Please don’t miss the magnificent architecture the next time you are in a beautiful airport!

Imagination is time-travel to a preferred future.  It is the catalyst that gets us on that road. Pure imagination is a beautiful ride into the truest forms of reality. Everything that has been created came from someone’s imagination.  We, perhaps, were even born from imagination. Never underestimate its power.

Art sees a world without limits, one outside of what we narrowly call reality.  It allows us to actually experience other worlds, to transcend this world for a time. Though we know we can’t stay there, the freshness of its air does wonders for our outlook here.   We need art., est life becomes only about survival.

The greatest songs in history will someday be background music.  Masterpieces will be used to dress up the living room. Cherished works of art will be forgotten, or at least under-utilized.  Artists, in that sense, are not much different than a shoe-maker (or cobbler).  They make good, sturdy shoes that protect the feet and hopefully keep us comfortable (oh, and look good).  They provide a great service, but one that is completely taken for granted regularly. Perhaps that is an important thing for us artists to remember.

Survival is one thing. And yes there is definitely a hierarchy of needs. But sooner or later everyone has to deal with themselves. Our existence itself must be dealt with. Art is there to help us do just that. This week we dive into how the arts can be entrepreneurial, especially in the social sector.

Launching is not the end of the story.  It is the beginning of another chapter.  Certainly it took a great deal to get here.  Celebrate it!  But don’t stop.  Release. Let it go.  Let it grow. And don’t forget to enjoy each step of the ride!

If every end is a beginning there is always a loophole.  There is always a cliff-hanger at the end of every episode.  Our life is like that. Everything connects.  Everything unravels and ravels back.  But how? That is the great tragedy of life.  We can’t tie all the loose ends together.  Not yet. But you CAN do what you can do. Do that…for now.

As a plant starts to flower, it begins the process of reproduction.  It wants to multiply.  There is some deep impulse within it - Grow!  Reproduce!  Multiply!  But to do so means putting its best on display for the world. We have a lot to learn from plants. Hang ten this week for a little botany sabbatical as we pick up a few things about how to keep reaching for the sun.  Life will go on!

This last part [this was originally the third part of a 3-part series on showing up, see the the last two blog posts], may be the most essential. Showing up is not about your work ethic, it is not even about you. Showing up is about the people you will bless. Showing up is about knowing the power of your gift, and the grace of the One who gives it.

All the greats have one thing in common: when asked about their passion or process, they do not mention fame and fortune as the driving force.  Instead they have an incessant drive to get “it” right.  They hear a song in their head and know it when they hear it.  It is clear. That’s the real math of innovation, getting “it” right.