Originally posted on January 14, 2024

I’ve just spent the last hour staring at my screen. I take a sip of tea, maybe play with my phone a bit then, I go back to staring. I try to write something interesting but then I delete it. My Kala tenor ukulele is next to me as I was practicing in the living room last night unable to face my practice room. I play a bit of an arrangement of The Rose I found last night but get frustrated at my fingers so I come back to my screen. Staring.

This is a glimpse into the life of a perfectionist. Not the kind of high achieving perfectionist that can do it all. No, I’m the perfectionist who’s too scared to start anything. The kind who’s full of judgement for their own work. What’s the point of doing something if it’s not going to be perfect? It’s a maddening way to live. Many artists feel this to some degree. It’s a natural byproduct of the creative process. But for people like me, it’s crippling and leaves us in a constant state of anxiety surrounded by 100 different half finished projects and a 1000 new ideas rolling around in our heads.

I love learning about various things, sometimes it’s a new topic or just a fresh take on an old topic. But that leads to overload so easily. Just after New Years Day, while going through my inbox of e-newsletters, I came upon one from saxophonist Nick Mainella about setting fun goals for 2024. I was expecting some of the usual tidbits about how to make scales more fun or adding more cool etudes to your practice routine. Of course, setting goals is a big one in music. Instead, he started with something that hit me like a trombone slide to the head: do more by thinking less.

I spend so much time reading and watching videos on the perfect practice routine. I’ve taken courses on how to set up your photography business by branding and social media. So much money on this gadget or that method book. I spend so much time thinking that not only do I not “do” enough of my art but I’ve started to avoid it altogether, I’m so scared about not getting the right classical guitar technique that I’ve stopped playing. I’ve become so scared of not posting the “right” photos on my social media that I don’t touch my camera as often.

Enough is enough! I’m reclaiming my music and my photography; my passion. I’m going to sing what I want and photograph what I want and if you don’t like it, that’s your problem. Yes, that’s a bold statement for an artist to make but it needs to be said. There will always be those people who won’t hire you because they think there’s something wrong with you’re portfolio and there will always be those people who think you played that song wrong but it a world of 8 billon people, chances are that there’s more than a few who like and even love your work.

This is the new mindset I have to start 2024. Do more by thinking less. Last week, I had to drive my mom to an appointment downtown so I grabbed my freshly cleaned Nikon D7200 and drove around taking pictures in the -35C weather. Of course, it’s way too cold to ask anyone to pose for me so I just snapped shots of some beautiful scenery as well as one statue and enjoyed every minute of it. Even taking the time to edit my photos on my new workstation felt great. Do more by thinking less. It’s a mantra that brings me to a fresh beginning so I hope you enjoy my journey in the coming months!

The statue here is that of Right Honourable Raymon John Hnatyshyn on Spadina Avenue across from Knox United Church. He served as the 24th Governor General of Canada from 1990 to 1995. This statue was created by Bill Epp and installed in 1992.