Sometimes I have this mental block against sharing the songs I write. "Who cares?," I ask myself. I think it comes from the fact that society thinks certain people have the right to write songs or perform because of who they are.
We all agree that Bob Dylan is a songwriter. Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters, we all know these people play and write because we only know them as writers, performers and players. So I ask myself again, "Who am I? What do I get to add to this rich and cultured history?"
Well, if you compare yourself to those people you're probably going to stop writing for fear of not living up to their potential, but the truth is they lived up to their potential now you have to live up to yours! It applies to anyone you compare yourself to, especially if they are wildly successful in the field you want to venture into.
It's a certificate from the Berklee School of Music through Coursera that says I completed a songwriting course with them. (Coursera offers free courses in a ton of different subjects and the songwriting course is about to reopen July 19, 2013.) It is my other reminder that I understand enough of the rules that I should take myself seriously as a songwriter, but not too seriously.
Now, neither of these reminders would be worth a thing without the songs I've written and plan to write in the future. I hope to share some of them with you in the next few weeks and get your feedback or at least share ideas because learning can't happen in a vacuum.
Do you have a inspiration reminder? Tell me in the comments.