On Doing It Your Way, Which Is The Only Way + "The Finest Hours"

Happy Late Night, my Darling,

I am writing from home, and will be doing so until next Saturday night. It is raining pretty steady outside, but I was able to still get my walk in at 7pm, with umbrella in hand. My usually noisy apartment complex is quiet tonight - a huge blessing - and I am hoping the quiet will last for all of Thanksgiving week, with noisy students possibly at home for the holiday, though I believe they still have classes through Wednesday. Well, fingers are crossed anyway. There's no substitute for silence when you live in an apartment, lol. :)

I hope your day was good. I see a motif in a couple of your recent posts - "The Touring Van". Your friend Steve, who has been posting a lot during his & Sarah's tour, reflects on being trapped in a van (the price paid by all rockers from Time Immemorial), while your friends from Stitched Up Heart have just acquired a spiffy new bus. They must be making some fairly decent money on tour, even if they are just renting it. But in all - I say Good On All Of Those Guys and Gals. It is beyond cool to see everybody doing their thing and having success, and as we have seen, Sweet Baby, and as we have said and as we have shown.....

That is exactly how you Do It.

Just by simply Doing It.

Of course, we know about all the years of preparation that go into becoming a professional musician, or a professional in any creative endeavor. But in the end, it comes down to doing it or not doing it, and we know that a lot of people do not end up Doing It, even though they prepared to, just because they opted instead for the so-called Secure Life of The American Person (whatever that is). And we are not knocking those creative types who fall away, not at all. God Bless 'Em. What we are doing instead is celebrating the ones who opt to Keep Going, and in this case we see young bands out on the road, having that Road Experience, and all the live concert experiences, and I'll bet they are having a blast, even when they are trapped in vans.  :)

You can trust me, as a guy a few (ahem, cough cough) years older, and in my case a guy who did not go forward in a band but who stuck to my guns in other ways, when I say that these guys and gals are gonna look back at this time in their lives and relish every moment of the remembered experience. They will also be very glad they chose the route they did in life.

Which brings me to you, SB.

I saw another post of yours this afternoon, from a friend who has designed clothing that now is being worn by famous people like Kylie Jenner. The gist of his post was that he always hung in there, even though he was the Artistic Kid in what he called a Vanilla Town (though your town certainly is not Vanilla). But you and I both know what he means by feeling like the artistic young person who has to really hang in there and believe in him or herself while all around him, his peers are becoming Part Of Society.

But what people like us know is that we are part of society as well, just in a different way. And we can only be ourselves. We can only do what we do. Your friend did it, and his clothing is now being worn by the Stars.

He also mentioned the support from his Mom, and I have said before and want to say again that, while I obviously don't know your Mom, it sure seems to me like she is a great ally of yours, and I think that is 100% Awesome.  :)

You too are going to look back on this time with great fondness and nostalgia (though let the "looking back" wait a couple of decades or so, lol) and you are gonna be so glad that you followed your heart in life, and in your career. You are gonna be glad you followed your instincts, and your Nature.

Remember, You Know Yourself. That's the whole deal, end of story.

And what you have accomplished since college and art school is amazing. But the most important part of all is in the day-to-day experience and the creation of memories.

Even if you are trapped in a van, haha.

Well, that's all I know for tonight. We had good singing in church and a good rehearsal, too. I am still trying for those Ave Maria's on the John Rutter piece, but I will hit them when the time comes, guaranteed.  :)

I also watched a movie this evening : "The Finest Hours", a true life adventure story about a heroic Coast Guard rescue of the crew of a sinking oil tanker off the coast of Massachusetts in 1952. Man, what a great movie. It is a Hollywood movie, made by Disney, but in this case that is exactly the right choice of a company to produce such a film. Not every movie has to be art-house, and you know I love Hollywood movies (when they are good), and this one has so much feeling and honor and resolve that you just wanna stand up and cheer at the end......except the feeling is more reserved than that, because of what the sailors have been through.

A "10" on all counts, I loved this movie.

I will see you in the morning. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)