What Have You Been Doing These Past 8 Months?

 Here we are, it's mid-November, 2020. This Covid-19 pandemic quarantine lockdown thing has been going on for 8 months now. What have you been up to? Or more specifically, “What have you been doing to improve yourself so you will be able to emerge from all this a better musician/artist?” If you've just been sitting around eating Doritos and binging on Netflix, you've wasted a rare gift, a rare opportunity.

In the past, how many of us have wistfully said, “If I had the time I'd learn to _____.” Well, you've had 8 months to learn something. What have you done? If you haven't done anything to increase your knowledge and abilities, then you have totally wasted this gift of time.

Some of the best advice I've been given over the years is, “Your skill set will set you apart.” I've always believed this. Yes, there is some 'luck' involved in getting ahead, especially in the arts, but 'luck' doesn't mean much if you don't have the skills to make the most of any given opportunity. Those people with the drive and abilities seem to create their own luck.

I've kept busy improving myself. While I haven't been able to gig, I have been able to study. If you go on YouTube and type in your area of interest, there are likely many videos from people who know a lot more than you. And these videos are FREE! Many Universities also offer free videos or even complete courses. There are also many excellent classes and courses that you can pay for to improve your knowledge and skills (I jokingly said to a friend that, “I've been attending YouTube University.”). This is an amazing time to be alive and have months with nothing to do but study. So what have you learned?

I've kept busy. Besides working on my own writing, recording and video projects, I've taken various classes and watched a lot of videos on subjects I'm interested in. Things I've done:

• Read a LOT of books.
• Studied audio and audio recording.
• Taken courses on music theory, composition and orchestration.
• Gone back over many of my studies in Alchemy and Hermeticism.
• Practiced my musical performance skills.
• Cooked a lot of new recipes.
• Paid much more attention to my immediate surroundings, i.e. my neighborhood.
• Laid out plans for possible future projects based on new skills I've acquired.
• Taken time to listen to music, not as a background, but all by itself.

And once agin, for those at the back of the room:

“Your skill set will set you apart.”

This Covid thing isn't close to being over, so keep learning, keep growing, and keep improving your skills, so when it is finally over, you come out of it a much better artist and can make an even bigger impact than you did before.

Stay safe & be well ~ MB

Chop Wood / Carry Water / Keep Going!

Over the past 9 ½ years and 3 different blogs, I've written almost 500 blog posts. That's a lot of my time and energy devoted to putting my thoughts and ideas out there on the internet for you to read. If you've enjoyed reading them, and have gotten value out of them, please consider a donation. You'll be helping me keep writing for hopefully another 9 ½ years. Thank You ~ MB.