THE MUTE DIARIES Entry 13: Your Best - A Dream State

Anyone who's been pursuing their dream will know how hard that alone can be. Then you also have all the ups and downs of normal, sober life. So you're basically battling to be awake and asleep at the same time. Guess you could call it like, being in a Dream State...


Sounds impossible. But we all know it's not. We've seen it happen.

I'm under no illusions in saying this. Even the most successful people have to brush reality, even if its just wiping their own butt. Each person's life is multi-faceted. But I'm talking when you hit that point of balance, where you live-(your)-dream daily. That's dream-state.

There is a lot to contend with, which is why I don't judge anyone for having a dream they don't follow - to have as much security as possible is not a stupid thing. There are many elements you need on the journey to get where you're going:

You must be brave, and strong.
(check)

*

You must be passionate
(check)

*

You must work hard
(check)


*

You must have talent
(I question, but OK, check)
(According to Malcom Gladwell, you need love more than talent. Think I agree)


*

For me, there is another must. For me, it's the biggest must.

I MUST give my BEST.

PROBLEM!

Everybody's 'best' is different. Hell, everybody's 'good' is different. That doesn't mean others are wrong, but ONLY YOU know what your best is. And if this must isn't part of your journey, I gotta say, I truly envy you. Because trying to get what your best is across to other people, is one of the hardest things ever...

If you (like I) have exacting standards of YOURSELF, it's hard to get that across without being labeled.

EXAMPLE: Pop super, MEGA STAR will get called 'difficult' and 'hard to work with' because people don't get that they can't stick around all day to sign autographs or party til 3am cos they gotta sleep early to preserve their prized vocal. So they can do what they came up here to do. AT THEIR BEST.

That's why I say upside the head of this blog "Greatness is the new rebellion"

Being your best comes at many a cost:

Time

Work

Blood

Sweat

Tears

Money

Sacrifice

So, when people want to save bother, and say they DON'T WANT OR NEED your best, it feels like a

SLAP

IN

THE

FACE

I've blogged before:

"the desire for perfection can hinder the connection"

...meaning that if you want perfection, it'll take you forever and might mean you risk never getting your point across (even on this page - 'I don't do perfection' - look to your left). I will admit, I have previously called back songs from radio airplay because they were a straight-outta-my-wack-bedroom-studio recording and got into the right hands, at the wrong quality. Call me stoOpid (I like to spell it like that cos it kinda emphases the level of stupidity...) but its just an example of how important it is to me (and I'm not alone... see Claude Kelly's Tweets from 24 June 2009)

At times, satisfactory is good enough. You HAVE to draw the line, or you'll never get things done. But when its such a hard labour of love, it means everything that you can make it YOUR best, regardless of the next 'best'.

Be you in an office, a singer, a street sweeper or the Prime Minister. If it matters to you, don't let people tell you not to care. That's twisted. I may not do perfection, but I still expect a lot of myself. Then if people say it's WACK, it's cool! You know you tried.

Such big talk for such a little fish?

Welcome to my world

It's hard enough trying to get to dream-state, with so much other noise. With this passion and respect for my craft, I want to put NOTHING but MY best foot forward. If not, may as well wake the hell up.

(Now, should I re-do this post, not quite up there...) *PUBLISH*