Comparisons

Good day, and welcome back to my blog. :)

Last night, my mom emailed me a link to a blog that she reads every now and then. It was about "being enough." When are you enough? When have you arrived at the destination you want to get to? And probably most importantly, how can you compete with the world around you?

The blog post talked about a memories that this lady had had. Memories of growing up. School, family, things like that. She said that that was when she learned about talents. Her parents helped her develop talents. She thought she was on top of the world!

...Until she grew up. Soon she found out that "[My neighbors] could back flip circles around my wimpy trampoline flip and my supposed babysitting and art skills dimmed almost to obliteration when compared to the flashy talents of others."


Then she continued on to talk about our specific talents. We all have them. We all have developed a few of them (though definitely not fully yet). But if you compare your skills to those of your peers, well then that's basically a dead end road right there. Let me just share a few quotes from the post.

I began to strive to reach that pinnacle peak where I would be “enough” to all those around me. But I realized that the trouble with that tactic is that if I compared myself to others, I’d never, ever be enough. Because it’s part of human nature to compare our worst to their best. And that’s not what “being enough” is all about. We must realize that the only person we can truly compare ourselves to is ourselves. We want to be our best selves. And we are the only ones who can discover who that “best self” really is amidst the layers of self-criticism and uncertainty that filter in from the world.

Brilliant. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I have been faced with this problem plenty of times. I'm sure that everyone has! When you think things like, "I'll never be that good!" or maybe, "How can I compete against this?" It always has a single effect: SELF DOUBT. Don't let that be you! You dig yourself into a deep pit, from which it'll be hard to get out of. A pit where the only way out is down.

Without a doubt we are surrounded by people on all sides who are going to be able to do things better than we can . . . This can be inspiring and uplifting or it can throw us into a swirl of depression. My answer to this is that I try not to compare myself to others. I try to compare myself to myself. Sure it’s great to be inspired by others. Sure it’s great to have role-models and to strive for excellence. But the tricky part is to figure out what is enough for us personally. That is what will bring true happiness. We’re competing only against ourselves.

Personally, I think the only person, the only human that has ever lived on this earth, that we need to strive to be like is Jesus Christ. But again, we are far from being like him! He was perfect, we sin daily. He has perfect love, we get mad at our siblings for taking too many cookies. But it's not unrealistic to strive to become like Christ! Because of the Atonement, we have an infinite amount of restarts, try again's, and start over's.

I thought that this blog post was amazing. If you want to check it out, I'll put the link below.

http://www.71toes.com/2012/03/being-enough.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+71toesrss+%2871+toes+RSS%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

So farewell, and remember! You don't have to strive to become better than your neighbor at air hockey (even though that's a glorious feeling!). You don't need to be the smartest fish in the bowl to feel successful.

The only thing you need to measure yourself are your past accomplishments.

So shoot for the stars!

Awestruck

Attention!

I’ve spent the past four months living in Los Angeles, New York City, and in this room:

Writing, producing, recording, engineering, mixing, mastering — its been a big workload for those involved and there’s still much to do. However, so often it’s about the journey rather than the destination and I’m so excited about where I’ve been, where I’m at, and where I’m headed — I can barely fall asleep at night. Seven songs are mixed, mastered and in the can, four more are in the pipeline and a handful of b-sides are on top of the pile. It’s crazy how different this record is than anything I’ve ever done before but I’m quite proud of the shape its taken thus far and I can’t wait to share it with the world. The biggest departure is perhaps the endless amount of writing and rewriting I’ve done over the past six months of work, both on the road and off. Like anybody doing anything in life, your tastes and interests change and refine over time and I’ve found myself striving to do a better job in perfecting my craft than I ever have before. In the past, I’ve been guilty of devoting and committing to the first thing that popped into my mind, and for better or worse, risking entire concepts or notions going way over the heads of casual listeners because of a neglect to experiment with other colors and brushstrokes in the humble pursuit of creating richer art. During the making of this record, I’ve been constantly asking myself, is this the right shade of blue? Is this exactly what I’m trying to say? How can I make this as good as possible — both subjectively and objectively? I’ve been drafting and making changes and revising like a movie writer with a screenplay.

