I Am So Excited

I'm sitting in the green room of the House of Blues in Cleveland right now. All my emails will be from the road for the next two months. It's Thursday night. We just finished our VIP meet and greet, so it's officially the calm before the storm. My singer walks in to let us know all we have more shows that have sold out today, including tonight. It's such an amazing experience to be a part of this band that I have loved for more than half of my life.

Before we left Pennsylvania last night, I got to do an interview with Dan Dearborn, the owner of Encore Studios, for his podcast. I'll let you all know when it comes out. But we discussed the importance of following your dreams and never giving up, and we also discussed the importance of making your voice heard. We got on this topic as we were discussing the album, The Things We Can't Stop, which is the first album that I got to play on in Cold's discography.

I knew going into that writing and recording process that I was not going to be writing on this album. I expected and respected that because Scooter is such an insanely brilliant songwriter. However, I heard something. I had an idea for a part as we were developing one of the songs. We were stuck on a bridge. I sat on it for a day, and went home and played it on my acoustic over and over again just to make sure it would work.

The following day, I said, “Hey, I know I'm not writing on this, but I feel like this part would work.” We ended up using it for the chorus of Better Human. I took a chance, even though the odds were slim, and that was okay too if it didn't work. Sometimes you just gotta shoot your shot. This shot worked out. To be honest, all I do is take chances, some fair better than others. But I kinda feel like that's the only way to live. I feel like too often, we get locked into a “this is the way it is” mentality, versus coming up with creative solutions. We get nervous to share our ideas. 

If we all lived our lives in fear of rejection, there would be no growth, or revolutions, or evolving. It takes a drive, a tenacity, and a voice that shares, in life in order to reach something different and something great, no matter where you are or what you do. This applies to everything. 

It's not always been easy for me to speak up. I still sometimes get that little knot in my stomach or butterflies when I am about to say something that could cause me to feel rejection or excitement. You know, that physiological effect that nervousness has on your body. That's not fear though. It's excitement.

I was having a discussion with my SO a couple of weeks ago, and he was sharing that the difference between excitement and fear: Fear is something that is actually life or death. Everything else is excitement. Those butterflies: excitement. That nervousness before you get up on stage, or give a talk, or give a presentation, those butterflies and nerves are all excitement. And we should be excited. That excitement reminds us that we're alive and that we're taking chances.

I'm about to go up on stage and do this thing. I am so excited. I am so nervous. I always have such first show jitters. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I hope you experience some excitement this weekend. I hope you speak up when you have a great idea. I hope you break out of that comfort zone of yours and start moving the needle of your life.