Have You Asked Yourself What You’ll Be Chasing in 2015?

Sometimes I wonder why I do this. Sometimes I wonder if I do enough. Most times I wonder, “Will my efforts amount to anything?” The majority of my tangible income comes from my skills as a writer, most of my thoughts, and time is spent designing the blueprint for my business. I don’t know where my ability or interest in the business of the arts came from, but I know it all started with my love of music. Whether it was Frankie Beverly or Rob Base, Joy and Pain seem to be one in the same. I learned early that music could make you dance or cry, and good times didn’t always end well but everything had a song. Like every cinematic tale woven together by highs and lows, the young and the old, the past and the present…Rhythm and Blues intertwined with Hip Hop. That became my soundtrack.

Music made it okay to feel, and as a kid in the 80’s and 90’s having feelings was too heavy a burden to bear, so the music became my support . When I was seven, I memorized my first song…it was Audio2’s 1987 classic, “Top Billin”. It was refreshingly different then my uncle’s 70’s slow jams or those tear-jerking gospel hymns my grandmother played. It was then that I realized there was music for every occasion. I can picture myself with ponytails, a gold chain, and cut up denim shorts in the mix of a fish fry, a card game, or, better yet, a block party, not because I cared about the festivities but because I wanted to be where the music was, no matter the outcome.

Since 2007, I’ve been chasing the music in one way or another: I write songs, I perform, I produce and host art performances, I’m an educator, and to put it plainly I’m an artist. No two days are EVER alike but one thing I am certain of, I am awake and fully present.

I consider myself a part of the music underworld; uncelebrated, unpopular, understaffed and unfunded. Since this is our introduction to each other as well as the new year, let’s decide right now, before we become riddled with the guilt of unaccomplished resolutions; let’s resolve to live one day at a time, one moment at a time, with resilience and optimism.

This year we will no longer allow people, who are unable to cultivate the life they want, make us feel insecure about anything. Especially, when they ask stupid questions like: “Are you still doing music?” ←(Insert your art here.) I wish people understood that you don’t do art, you are your art, and just like breathing–your life depends on it. I proclaim that in the year 2015, my response will be “are you still breathing?” I feel sorry for people who live their lives without a dream, without expression, without balance, without tapping into their best authentic self, and unable to find their gifts (you may have more than one…lol) .

In every moment of my life i’m nurturing my passion , cultivating my dream, finding my art! I’m not quitting my day job, I’m talking about the sacrifices, sleepless nights, less socializing and more work. It’s not easy and throughout most of the journey, I realize, I’ll be lonely but it’s worth it. What are you chasing in 2015?

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