It’s a big process. Jack Joseph Puig once described it to me like this:

“You’ve effectively drawn up the blueprints and constructed an entire building singlehandedly. You’ve written and recorded a full-length album — fifteen songs, fifteen floors of a brand new building under construction. You built the skeleton, you raised the walls, you set the roof, you poured the cement. You designed and decorated each floor of the structure, the size and shape of each room, how big each window is, which way the doors swing open. You picked the paint color on the lobby walls, the wallpaper pattern in the bathroom, you even tossed and turned over what shade of green the pipes under the kitchen sink should be.”

It’s down to details and questioning yourself over whether what you’ve got is RIGHT or not. I’ve never truly pulled out all the stops and fought for excellence in every way possible — and while it can be exhausting and emotional at times, I believe it makes the final result far more special than it otherwise would have been. Making this record has been like meeting a significant other, dating, falling in love, weathering a sea of ups and downs, breaking up, getting back together, making promises, proposing, getting married — a lifetime of emotion crammed into six months of creativity.

Aesthetically the record sounds a lot different as well. New flavors and textures and consistencies of melody, rhythm and lyric. Much of my love for European dance music has found its way into the production of the record and I’ve been able to utilize my deep inspiration and admiration of the great trance dj’s I grew up listening to (Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, ATB, Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyk, Above and Beyond). It’s still very much an electronic pop record but one with more energy and spirit and frame of reference. I believe you should never repeat yourself or look back on your career, and this record marks new territory to which I’ll admit, is a bit exhilarating on both sides of the scalebecause it’s so different, but I believe that sense of ambiguity in the balance is an incredibly healthy thing because it reminds you that you’re adapting and refining and perfecting your craft, and ultimately, continuously trying something new. That’s what artistry means to me: experimentation, trying things you never have before. For those of you who’ve been with me since Of June, it may take a bit of getting used to, but as an artist I’m extremely proud of the endeavor and magic I’ve been able to capture in a jar — and my prayer since day one of this roller coaster ride stands true: that my Savior use the blood, sweat and tears of this humble servant to do His will in whatever context or capacity He deems suitable. For that is what this is all about. Not fame, not fortune, not a guy trying to sound cool writing about “his awesome new record” in a blog on the internet… but merely a dreamer lost in the pursuit of excellence, virtue, honor and high standards.

Street date in August. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Glory to God.

~Adam Young (Owl City)

Bizarro

Behold.



And remember. We will NOT be held responsible.

A Time and Place

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

-Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9

Misfortune

Words to know how to pronounce before reading this poem:

Goolamaju: Goo-lah-mah-joo

Gillybajuvv: Gill-ee-bah-juhv

Gigillybat: Gig-illy-bat

Gimmelejantz: Gim-eh-ley-jants

Gibbilybert: Gib-illy-birt

Gollowtatok: Gall-oh-tuh-tock

Thank you, and have a nice day.

Misfortune

Deep in the forest of Goolamaju

There fled a strange man who had stolen my shoe

He dwelt in a cottage with his wife named Sue

And together they lived in harmony

Along the coastline of Gillybajuvv

I met a young boy who had stolen my glove

He laughed and he sang and he shouted, "Tough love!"

And he skipped away rather merrily

Somewhere in the cave of Gigilybat

Sat an old witch who had stolen my hat

She cast a spell and dipped my hat in a vat

For she thought it would make her fair, you see

Then in the crag of Gimmelejantz

I found the hunchback who had stolen my...

Well, I think you know

Far in the mountains of Gibbilybert

There knelt a crazed drunk who had stolen my shirt

And to make it worse, he then put on a skirt

And then the crazed drunk climbed up in a tree

In the fair field meadow of Gollowtatok

Sprawled a small girl who had stolen my sock

And now it seems that the whole world must mock

My poor grief filled life and misery

Just when I felt I'd lost everything

A leprechaun popped up and stole my gold ring

...Oh.

So NOW I suppose I've lost everything!

This world to me is a mystery.

~Trevor Howell

Leap-Year Licensed

So it's a little late, I know.

But I got my license. :)

Like an actual one. So I can like, drive on my own now.

Independently.

BY

MEH

SELF.

So watch out.

:D

(This is gonna be me. So watch out.)