Monday, June 13, 2016

This week's thought to ponder / Quit comparing yourself to other people

I'm working on me.
Yes, again. Sigh.
I'm not reading self help books (yet), I'm not getting all motivational posty on the facebook.
I am taking time to reevaluate myself. My life. My...stuff.
Hence, the shaking the dust off this dinosaur again.

Oh, yea.  So last week, I got a brand new and not so small tattoo. It's beautiful, to me. It says Change your Mind, in an infinity loop, with some music notes.  Every day I look at, as I try to not itch it, and I take a breath and say yes, I need to change my mind.  As Ken Block says, 'It's not your life, but how you choose to look at your life'

So on that note.
This week's thing I'm thinking about - I need to quit comparing myself to others.

I know that I've been doing this more often in the past 12 months than I ever have before.
Here's an example. I'm writing it out for you, to bring it to light in front of my own stubborn face.

So, I love this band, Sister Hazel.  They have a pretty incredible fan base; The Hazelnut.  From about 1995 - 2005, I've been  my own Hazelnut.  I have friends that like them enough to go see them.  I have friends who like ME enough to go see them. I've seen them by myself, many time. For me, my fandom was singular. I was ok with that.
Fast forward to 2015.  Things were on the ups in my life, and to celebrate, I treated myself to a dream - I bought myself a ticket to Sister Hazel's Hazelnut Hang, in Isle of Palm SC.  I'd never been to an event like that, and I'd never been to SC, so to me it was a win win.
Disclaimer - the 'Nuts are lovely and friendly people. This is about me, and not them.
So. I go to the Hang alone, having connected online with some super friendly 'Nuts.  I fell in with a crowd who are way more dedicated fans than I am.  They go to all of the shows in their home states, and surrounding states.  They road trip to many other shows.  They go to both the Hang and the Rock Boat every year.  The band members recognize them, if not flat out actually know their names.
I regressed that weekend to about 14.  I wanted to be a part of this magical group, and I wanted in NOW.
I went home and bought a bunch of them gifts.  I started buying cards and mailing them out  monthly to these people.  I did everything short of sending singing telegrams to various states and people with the message PLEASE ACCEPT ME NOW.
For the past 12 months, I found myself comparing myself to them. As individuals, as a group, as a fan, and yes, as an outsider.  I tried to count the number of SH shows I'd been to in the past 20 years. I have a terrible memory, so I have no idea.  I read more about the band members, learned their wives and kids names. This was not me. I respect all artists, musicians are like Gods to me. But I know better. I've been around musicians for over 10 years at the Old Town School, so why was I being like this?

Because if I could compare myself to them and find myself on par, I'd find more value in myself.
'I had been weighed, I had been measured, and I had been found wanting'
I sucked.  No super fan am I.  I stopped listening to SH as much, and I thought less of myself.
Why don't they like me? Why don't they want to hang out with me?
Forgetting about the friends I already have, almost forgetting about the whole point of the love - the music.

Then, a funny thing happened.  The band's new album came out. Hm, sounds like it has some Country flavor to it? I did a tiny bit of research, and yes, they were trying out a new feel for this, their 13th album.  Cool.
I liked it. I loved some of it. I didn't like a few of the songs.  A video came out for a single, and it turns out, I hated the video. A lot. I got passionate again. I decided to voice (ok, write on facebook) my opinion of what I thought of the video and why.  I honestly commented when the band members asked what we thought of the video.
AHa
This was it.  I realized I didn't have to like all of it. There are songs of theirs I don't like at all, this was no new revelation for me.  What it was - a wake up call.
I tried my best. I was my best. I stumbled around Isle of Palm last year a mess. This was a dream trip, I was interacting with the band all the time, and at the same time trying hard to get a group of people to like me, because when I compared myself to them, they were better than me. Better fans, better friends, more fun, more alike.
Why, at 40, did I suddenly think that was important? Why did I hold on to it for so long?
Why was I comparing myself to this group of people?  One against so many is never a fair equation anyway.
I had set myself up for failure.

This year, when the Hang on sale date came out, I knew I wasn't going to be able to go.  Life had taken another nose dive at the end of last year, and I needed to recover from that, and buy a new(er) car.  The money I would have spent on the Hang had to go to that car purchase.  And it did.  And I love my 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe that gets me safely and consistently to and from ETown every week day.

This past weekend was the Hang, 2016.  I followed every post, watched every video.  I got a little upset that I don't get concert calls from anyone.  I cried a bit, because I knew what I was missing.
What I didn't do was wonder if they'd like me more if I was there.

I hope they like me, just as I hope anyone that I have such a big thing in common with will like me.

But, personally, I will stop comparing myself to them.  Collectively and mostly individually, they are great human beings. Very kind, very welcoming. I would have been so confused last year if Cheryl hadn't taken me under her wing and answered all of my questions and introduced me to people.  But I do see now, that the reason they seem SO so so cool to me is a little bit Cheryl, a little bit Meg, a splash of Bama, a dose of Greg..... and I'm just me. And I've just seen the shows I've seen. And maybe I'll get to go to the Hang again, and maybe I won't. I know I'll never go on the Rock Boat (not my thing). And that's ok.

Because deep down, I know that I'm still pretty cool myself.  And that needs to be enough.



