Luck and the Art of Waiting

Waiting isn’t exactly the same thing as trusting in something to happen.

One of my favorite college professors (his name was Jun) once said that luck isn’t being in the right place at the right time, it’s putting yourself in a position to be in the right place at the right time.
And I believe him. If we’re just talking semantics.
I actually don’t believe in luck at all, which is why I made my first statement about waiting. I actually think that a better way to describe my professor’s idea of luck is to call it “active waiting”. You see, it’s knowing (or trusting) that something is going to happen if you just keep going for it. You take steps that move you forward, and sometimes, if you’re going the right direction, you’ll hit opportunities that can push you even higher.
This is in contrast to just plain ol’ “waiting”, which means that you’re sitting on your keister and still expecting something to happen. And you’d be right – something will: you’ll get fat, dumb, anti-productive, and altogether zombified by that glowing box you sit in front of.
So as for me, I find myself in a season of active waiting. Actually, I can’t remember a time when I haven’t been in this sort of a season. I expect big things to happen and I am actively engaged in trying to make them happen. But I don’t think they’ll happen because of what I do. Does that make sense? Ultimately, I think they’ll happen because they were destined to. (And yes, I do believe in destiny; but not the kind that is most common today, in our culture.)
It’s a really uncomfortable place to be, but isn’t all of life really uncomfortable anyways? Isn’t it better to actually be able to identify the discomfort and just deal with what you believe to be going on through it all? I think so.

Merry Christmas! Plans for the Week

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful time this week with family and thinking about this unbelievable historical event we call Christmas.
I can say for my own part that this really hasn’t felt like the Christmas season at all. Life is messed up. Second only to sleeping, I have spent more time in a hospital this past week than anywhere else, doing any other thing. My dad should be coming home today – doctors think.
Needless to say, I had grand plans for the week leading up to Christmas – all of the things I’d be able to accomplish with more time to work at the studio. Almost none of it happened, but that’s life. The last two days, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to get everything done this coming week that I need to.
I think the basic answer is just to take everything one day at a time and do what I have to do to make it work. Here are just the main things on my list:
  • Scribble up a promotional plan for Fundamental, my new record, coming out on Jan. 25th
  • Finish up my media contact list for promoting said album
  • Put together my 2011 summer festivals contact list
  • Record pre-production guitars and vocals for Restoration Project #2
  • Write up the recording schedule for ResProj #2
All in all, I think we’re probably talking a good, clean 40 hours of work on these things – and I’m about 90% sure I won’t be putting that in before next Monday. Again, that’s life.
Now, just a quick word to put this all in perspective: I love my family and I love spending time with them. In some ways, I feel blessed to have been able to spend the time with them that I have. Life is a balance. We all always have to hold both ambition and responsibility with an even hand.
Off we go… happy Monday.