Music and Passion

Mum and I just got back from Las Vegas and though the whole trip was fantastic with beautiful weather, food and entertainment, the highlight of the weekend was, believe it or not, Barry Manilow!

After a musical career spanning over five decades (he's 65!) this man is still as passionate as he was when he started! How do I know this? Well, he showed a video of himself when he was maybe...maybe 20 years old, at the piano, singing his very first hit "Mandy" with just this amazing conviction and passion. Then suddenly there he was, live, joining the video in a duet, so close we could almost touch him (we got awesome seats!) and let me tell you, there was no difference! He was still uterly passionate and joyful and giving of himself. Maybe even more so as he was also clearly grateful.

That's a true artist! Be it painter, dancer, baker or writer, the success is in the joy of it, the passion. Sometimes we forget that. I know I do as I find myself wasting precious energy on career-slogging. But then I am reminded, as I was this perfect night, my mum and I singing along with our cheesy glow wands and confetti strings and boas, that  we do it because we love it. We do it because it stirs our blood. It makes us happy. And nothing...no thing is more important than that.

Write not as a means to an ending of approval or money. Write because the joy of it will linger and you will find yourself grateful even five decades later.