Sustainability

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”-- Soren Kierkegaard

For most of us musicians, the decision to learn how to play a musical instrument was made at an early age, long before we would ever consider choosing it for a possible career. In the early stages of musical development, most beginners are not thinking about anything other than the task at hand. During this period, you are not concerned with technique and play with reckless abandon, living in the moment and unconcerned with consequence. As the years pass and you slowly improve your craft, other factors often come into play. You might realize that performing music can gain you attention, popularity, and/or income. The moment you made those realizations, was the inevitable moment you began considering music for your career.

Before you know it, you've been playing music for 10 or 20 years, making some money doing it, and are now trying to figure out how to take your career to the next level. The decisions you make about performing music can become guided by a host of external factors. You start to ask yourself questions like: Will joining this band help my career? Are these clothes appropriate for this gig? Do I write songs that people want to hear? How do I get a meeting with somebody at a management company? How do I achieve a bigger following? If you're not careful, it is easy to become consumed by your career aspirations and lose perspective. Meanwhile, the years are churning past. Your goals change, your tastes in music change, your body changes, your persona changes, your life situation changes. Sustainability becomes an issue.

The road for many musicians is a lifelong journey. Whether you play music for the fun of it, or professionally for income, there are a lot of variables that will impact your ability to be able to perform music for the rest of your life. Do you hope to still be able to play music when you are 50 or 60? Are you enjoying your musical activities right now? Will you be able to earn enough money from your craft to support yourself and your family for the rest of your life? Will you still be able to earn money from your craft in 20 or 30 years? Will you still want to? Do you have a fallback plan?

This last section of the book focuses on building a musician with a sustainable future. Your skills, your inner character and mindset, your goals, and your friendships and relationships will shape that future. Being proficient at your craft and maintaining your body and mind will help allow you to play the music you want to play, effortlessly and with less susceptibility to injury for the rest of your life. Making the right decisions today will help ensure that you still enjoy your career, your life, and your musical endeavors later on. You are living your future each and every day so try to live life in the moment. With the right outlook, you'll always be able to enjoy your musical life, regardless of what you achieve with your career. Educate yourself and excel with music and life and there will be many rewards along the way. Build a good ship and it will sail for a long time.

A while back I wrote this in-depth piece on Tinnitus and hearing damage. While it isn't in the book, I thought it would be useful to provide a link here. “Do You Ever Hear the Sound of True Silence?”