3 Reasons I Started a Blog

If you listen, there’s a story.

It was a couple of days ago that I was meeting with Karen Cubides, my marketing advisor and all-around career magician, when she asked me about blogging. “A blog?” I’d asked out loud. “That sounds like a lot of fun!” Karen asked me to think about what I’d want to write and I couldn’t stop wondering about the possibilities. To me, a blog can be anything you want it to be, but it’s mostly about connection: connection to others in your field, to family, to friends, and to people you’ve never met. It sounded like an incredible opportunity to introduce myself to the world and meet others, and I was really excited. 

I’ve always loved to write and share stories. It was my mom who taught me that if you listen to a person, they’ll have a story to tell. I’m fascinated by the lives and stories of others, their careers, their thoughts, and their hopes and dreams. Writing has always seemed like such a beautiful way to record people’s stories as well as a way to share my own. This is the first reason I started a blog: I was excited by the idea of sharing my story and learning the stories of others. My hope is that by writing this blog, I can make a space to share my experiences and to hear the experiences of others, to create a space for learning and conversation. The music world, while it seems massive, is actually quite small and tight-knit, and I think that the conversations we have with each other are incredibly important. The more platforms we have for people to share their stories and experiences, the better we are as a community of artists and creatives. 

Within this idea of community, there is the second reason I wanted to start this blog: I want people to feel less alone. I think that especially as young musicians, we think we’re the only ones with a certain worry or struggle. I certainly feel that way! However, I’ve found in speaking to people and colleagues that the majority of the time we are all worried or have been worried about the same things. You may be unique, but your concerns and insecurities aren’t! I hope that I can use this blog as a platform to share some of the things I’ve learned and am growing through, and that this can help combat the belief that “We are the only ones who feel that way.” I’ve spent so much of my life comparing my inside feelings to how other people seem on the outside, and only by experience and listening to other people’s stories have I come to understand that we all have the same concerns. As a musician starting their career, a student in undergrad, and a young adult sharing aspects of my life in this blog, I hope I can help show that we’re not as alone as we think we are. 

In addition to my experiences and feelings, I look forward to sharing the tips, tricks, and methods that have helped me, whether that be musical, mental, emotional, or health-wise. As I’ve learned what works for me, there are things that ended up being so valuable to me that I wished I’d known them sooner! Perhaps this blog allows one small tip or suggestion to help another person feel just a little bit better or improve something that’s been bugging them. This is my third reason for starting this blog: what if what has helped me could help someone else? I hope that as I continue my life as a musician, student, and person, there are tid-bits or experiences that I can share to help others along in their journey. Maybe, it even helps to create another space for the discussion and sharing of these topics. In a community as close as the music world, what better way to further its development than by sharing and growing from each other?

With all these things in mind, I am very eager to begin the work of writing this blog. I think that creating space for the sharing stories and experiences is how we as creatives learn and grow with each other. It then becomes about discussion and conversation, a place where people can learn they aren’t alone in their feelings and that there are many ways to approach the issues they may be tackling in their playing and life. I hope that by creating this blog, there are more chances for conversation and discovery!