Casting The Right Bait
Posted on June 27, 2010 with 0 comments
Wouldn’t it be great if technology would let me write this blog entry while on vacation sitting in a boat in the middle of a quaint northeast Wisconsin lake just across the border from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? Perhaps a warm gentle breeze occasionally brushing the skin with a feather-like touch, momentary silence broken by the peaceful warbled call of a pair of loons paddling their way across the lake a quarter mile away? Maybe bright sunlight warming my back and legs as it illuminates a fluorescent Turquoise Darning Needle hovering helicopter style at the tip of my slowly bobbing fishing pole as its transparent paper-like sounding wings hold them perfectly level? Imagine the hypnotic metallic gurgle of small ripples bumping the hull of the aluminum boat under the feet and setting the relaxed breathing pace of its captive audience? A slow deep breath would prove to fill the lungs with a sweet aroma one could taste on the tongue going in from the blooming vegetation on shore as it mixes with the smell of clear fresh water.
Wouldn’t that be awesome? Well technology would in fact allow me to do that, but I’m actually sitting at my desk in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area listening to a CD drive rip a CD to my hard drive. The low groan of the drive interrupted by my daughter’s cat meowing as it contemplates scaling the side of the desk only to tramp across the keyboard for a lap landing, tipping up its head, as well its tail expecting to be petted. Instead of a warm gentle lake breeze blowing, a constant cool hits the bare feet from the AC running. I do hear a gentle metallic sound but it’s of silverware in the other room being extracted from the dishwasher then being dropped in the drawer. The water too is making a gentle noise but it’s from filling the hull of the kitchen sink and not rippling the bottom of the boat.
There is good news and there is good news. The good news is although I had the ability to write a blog while on vacation in the boat this past week, I decided to enjoy the moment rather than spoil it with technology… other than the belated Father’s Day call I took on my cell phone in the middle of the lake from my daughter currently living in Kyrgyzstan… talk about two different cultural poles there. The other good news is I can sit back now and reflect on a wonderfully memorable and relaxing time on the lake as mentioned above, and on top of all that, it was spent with my dad.
As a writer last week I was reminded through a quote I heard of the importance of what and how I write. The quote says something like “It’s not what one says or does that will make folks remember you, but how you made them feel.”
As a songwriter, that is my job. That isn’t always easy but it is always fun. Songwriting is very much like fishing to me. Each song is new bait cast out in the water of life. It’s the music and melody that cast the words out like the line off the reel. At the end of the line, attached to the hook is the emotion I’d like an audience to feel. As the song is played the line is cast out, reeled in, and at the end of the song, when that last note rings out and fades off into the distance, that’s when the song is pulled out of the water and over the edge of the boat. That’s when I find out if I’ve got a keeper or if the song gets tossed back into the abyss to be fed some more and mature. Or if the unfortunate circumstance when the distorted hook totally mangles the bait to a point of non-repair, the song is thrown to the gulls and never heard from again.
In whatever you do, whether its raise a child, interact with co-workers, greet someone at a cash register, give someone directions to their destination, draw a cartoon, paint a picture, write a song, play an instrument, communicate daily with your loved ones, or do your “day job” day in and day out, whatever you do… how you make others feel will cause them to both remember you and decide whether they wish to keep remembering you either positively or negatively.
In the end, it is up to you how you decide people will remember you, do what you do with gusto, sincerity, and feeling, and most of all enjoy the journey. It is the principles, values and beliefs that guide your journey… my hope for you is your ultimate goal is on the road you are on and gets you to your designed destination and you are not stuck in one of those unmarked round abouts not knowing where to turn off *smile*.
As always I'm happy to hear your thoughts and comments. Feel free to E Mail Me With Your Thoughts
Wouldn’t that be awesome? Well technology would in fact allow me to do that, but I’m actually sitting at my desk in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area listening to a CD drive rip a CD to my hard drive. The low groan of the drive interrupted by my daughter’s cat meowing as it contemplates scaling the side of the desk only to tramp across the keyboard for a lap landing, tipping up its head, as well its tail expecting to be petted. Instead of a warm gentle lake breeze blowing, a constant cool hits the bare feet from the AC running. I do hear a gentle metallic sound but it’s of silverware in the other room being extracted from the dishwasher then being dropped in the drawer. The water too is making a gentle noise but it’s from filling the hull of the kitchen sink and not rippling the bottom of the boat.
There is good news and there is good news. The good news is although I had the ability to write a blog while on vacation in the boat this past week, I decided to enjoy the moment rather than spoil it with technology… other than the belated Father’s Day call I took on my cell phone in the middle of the lake from my daughter currently living in Kyrgyzstan… talk about two different cultural poles there. The other good news is I can sit back now and reflect on a wonderfully memorable and relaxing time on the lake as mentioned above, and on top of all that, it was spent with my dad.
As a writer last week I was reminded through a quote I heard of the importance of what and how I write. The quote says something like “It’s not what one says or does that will make folks remember you, but how you made them feel.”
As a songwriter, that is my job. That isn’t always easy but it is always fun. Songwriting is very much like fishing to me. Each song is new bait cast out in the water of life. It’s the music and melody that cast the words out like the line off the reel. At the end of the line, attached to the hook is the emotion I’d like an audience to feel. As the song is played the line is cast out, reeled in, and at the end of the song, when that last note rings out and fades off into the distance, that’s when the song is pulled out of the water and over the edge of the boat. That’s when I find out if I’ve got a keeper or if the song gets tossed back into the abyss to be fed some more and mature. Or if the unfortunate circumstance when the distorted hook totally mangles the bait to a point of non-repair, the song is thrown to the gulls and never heard from again.
In whatever you do, whether its raise a child, interact with co-workers, greet someone at a cash register, give someone directions to their destination, draw a cartoon, paint a picture, write a song, play an instrument, communicate daily with your loved ones, or do your “day job” day in and day out, whatever you do… how you make others feel will cause them to both remember you and decide whether they wish to keep remembering you either positively or negatively.
In the end, it is up to you how you decide people will remember you, do what you do with gusto, sincerity, and feeling, and most of all enjoy the journey. It is the principles, values and beliefs that guide your journey… my hope for you is your ultimate goal is on the road you are on and gets you to your designed destination and you are not stuck in one of those unmarked round abouts not knowing where to turn off *smile*.
As always I'm happy to hear your thoughts and comments. Feel free to E Mail Me With Your Thoughts