Why would anyone ask their friends and colleagues to give money to them for a project that doesn't cure cancer, save starving children, or manifest a new must-have gizmo? I guess it is, in part, a symptom of having a drive or ambition or vision for something that transcends the everyday.
I chose a path that did not include being a starving artist (for that, my family is most grateful). But my art has been starving for many years -- starving for my attention and intention. I knew it was starving because that voice, sometimes called the Muse, would quiet, but never cease, would demur, but never relent, biding time while making her insistence known in the subtlest of ways. I would buy her off by doing little projects here and there or dabbling in a more ambitious venture but never committing.
There was a point a couple of years ago when the longing to go deeper got louder. All it needed was a little prodding from some neighbors. I blame our Maple Lawn book club for cajoling me into doing this show, but really, they just nudged the domino that had been sitting there waiting for a catalytic push. They pushed and the dominoes started to fall.
The analogy breaks down here because a domino installment, while requiring a lot of upfront effort, needs just one little jolt of kinetic energy to unleash all the potential energy just ready to fall. That push I received set me into motion, but I had to add an enormous amount of effort -- writing, rehearsing, planning, problem solving, project managing, pondering, marketing, building, dreaming, thinking, working, testing, rewriting, honing, refining, collaborating, preparing... a lot of "ing-ing" had to happen to make this idea that refused to be ignored emerge from the dreamspace of my mind and into a shared reality.
This Kickstarter campaign was another important step in the journey. I believed that, if I asked people who knew me and knew my heart, that they would want to share in that journey just a little and help make it happen. I could have found another way to take this particular step, but it felt important to share the ride. It felt terrifying but still right.
I confess that watching the funding come in was a bit of a rush -- a humbling, gratitude inducing rush -- as you came and made a decision to help push this vision along. I'll offer this note based on the experience: if you're looking for a nudge from the universe to do something, Kickstarter is a pretty clear way to get a sign.
In the end, the final $ number landed exactly where I had hoped. I wanted to do a little more than just a me-and-guitar CD, but not a lot more than that. The music for this particular project is very intimate and calls for a quieter presence. Too much production and it might lose its soulfulness.
Now there is more work to do, but the flow is moving and the direction is (mostly) clear. I am deeply grateful for your generous encouragement and faith in this work. It may not be curing cancer, but I think it is a story worth sharing. Traveler's journey is one of redemption. It's a universal sojourn that we all share in a solitary sort of way.
Thank you for making this possible. Thank you for trusting me with this work.
With love and abiding gratitude,
Ross