And here is my new tattoo.
xoxo, reader.


23 comments:

Smut Clyde said...

Hi Vonnie!
I have nothing useful to contribute, for you are talking about
(1) the power of music to engage emotions, and
(2) the multi-layered emotional complications that other people inspire,
and I am even less likely to be honestly self-exposing about either of these topics on the Interlattice than I am in real life.

So this comment is mainly to get in before ZRM or B^4.

Welcome back!

Smut Clyde said...

shaking the dust off this dinosaur again

Worst masturbation metaphor EVAH.

Vonnie said...

Smut Clyde!
Heyyyyyy
FIRST
Only fair to be honest - your second comment made me spit coffee alllll over my screen. And giggle

Jennifer said...

Music is so personal, there's no wrong way or right way to go about it; that's my thought. I know there are people who beg to differ.

As for taking stock of oneself... always a good thing! People should do it more often. We are the common thread in things that go on in our lives, for better or worse!

Good to see you've dusted off the dinosaur, so to speak. :)

blue girl said...

Oh sure! Smut Clyde doesn't get filthbot hashtag! :)

I've been thinking a lot lately about how music enables us to get in touch with our feelings. Thank God for music! It's my go-to when I'm confused and need to pinpoint and express how I'm feeling. Needless to say, the last few days music's been extra meaningful to me.

Von, I had much the same experience as you with a music group on FB. Bugged me for awhile I am not as connected as they are with the artist, or accepted as one of the True Believers. Depressed me in a way. But "I've changed my mind" about that and it is what it is.

And speaking of... love your tattoo.

Jennifer said...

Smut doesn't get the #filthbot tag because Smut IS #filthbot.

On a different note-- yes, here's to always being open to changing our minds!

Vonnie said...

Ah - like the first breath of spring, my Jennifer and my Beeg. I had hoped you'd give me another chance.
Smut is #filthbot, but I wasn't going to hashtag anyone/thing in my very first week back. After that, though.....

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Hi Von, I don't have anything useful to add, either!

So here's a deer.
~

Vonnie said...

Thank you! I love it

fish said...

VON RETURNS!!!!

Be careful, 2016 has been murdering my favorite musicians. Don't admit anything...

Also too, nice ink...

Vonnie said...

Thanks Fish!!

Unknown said...

Thank you! I love it

gclub
บาคาร่าออนไลน์

kemika7384 said...

Misunderstandings about 918kiss slots
Playing online casino games today Has been accepted Popular with those who love it. Or those who want to seek a lot of luck In the old days, online casino games were seen as a game that should not be played. Because it will cause players to have financial problems Owe These beliefs may be false beliefs. Because in truth, playing online casino games Especially the 918kiss slot game has many advantages and different gameplay characteristics. The people will come into playing online casino games and then dashing for success. There is a lot to conclude. According to us, let's see if there is a misconception about online casino slots games, 918kiss or other games.
The Misunderstanding of 918kiss Gaming
Have you ever played online casino scams? If you have never played Had only heard the reputation that was heard from other people's words Today, let's see if There is a misconception about playing online casino games slots 918kiss how And in truth, what are those misunderstandings?
• Playing the 918kiss slots game will then be in debt. Have financial problems Of course, it is something that can happen if the player is greedy. And do not study how to play Techniques for playing games well enough
• Game players cannot make money. Earn money from playing this online casino game. If players learn more techniques to play online casino games Will help increase the chances of making money for gamers as well
• Online casino games are cheating and trustworthy because everything has 2 sides. Online casino sites are online as well. If players do not choose the casino website well May cause problems to follow
• Play 918kiss slots. If you win the game, you won't get any real money if you choose to play slots. 918kiss with reliable websites How to comply with the rules of the game, players will receive money when winning the bet for sure.
For misunderstandings in various matters presented in the above. Backpack is only part of the people who spoke to the online casino. Which we want to say that If anyone is interested in playing this online casino game Don't listen to what others have said. Because we don't know how many percent of the truth is due to problems or characteristics in playing the game Knowledge of the ability to place bets, playing online casino games of each person is different. You can't believe the words of all other players. Because it's a good way If you want to know what truth Just sign up to play 918kiss online casino games with us for 24 hours.
918kiss

Linda said...

Extremely pleasant article, I appreciated perusing your post, exceptionally decent share, I need to twit this to my adherents. 먹튀폴리스

Linda said...

Hey, this day is too much good for me, since this time I am reading this enormous informative article here at my home. Thanks a lot for massive hard work. 먹튀폴리스

먹튀검증업체 said...

Awesome blog post.Much thanks once more. Cool. 먹튀검증업체

먹튀검증 said...

I truly welcome all the extraordinary substance you have here. 먹튀검증

먹튀검증 said...

Great blog here! Also your site loads up fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol 먹튀검증

SeoMaster789 said...

Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that i've been waited for so long. 먹튀검증

안전놀이터 said...

It is a completely interesting blog publish.I often visit your posts for my project's help. 안전놀이터

안전놀이터 said...

I wish more writers of this kind of substance would take the time you did to inve. stigate and compose so well. I am dazzled with your vision and knowledge. 안전놀이터

DSP SEO said...

It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commentators here! 먹튀폴리스

DSP SEO said...

Your website is really cool and this is a great inspiring article. 토토사이트