There's a saying that I know we all have heard before. It states that, "those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it". I think that's something that we can all agree on...it's a very logical statement.
Now, here's something that may not seem so logical. There are people who believe in a "universal collective consciousness" that helps to guide our actions in a way that is perhaps more subliminal than obvious. Take from that what you will.
So what am I getting at? Damned if I know! But, I have been experiencing something very interesting in the past few weeks, and that is this reoccurring theme of "those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it". It's been everywhere...TV shows, people's actions, books I've read, the news, you name it! But, where I really took notice and felt a strong reaction to it was during a program on PBS that I was watching about Marvin Gaye. And, here's the weird thing. I have absolutely no recollection of what was said in that program, and yet I felt a VERY strong connection to whatever it was that was said. Someone go figure that one out!
And then, just yesterday, I was listening to a podcast that I had downloaded a couple of weeks ago but hadn't had a chance to listen to. And then something was said that hit me real hard again. Without going into details about the subject matter or what have you, it was basically said that all of these young people, or "new guard", were entering into a scene and working harder than they needed to, because they were taking the same routes that had already been travelled in the past by their predecessors, which had already been proven to be unsuccessful. But, because they hadn't done the research needed to know their history, their concern for the "here and now" was causing them to make the same old mistakes.
That's when I had an epiphany of sorts.
Have I done enough research concerning musicians (jazz musicians in particular) to keep from making some of the same mistakes that have doomed them to either fail, or not ultimately reach a sustainable level in their career? In other words, are there any mistakes that I'm repeating because I have over looked them from just being too focused on the present and future? And, let me get a little weird here, is the "universal collective consciousness" trying to tell me something?
Well, my mother always did teach me to listen to my "inner voice", so I have decided to take a real close look at my overall career strategy to see what flaws there may be, what evidence I'm not taking a close enough look at, and whether or not I'm not heeding any reoccurring themes regarding tactics that just aren't working or showing results. I'm also going to take a look at some artists that I may have personally known, or read about, to see if there are any similarities between what they did to cause them to fail and what I'm currently doing in my overall strategy.
Once I've taken adequate time to look over and absorb the information that I come across, I'll try to remember to post my findings in a sort of "Part II" to this post.
