Art requires freedom! It´s true that great art does indeed get built where there is no financial, social or political dependency. The freedom to express our thoughts, emotions and ideas is like a sacred gift to artists! And it applies to songwriting likewise! If you are planning to become a professional songwriter, who can make a living out of songwriting, you will have to deal with the challenges of maintaining some sort of independence, that will allow you to step away from the pressure the industry might put on you!
But aside from this difficulty, there are other challenges to face, if you are trying to build a songwriting career.
In this post I want to inspire you to truely define your expectations. Always be aware at each step along the way, whethere you are chasing a dream, or working towards actual goals!
So to get started, let us look at the difference between the two!
Chasing the dream to be a professional songwriter implies that you are hoping for this dream to come tue. Hope comes in where things are outside of your control. This means that your dream depends partially on outward circumstances, such as meeting the right people at the right time, coming up with songs that are being looked for by industry professionals or being lucky enough to be discovered online. All of those circumstances require some sort of “luck”.
Setting goals on the contrary puts you in charge of things! When setting your goals, you need to make sure to set such, that are actually attainable by putting in the right amount of work! Such goals could be: Becoming the best possible songwriter you could be, by diving deeper into music theory, becoming a better instrumentalist, wrapping your head around producing better demos etc. These goals are yours to go for and to track! I suggest making step by step to do lists, that allow you to work consistently towards those goals!
But let´s be realistic! Living off songwriting definitely involves both…good circumstances and refined skills! Just as Picasso once said: “Inspiration exists, but it has to be found working“, this also applies to dreams!
Dreams can come true, but if you want them to fall into your lap, you better make sure that they land safe there! In other words…you gotta do the work to get you prepared to receive your dreams! And there will never be a guarantee for those dreams to really come true! So let go off those very concrete expectations and allow for things to work themselves out for you as they are meant to be!
My advice would be, to work on becoming the best songwriter you can possibly be and then let go of everything else! Don´t push too hard, don´t beat yourself up…just invite good things to come your way! I am a believer that we attract what we are ready for! Stay open minded and accept any opportunity that comes your way! At some point it is wise to keep them dreams a little blurry and see them sharpening before your eyes as they come closer!
Cheers,
Katie
