Being an artist involves a constant reassessment of what’s really important. Most every day, I wake up and one of my first thoughts is, “What’s really important? How should I spent my energy today?”
I’ve got a few different jobs that keep me busy during certain hours of the week, and I’m often practicing or preparing for a gig -- those hours are a welcome escape from the existential questions that plague me (and most artists I’ve spoken with about the issue).
I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions (this could be the topic of a longer post, but suffice it to say, anything you’re not already committed to on December 31 will be extremely difficult to internalize and emphasize in your life come January 1). But I do believe that in order to live the best life I can, it’s important to ask myself what’s important -- what’s really important. And so, to save myself a considerable amount of questioning down the line, I sat down at my local coffee shop today and wrote out a prioritized list of the things that are most important to me:
Good Habits: Exercise and Meditation
Time Outdoors: Trails and Hiking
These are fundamental pieces of my life that I’m grateful for, and that I wouldn’t give up for anything. The love, friendship, and community that I find all around me is priceless. Being able to make music for a living is deeply fulfilling, and I think to myself almost daily how grateful I am for this privilege. Good Habits and Time Outdoors are just plain good for me -- I know from experience that if I stop doing these, I’ll become a grumpier and sadder person. Staying active helps me to feel good about... basically everything else in my life.
Group 2 -- The Good Stuff
Gardening & Time With Plants
This group is really the next tier of the best things in my life. My travels all over the country not only provide me with wonderful memories, but also give me perspective on the kind of people all around me. Financial Security is still something I haven’t mastered, but it is extremely important to me, especially for my mental health. If I get up every day and answer the question of “What’s Important” with “Making more money,” I know I’ve done something wrong. I’ve had the opportunity to live in a wonderful house for the past year, which has numerous garden beds. Tending to the plants, creating an environment that needs me as much as I need it, and lounging in their green glow has improved my life in an indescribable way. Having awesome musical gear is more of a pipe dream than anything at this point (see Financial Security), but it’s still important to me. I’d love to have an at-home recording studio that I can be truly proud of. Cooking and eating good food is just plain amazing in every way, and yoga is another extension of exercise & meditation that is a little more disciplined and out of my current wheelhouse. Basically, I’d like to do more and get better at it all the time, because when I do it, I feel like a million bucks.
Philosophy & Conversation
A lot of these are things I’m grateful for, but could use more of in my everyday life. I’ve listened to more books in the past year, touring and driving to gigs, than I have in the past five years combined. Podcasts and audiobooks are an amazing resource to help me continue learning and feel mentally stimulated, which brings me to... Philosophy! This is something I spent a lot of time on while I was in college, and unfortunately, has taken a back seat in my post-collegiate life. Most people aren’t really into philosophizing about big-picture questions, but it’s really engaging and important to me. Clothing... would just be a nice change. Pretty sure most of my clothes are at least 5 years old. Seeing live music is a huge part of being a musician -- supporting other artists and seeing what else is going on in Colorado is so important to me, but I often find myself retreating inward and writing, meditating, or otherwise spending time alone in lieu of going out to see others... Social time falls in this same category, and I’d like to have more of it in my life.
I’m hopeful that with this prioritized, compartmentalized, bullet-point list, I’ll be able to stop worrying so much about what’s important and just remind myself that I already know. Now it’s time to get down to it. What’s really important to you?
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