Those of you who know me and know what my life consists of, you’ll know that I am no long-form writer… I’m a musician, a musical storyteller, a sound catcher. Ha! Why on earth would I start a blog? The truth is I really have no idea… Over the past few years and especially in the middle of writing my first album I would often stay outside on our porch (which is where I am right now) for hours and hours at a time and write in a journal whatever comes to mind. That could be potential song lyrics or ideas for new songs, what God is telling me that day, or maybe just my perspective of what I see going on in the world. Perspective…that’s an interesting topic…anyway…I thought that it would be productive for me to start putting all of those thoughts into actual works and start letting the world inside of my mind a bit more. I’ve found that it’s sometimes hard to get my point across as an introvert, but what I hope to relay in the writings to come is simply the messages of my heart and mind. The music that I create is definitely the most personal and truest way that I can convey thoughts, feelings and storylines, but if the words in these entries can bring you closer to the music and even help you understand the meaning of some of what has been released by Collective, then these writings will have done their job.
While writing this first entry, the world is currently in the middle of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I see friends all around me losing their jobs, people are worried for what the future might hold, you can see chaos everywhere you turn. I’ve been blessed to still have my job through this time but my wife has been directly affected by this. We’ve had to cut back and reevaluate how we live day to day and week to week. We are both doing everything we can to work from home and keep productivity flowing. Obviously these times are and have been trying for many people, but for me this has been such a freeing time. With our normal, sometimes mundane lives completely stripped from us, it’s forced Beth and I to stop and think. Be still. Sure, we have plenty of reasons to let worry creep in, but I’m just not feeling that. Instead I’ve taken a step back, focused on God, music, my job, and other creative outlets. As artists and musicians this global pandemic has really been hard on all of us, it has really messed up my plans for the rest of 2020. This was supposed to be THE YEAR. For now I know that I need to take this time to reflect, grow, and replan my future. Be still.
We released our debut album “Finding Home” January 31st, 2020. Its an album full of questions and answers, wins and losses, battles, trials and pushing through to the other side! Everything was going great post-release, I think people were really starting to receive the album and momentum was building up steadily. We had plans to start rehearsals and start putting together strings of shows starting in the late summer of 2020. Needless to say the corona virus completely obliterated all of my long thought out plans for the remainder of 2020. Be still. In the middle of a global pandemic it just felt so weird to self promote the album and Collective in general because we hadn’t played a show yet. We had pushed online promotions pretty hard and I was simply left not really knowing what to do next or what all of this meant for my journey. Maybe some of you have felt this way in each of your callings? To have a dream that I’ve had for many years and the plans that I’ve made for months and months be completely halted was very discouraging. Be still. Once I did just let the thoughts go of how to keep the momentum up, I felt like I just needed to step back and listen. The irony of all of this is that I think the Finding Home record in many ways can directly tie in and help people in these trying and uncertain times, so “maybe I DO need to start pushing it again”. Be still.
I hope that you’ve caught onto my point of “be still”. Every time that a thought of doubt would creep in the back of my mind or when I thought for a second maybe I should keep doing what I was doing, I always had the notion to be still. In being still over the past few weeks, I have been reenergized, I’ve gained clarity and new vision on how to move forward, I’ve even started on a few new tunes! My point is, in the midst of all the chaos, just be still and you find how you move forward. I know that it’s hard to not worry, but don’t, because it will be over soon.
All I want to do is change the world…or at least keep it spinning steadily. I hope that these words have given you some clarity and reenergized you to keep pressing towards the vision for your life. I’m excited to see what conversations spark from these writings and I’m excited to share more of my thoughts, my journey, and my life in a way that can help you on your journey to finding your purpose…your peace…your home. Be still, be strong, it will be over soon!