STAY FOCUSED

I'm in my late twenties. I've been singing since I was a child but I've stopped in between. In fact, I remember giving up at twenty three years old because I was told by certain individuals that I needed to snap out of it and quit dreaming. And you know what I did? I listened to them...but only for a short while.

What happened was I ended up going back and forth, becoming wishy-washy. One minute I was confident, and the next I had doubts. I'd say to myself, "Maybe they're right. Maybe I should just focus on landing a steady day job and remaining committed to it." So I jumped from different part time jobs until I found a full time position with decent pay. Once I worked as a concierge for a Hotel in Manhattan, and then eventually I worked for an upscale spa. Basically, I remained in the "Customer Service" field for a couple of years. It started to feel extremely weird to me though, like I had begun forming an almost split personality because during the day I had to act "professional" on the job but at night I was dressing up like a diva and singing my heart out on stage. Who was I? I began to wonder. In juggling both lifestyles, one of them began to suffer; I had to make a choice.

Through all of my confusion, doubts and fears... I ended up leaving my day job for good to pursue my creative ventures all the way. There's more to the story that I'm leaving out, but the point of this blog entry is that although I'm pretty sure that things happen for a reason, I'm also a firm believer that we have more power than we give ourselves credit for. As people, we have to believe that our power lies within our free will to "CHOOSE." So regardless of who told me to quit and give up, it was still ultimately my choice as to whether or not I'd take their advice in the first place. Yet still, I listened to them and let their fears become mine. And all that did to me was make me steer in different directions until eventually I became so sick and tired of the merry go rounds that I just stuck with a final decision! Through the good, the bad and the ugly... I finally stayed on my creative course as a performer and freelancer!

And you know what I'm learning? That whether or not I would've remained at a day job or remained on my freelance path as an "Artist", both lifestyles have bumps on the road. Neither one of them are perfect or so called 'safe.' So in that respect, why give up on your dreams just because people tell you to be "Realistic"? And besides, who in the hell said that being a "Dreamer" was negative anyway? Should none of us have a 'Vision'? I mean, even being "realistic" gets you into trouble because as we're all slowly learning, nothing is secure these days anyway, especially when the laws are constantly changing along with social security, retirement aid, health insurance, etc. Now I'm not suggesting that life's a bitch and then you die... but I am saying that no matter what you decide to do in life, there will always be lessons to learn and some of them are not easy. So, if we're all going to encounter hardships along the way, then why not at least do something that we have a passion for?

So please, DON'T waste your early years on trying to please other people regardless of who they are to you. Don't become wishy-washy with your decisions because you feel guilty, or because you start having second thoughts about your capabilities. Just make a decision and stick with it. And don't worry... it's more about the journey than it is the destination anyway, so enjoy your life! Besides, no one else gets to live inside your skin but you! And remember, if you feel something telling you to become something in your gut, then follow your intuition above all other voices!