Catching Up

It’s been a long time coming.

I think I knew I wanted to play music when I was a toddler. At least, I knew I liked being the center of attention. I used to dance around for my family to Michael Jackson songs and Back to the Future. When I went to my first concert though, and felt the bass in my chest, rumble from the subs - that changed me. Then, when I held my first guitar, I knew.

But I got distracted.

By work, and girls, and skateboarding, and friends, and video games, and then the military, then alcohol, then a career, then real life and identity - then shifts in identity. All the while, music has been there. Playing gigs has been part of it. Dare I say part of the distraction even. Through little nooks and crannies I found that all of a sudden I looked around and I had walked away from my relationship with the church, myself, and no longer recognized the landscape.

It’s hard to summarize in a blogpost what I’m trying to say, but I saw myself, letting myself go. Like sliding down a muddy hill or an icy driveway, you see it happening but you feel like you can’t stop it. Life is like that. I didn’t know I needed to ask for help. I heard people say, “it’s ok to ask for help”, but I didn’t know I needed it. I didn’t think they were talking to me. They were.

As a listened to the songs I wrote from that timeframe, fifteen and twenty years ago, I can now see I was calling out. But I couldn’t recognize it at the time. Maybe that’s why I didn’t release the songs, fear of insufficiency, or inadequacy. Definitely suffered from an imposter syndrome - even up to now. What would my parents think? (Love you guys - wink).

I’ve come to the place in my recovery and in my musicianship that it’s time to share what I’ve been through. That’s the catalyst for releasing my self produced album. a couple new songs and a bunch of old ones. It ain’t polished and it ain’t perfect, but it’s a snapshot. Like a faded Polaroid of what my entry to songwriting 20 years ago, interrupted by a booze fueled hiatus looks like. It’s me showing up with a stake in the ground, laying claim to this patch of earth.

If you feel alone, or like no one is listening, it’s probably because there’s truth to that part of your story. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to continue in that way though. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Here’s to CATCHING UP and it’s never too late!

• Banjo

Why Reflection Matters

Final thoughts on Professional Writing Course:

Constructive Improvement:

Let’s begin with the critical eye. In my songwriting and in this class, I’ve found it challenging to be concise. I find myself repeating, “Why use one word when ten will do?” This class helped to solidify the need for brevity in business communication. Flowery language has its contextual place, and identifying the audience for it is crucial. Moving forward, I can use this idea to simplify lyrics and align them to meter. The process of refining bombastic language was highlighted this past month, in an assignment that required responding to a fictitious customer complaint. I achieved a streamlined word count by eliminating unrelated context.

Instructor Feedback:

I'm appreciative of some valuable feedback professor Donovan provided so I could have the opportunity to improve. During week two, I missed a portion of the live lecture and did not go back to review the section I missed. On the assignment, the feedback given was, “This shows good effort, but the first paragraph should provide more details about the transaction (product #, order #, invoice #, make/model, etc.) to make the complaint clear from the start.” This gave me the direction to review the part of the lecture I had missed. It allowed me to gain competency in the course material and provided me with confidence moving forward in the rest of the class.

One piece of feedback that validated the effort I put forth in the class was, “Good work! I appreciate your attention to detail and the care you put into organizing your ideas.” Receiving feedback like this is always a boost to the spirit and, as a person who loves encouragement, it drives me to do better! If you are unsure about what makes you tick as a person, the Enneagram test is a great way to help align motivations.

Integrating AI Into Our Work:

Whether I’m a fan or not (to be honest, I’m not a huge fan), AI is a part of our everyday life now. Much like any part of technological development, fear is a factor. Will it replace our jobs? Why am I paying this much money to go to school to learn this if AI will replace the opportunity to earn a living in it in the near future? Will we survive? These are questions that have been reiterated at the dawn of every phase of industrial or technological revolution on every scale you can imagine.

Learning to responsibly use the tools and to identify the characteristics of the imposter are essential tools for navigating the challenge. I mean, it is here, it is now and it is not going away. One assignment during this class required the use of AI to draft a fake complaint letter to a company that provided a faulty product or service. As expected, Gemini did a decent job of giving me a rough draft. It had appropriate tone, format, and length, but it wasn’t specific, and it wasn’t refined. It was helpful to get a draft, but I had to get it aligned with the assignment requirements and reconfigure the letter to match the formatting.

Companies are forcing AI into their structure to replace the overhead of employees. This means consumers and producers are getting less independence on whether or not they “want” to use AI in their daily lives or careers. It’s just becoming part of life, like airplane noise and light pollution. Pretty soon, to avoid it, one will have to get very remote to not have contact with it.

Final Reflection

In reflection about this class here at Full Sail, I entered thinking, “Man, I’m deep in my career already, having managed so many people, and responded to so many customer complaints. How am I going to benefit from this?” And, yet, as I’ve come to learn over the past few years - approach it with an open mind, and you never know. I was able to exercise some humility and the lesson was reinforced for me that thoroughness and attention to detail are pivotal ingredients to success.

A new way of thinking began to form for me that is allowing me to be okay with becoming less verbose. I’m not there yet, but I’m practicing. There was also a lot of work in this class, as there is in each of the classes in this program. I’m reminded in this assignment the importance of daily practice. Taking a little time each day to work on meditation, family, music, work, assignments, fitness and all the other things in life, make it much more manageable, than eating the whole elephant in one sitting.