Finding the Path to What We Truly Love

So, at a certain point, I think we all have an opportunity to venture into some self-examination. We have the chance to look at our lives and think about taking stock of everything. Sometimes those opportunities are structured and planned, other times they are the result of major life events we couldn't have anticipated.

I don't think it's fair to think of it as a mid-life crisis, because sometimes, I think it might be a mid-life solution--a correction, if you will, to paths we took that made sense at the time, but haven't served us well.

I believe that a great many of us start out our adult lives with the idea that we are going to find our place and we're going to be doing things that we really love and that somehow make a difference to those around us. It's not always about how much money we're going to make or how closely we're going to follow a timeline.

Little stumbles along the way are sometimes blessings in disguise, other times, they really are just stumbles. If we get up and take off in the wrong direction, out of fear, we sometimes end up leaving a perfectly good path behind in favor of a path that just serves as a distraction from what was meant to be.

In the midst of a lot of soul-searching, I've picked up, in earnest, my former trail. I think it took me a long time to find the bread crumbs, but I'm hoping not too long. As I have been working on picking up this trail, I've wondered what it would be like to walk it all the time. What if I could do what I love everyday?

I can tell you, I wouldn't be making a cent at it. But I can also tell you that I find myself compelled to work at it every free moment I have.

In my case, the path happens to be writing. I know there are many directions that a person can be driven to pursue. I think pursuing a life within the arts is probably one of the more difficult paths on which to make a solid career that provides security, and yet, I recently find myself feeling like the job that pays me money keeps me from doing my real work.

It's actually the first time in my life I have been doing what I love so often that I am able to notice the difference.

My husband and I go to a lot of concerts. It's something we're kind of known for. Some of the bands we see are the big name real deals that are supporting themselves and giant production machines. But many of the bands we see are doing what they do just because they love it, and because they're hoping someday people will hear what they are doing, and they will love it too.

This week, we went to see a band somewhere in the middle, and got to discover an opening act that is just getting its feet wet. This weekend, we will be seeing another band at the stratospheric other end of the spectrum.

Kodaline--"High Hopes" for these guys.

Kodaline is a quartet from Dublin. I've joked this week that Mumford and Sons opened the door, and with Kodaline authenticity squeaked through. This is their first trip to America, and they're as green in their stage presence as the country they come from. But that's what makes them all the sweeter. I'm going to be watching for them as they continue across the country in a band. They've challenged themselves to write a new song for every stop along their tour. I can't wait to see what they come up with along the way. It doesn't hurt that they come from my favorite city, and I can imagine them on Grafton Street trying make enough Euros to buy a round of pints.

Mikel Jollett taking flight.

The Airborne Toxic Event was the band for which Kodaline opened. In between songs, front man Mikel Jollett made mention of the fact that he and his band mates have played 800 hundred shows in the last two years. That means that they have spend most of their time pursuing their path in music--literally. I imagine they're doing all right, but knowing a little bit about music, I also know that no matter how great I believe them to be, they have yet to be discovered by as many people as they so richly deserve. They're working their asses off for a piece of something they love. And how do I know they love it? It's because in the two shows I have seen with TATE, they've ended both with a medley of covers by other quintessential American musicians. They love music, and they want to be a part of what they love.

Sunday night, we will see another band clearly in love with what they do. And their love is obvious, because quite frankly, they are so damned good at it. One day last week as I listened to the song "Little Black Submarines," I started to wonder if it might be sacrilege that I would miss seeing the Black Keys a second time. When Dan Auerbach launched into the driving riffs of this slow burning affair, I knew it would be. I don't really know why I hadn't thought of going until that moment, but something about this one tune reminded me that even though I question the possibility that sound and that voice comes from these two guys, I'm doing myself a huge disservice by not seeing them in person to find out.

A couple years back, I was listening to Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney talk to Terry Gross on the National Public Radio program "Fresh Air." The two discussed the trials and tribulations of living out of a van while trying to get their music off the ground. Many people would judge The Black Keys for allowing their music to be used commercially in the way it was when they started to get their footing, but those same people who would judge probably never had to live out of a van. I'm sure making enough money for a nice tour bus and a couple houses doesn't make them love what they do any less. It certainly hasn't hurt the quality of their work.

When I think about what all of this means--the chance that a band like Kodaline is taking, the time investment of The Airborne Toxic Event in their craft, and the unfathomable success of the Black Keys--I start to consider that maybe somehow if you do get on the right path--the one where you love what you do--and you stay on it, maybe it all can work out.

Living out of a life that doesn't fulfill you isn't that much different than living out of van. In neither place can you really find yourself feeling at home. The fundamental difference between the two is this--a van has wheels and it can take you where you want to go.


High Hopes--Kodaline

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