Being the Best

That’s the dream. And not for the glory, or the fame, status, prestige, ego, comfort, etc. associated with the title “Master.” Being the best version of ourselves we can be is what separates the diligent from the lost. It’s about commitment, passion, and beating the impossible. In that way, it’s about stretching the limits of our humanity to go farther than anyone has ever gone before and to encourage future generations to do the same.

I know I talk about everything from a musician’s point of view, but I like to think the topics I discuss are of universal merit, multidisciplinary, and fundamentally relatable. Having said that, this will be no different from here on out.

Sometimes, particularly in the music field, the issue of being the best feels more like an issue of staying afloat than anything else. Survival pulls out some primal instincts, and the whole scheme collapses in on itself. That’s not sustainable; that’s not success.

In some cases, a few select individuals may find that by desperately clawing and scratching, they may find themselves in the front of the pack. This is pretty unlikely, considering the amount of damage incurred to other musicians careers as a result. You’d make plenty of enemies and be less desirable as a result.

Additionally, if you really have to work that hard at something, are you doing it because you love it or are you selfishly striving for supremacy? More than just other people, you’d find yourself to be particularly miserable wherever you ended up. Why not do what will make yourself and others happy? After all, music, not mutually exclusive of any other field, is designed around unification and edification through music. Music is a healing medium. The attitudes of the performers should reflect that, and when they do the result is otherworldly.

That’s a good point to transition into another one of my existential fears, which is the fact that I have so much difficulty investing myself in a piece of music. It’s uncomfortable to think about. How can you consider yourself a musician if you can’t convince people you love the music you’re playing?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, how I feel uninspired, and I’m left to wonder, how do some people have so much more musical energy? People get consumed by their art and I want that feeling, but I get bored or physically tired and the magic is lost. The same comes goes for inspiration to write, and I’ve talked about this all before.

After reflecting on that for these many months, I’ve come to the conclusion that inspiration is just as often found as it is claimed. In times of doing nothing but wait for it to arrive on my lap, I question its existence. However, I know it exists, so it must be somewhere.

Similarly, when not thinking about anything in particular, neither waiting nor wanting, i find a spark of something artistic in the back of my mind that when noticed grows into something much more. What this says to me it greatness is simply assumed. Motivation does not truly exist but inspiration comes from repeated practice for the sake of practice. One cannot hope to find anything from it or be hopelessly disappointed.

Likewise, the greatest of all did not wait for their greatness to come, they found it in the places they knew it did not exist. They also did not go into it with great aspirations interested in self-glorification. It is, and always will be, about the art more than anything else. This is what will carry me through.