What’s a reality check and how does it manifest? How to differentiate between the emotional ups and downs of life and real clarity? Reality check regarding my music ... hmm ... my original and motivating force has always been in the writing of the song. The lyrics and the melody are what comes easiest for me - not that it comes very often but it does bubble up now and then. This is a process over which I have little control and which I’ve never tried to push - I just let it happen when it will.
Back to reality check. I’m still a mediocre guitarist which doesn’t matter in the slightest when it comes to the writing of the song but matters a great deal in terms of performance and delivering to the wider world. A painter paints a picture and, once finished, no longer revisits. A poet writes a poem and no longer revisits. It’s done and it either works and connects with others or it doesn’t.
I’ve given back my spot at Darling Harbour, in November, to the Songwriters Society on the basis of a reality check of my last performance. Fairly woeful in terms of the benchmark displayed by the other performers. My desire is to connect rather than perform. This is difficult, not least because the world is brimming over with passionate and articulate performers - Scarlett Affection and Mark Wilkinson just to name two. No doubt you know more of similar caliber.
The fortunate aspect of this is that I’ll continue to write unless the well dries up. No reason to expect that to happen unless I lose connection with the deeper parts of my being. This is always a danger and life is like that for everyone of us.
Chord structure and melody are now in place for the next unwritten song - a sort of south sea islands, cheerful number completly at odds with the tone of this entry.