Back in Nashville, I played with a duo called Striking Matches (Justin Davis and Sarah Zimmerman, both of who can shred up a guitar like nobody’s business). I was definitely bummed to leave them once I moved to California, but country music didn’t light me up like it did for those two (and they were damn good at it). For them, every time they strummed their guitars it literally like striking a match. They love what they do, and you can tell. In a way, everyone’s born with a match inside them to strike. But instead of fire, it produces a passion, love, or irresistible joy.
I have a musical match inside me. While my mother was still pregnant with me, she attended a Phoenix Symphony concert, and when the music began, she could feel me start to kick harder than I ever had before. When I was three, my parents would put on records and I would start dancing and running in excited circles like a wind-up car on a track. My other favorite thing to do was sing, although sometimes I didn’t quite sing the songs as written. My favorite re-arrangement was of Three Blind Mice; I’d start the song like usual, but then go crazy with the lyrics. I’ve written the song out below- the italics indicate when the song took a turn towards the feel of Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, and melodically altered between a minor third. It went something like this:
Three blind mice,
Three blind mice,
sat on a house,
sat on a house,
the mahner came and shook the house,
they all fell down,
got two owies
That was not a good idea,
They all cried, “wah, wah, wah!”
Just for clarification, “mahner” is actually 3 year old speak for “monster”. I couldn’t quite say that one right. But subject-wise, the song is solid…way better than the original, right?
Some people’s matches are trickier to light-maybe you feel you don’t know what yours is, or even have one at all. But the truth is, we all have one, it might just be right under our nose. It doesn’t need to be artsy, and it definitely doesn’t need to be your profession. I’m making a career out mine because I’m crazy and don’t know what else to do. Here’s some other matches: coaching a little league team; hiking through national parks; reading great books; getting new degrees every couple years; traveling to countries like Africa to help people build better lives.
Even when you know what your match is and love doing it, inevitably a time comes when you hate your match. You want people to understand why you love it and they don’t. You want to be respected for doing it, but no one does, besides your mother (thanks, Mom). Or you want to be the best, or at least be better at your match, but it seems impossible. I always remember two things when I start feeling this way. First, you can never have a plus without a minus, happiness without sadness, and love without some hate, as long as the negative doesn’t outweigh the positive (otherwise, I would rethink if your match really is your match). Second, if all of the external pressure I put on myself faded away, could I be happy just doing this for myself? A lot of what we do with our lives is aimed at pleasing others, sacrificing time, effort and money to be part of a community. But at the basic level, you should be able to do what you do for yourself, and no one else.
I’m excited to see how my match changes and grows…who knows where it will all lead. Find your own match and strike it!
Ross
Upcoming Events:
Killer artists at Amplyfi on the 15th! 7:30 - Celisse Henderson. 8:15 - John Flanagan, Whit, Ross Bridgeman, and Kristen Rogers. 9:00 - DnK.
I have a musical match inside me. While my mother was still pregnant with me, she attended a Phoenix Symphony concert, and when the music began, she could feel me start to kick harder than I ever had before. When I was three, my parents would put on records and I would start dancing and running in excited circles like a wind-up car on a track. My other favorite thing to do was sing, although sometimes I didn’t quite sing the songs as written. My favorite re-arrangement was of Three Blind Mice; I’d start the song like usual, but then go crazy with the lyrics. I’ve written the song out below- the italics indicate when the song took a turn towards the feel of Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, and melodically altered between a minor third. It went something like this:
Three blind mice,
Three blind mice,
sat on a house,
sat on a house,
the mahner came and shook the house,
they all fell down,
got two owies
That was not a good idea,
They all cried, “wah, wah, wah!”
Just for clarification, “mahner” is actually 3 year old speak for “monster”. I couldn’t quite say that one right. But subject-wise, the song is solid…way better than the original, right?
Some people’s matches are trickier to light-maybe you feel you don’t know what yours is, or even have one at all. But the truth is, we all have one, it might just be right under our nose. It doesn’t need to be artsy, and it definitely doesn’t need to be your profession. I’m making a career out mine because I’m crazy and don’t know what else to do. Here’s some other matches: coaching a little league team; hiking through national parks; reading great books; getting new degrees every couple years; traveling to countries like Africa to help people build better lives.
Even when you know what your match is and love doing it, inevitably a time comes when you hate your match. You want people to understand why you love it and they don’t. You want to be respected for doing it, but no one does, besides your mother (thanks, Mom). Or you want to be the best, or at least be better at your match, but it seems impossible. I always remember two things when I start feeling this way. First, you can never have a plus without a minus, happiness without sadness, and love without some hate, as long as the negative doesn’t outweigh the positive (otherwise, I would rethink if your match really is your match). Second, if all of the external pressure I put on myself faded away, could I be happy just doing this for myself? A lot of what we do with our lives is aimed at pleasing others, sacrificing time, effort and money to be part of a community. But at the basic level, you should be able to do what you do for yourself, and no one else.
I’m excited to see how my match changes and grows…who knows where it will all lead. Find your own match and strike it!
Ross
Upcoming Events:
Killer artists at Amplyfi on the 15th! 7:30 - Celisse Henderson. 8:15 - John Flanagan, Whit, Ross Bridgeman, and Kristen Rogers. 9:00 - DnK.