Have you ever been rejected from a festival, gig, journal, or contest - and then felt the burn and sting of that "no"? I sure have. I've just made a video with four strategies that help me deal with the rejection that is part and parcel of being an artist in the world. Happens to [...]
You've gotta play to win! This is just as true of music and poetry and art and love as it is of the lottery. And the good news is that we're a lot more likely to actually WIN in those games because the odds are always in our favor. Ask, try, submit, propose, invite, query, [...]
The right tools for the job give us wings. They are collaborators, conspirators, co-authors and co-creators. With use, with long relationship, they become ensouled. They become more than the sum of their materials and parts. They become friends. This is true of musical instruments, brushes and paints, recording equipment, ballet shoes, and garden trowels. It's [...]
I'm passionate about the cultivation of intelligence. Nurturing it in myself and in others is one of the most thrilling things I can imagine undertaking on planet Earth. I'm writing a book about teaching and today found me gathering pieces I've written over the years. This excerpt on what I call "integrative intelligence" caught [...]
This is a story of how life conspires with us to fulfill our dearest dreams - especially when we are willing to follow good feeling and trust our hearts. For years, I dreamed of visiting the Lake District in the north of England - home of English-language Romantic poetry and a hotbed of artistic creativity [...]
Who knew? Doing some e-research tonight, by sheer chance I came across an Irish scholar's review of an essay I wrote years ago for a festschrift for my wonderful mentor, Professor Patrick K. Ford. Professor Ford's "hound love" inspired me to write about dogs in the Finn tales (plus I've always said I'm part-dog [...]
Hi, friends, and Happy New Book Year! Last year I set no resolutions but chose instead to indulge one of my deepest passions: READING. I decided to let myself read as much as I liked and now, 143 books later, I can say this intention brought me great JOY and satisfaction (and that I'm continuing [...]
I’m so grateful these days for all the places in music that offer us the opportunity to re-group, re-calibrate, and re-commit. What I mean is this: when you’re playing a piece (and especially when you’re performing it for an audience), it’s perilously easy to get caught in some inner story that leaves you breathless and [...]
Are you multi-passionate? Meaning, do you pursue a lot of interests and sometimes feel like you're swirling a bit wildly in all your eagerness and excitement? I'm definitely in this category. Have been all my life. And I know what it feels like to judge myself as "too much" because my interests and energies don't [...]
Today I'm thinking that DRIVE - that is, love + hunger + determination - is the one essential ingredient to mastering an art and making a contribution. Drive is far more important than what we call "talent." I believe that we all come with a kind of "starting kit." Some people get great ears [...]
