"NO! You suck"

[mazz]

I thought this was a great post as well, very well said! It should be included in a Taxi newsletter some time, because I think it speaks to a lot of foks and people could certainly relate to it, IMO.

The reverse is also true which is thinking that everything one does doesn't suck, or at least having blind spots in that regard!

Walking that fine line between over confidence and over critical is a challenge!!! Confident humility is worth cultivating, I think.

[peeyo]

Thanks for sharing Jon. It is definitely a struggle to see the "positive" in a return or any kind of disappointment in life. Especially for us songwriters. It's hard not to get attached to your work and when someone tells you it's not right in some shape or form it is a blow to the ego. I struggle all the time with getting too attached to my music and not being able to listen to it objectively. I recently wrote a song that I was really proud of, thought I'd nailed the listing, was told by numerous people on the forum that it was a great song, on and on. Then it got a return! Man, that was tough to take. But I sucked it up and sent it in for a custom critique. The feedback was invaluable and opened my eyes and ears to some new possibilities in the song.
I think we all come to a realization at some point in our Taxi career that the screeners are not some evil Hollywood hot shot sitting in their tower laughing at our efforts and taking pleasure in shooting us down. They are our best chance at having someone with objective, unattached ears listen to our music and give us the honest feedback that we need to hear if we are going to have any shot in this business.

Thanks again for this great post.
Paul

[mazz]

Most people know these Edioson quotes, but I thought I'd post them up just as a reminder that we will be rejected more than we will be accepted in this business. That's just the way it is. It's how we handle those "rejections" or "failures" that have an effect not only on the journey, but the outcome as well.

Hang in there:

Edison:

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure."

[onelight24]

Hi Jon, thanks for sharing your story, as sharing one's experience is always life enhancing for another! It seems to me as I read about the complex of having a 'positive filter', as well as reading the comments expressed by others, that most of the time we 'artists' forget that we have very high standards placed on ourselves, & most are highly critical of themselves. I wonder how many rants it took for Edison to finally come to the conclusions he did. What I suggest, is that the process taught him or rather gave him that wisdom, because he failed many times & b$tched about it.

That's simply referred to as the human condition, we belong to this matrix of positive & negative interaction, & neither exists without the other!

So what I'm saying is its absolutely fine to rant, that makes you human, and not some desensitized, robotic, inanimate being, simply exisiting. You must LIVE, which means your going to be negative at times, unless you are some saint or something of that nature! Everything is an extension of your consciousness including your music, so of course your going to take it to heart, that is humanness, anything else is simply one big illusion!

This is my opinion of course, & I'm sure there will be those who disagree, another aspect of the human condition!

Again, Thanks for sharing your story!


Cheers,
Vincent!

[mazz]

Thank God for folks like Edison who have been down that path and who we can learn from.

[onelight24]

Thank God for folks like Edison who have been down that path and who we can learn from.

Nothing teaches us better than the process or the path itself, despite the supposed wisdom of those who have come before us! Clearly that's the evolutionary process!

Cheers,
Vincent!

[crs7string]

I'm a big believer in controlling what we can control and letting everything else go.

We have control of writing for a listing, improving our craft, and producing a lot of music.

We have no control of a return or forward and all that the screening process involves.

We do have control of our reaction to returns (and forwards)

Edison had no control of the outcome of his experiments, he just kept experimenting. Can you imagine a TAXI member having nearly 1000 returns before they ever had a forward. If that person exists, they deserve a free lifetime membership!!!

I'm also a big believer in learning from other people's experiences. That is the benefit of being able to read about the successes and, possibly more importantly, the failures of the people we know as successful in their field. Every biography I've ever read is full of failures. Why turn one's back on the amazing body of knowledge in your local bookstore or your Kindle or iPad.

If a lesson is yet to be learned, we are apt to have to learn it repeatedly. I'd rather learn from others trials and tribulations if it can teach me the lesson without first hand experience. One never knows where one little germ of information will come from that can change your perspective in a very profound way.


Chuck

[onelight24]

If a lesson is yet to be learned, we are apt to have to learn it repeatedly. I'd rather learn from others trials and tribulations if it can teach me the lesson without first hand experience. One never knows where one little germ of information will come from that can change your perspective in a very profound way.

Yes, Chuck I am in total agreement with this statement! As I am sure you know, no book, or passing down of the experience of parenting or fatherhood, would be able to prepare or teach you the authenticity of those rolls. However, once those shoes are on your feet, that's when your actually learning the trails & tribulations of the rolls!

I did thank Jon for sharing his story!

Hi Jon, thanks for sharing your story, as sharing one's experience is always life enhancing for another!

I know one thing, & that is that most who compose, really love doing it, & are quite passionate about their expression. You can hear the passion & love in the music! That means everything you write is an extension of that passion or love, so it might hurt at times to hear uncomfortable rejection. What I am suggesting is that its only human to process & express, or react, in a positive & negative form, & we should not judge another simply because they choose differently than we do. After-all we are comprised of electronic charges which are both positive & negative, its the way of the universe!

So as we are learning, bettering our skill & craft as composers, let's not forget that we are humans, implying we might rant 9999 times before the wisdom arrives! No judgement, just acceptance of the process, as someone once mentioned to me!

Enjoy your experience, as I know I am enjoying mine, positive & negative!

Cheers,
Vincent!

[jonathansorensen]

I thought this was a great post as well, very well said! It should be included in a Taxi newsletter some time, because I think it speaks to a lot of foks and people could certainly relate to it, IMO.

The reverse is also true which is thinking that everything one does doesn't suck, or at least having blind spots in that regard!

Walking that fine line between over confidence and over critical is a challenge!!! Confident humility is worth cultivating, I think.

Confident humility! That's great. I think I need to write that down and post it over my monitor.

JS

[jonathansorensen]

Thanks to all of you for the helpful perspectives. What is really fun about the taxi forums is that you can post and receive some profound responses. I love soaking up other people's perspectives.

Thanks again all

Best,
Jon