A Leap of Faith: No One Leaps Without A Clear Target.
As a young kid, the issue of what I was going to do as an adult used to weigh heavy on my mind. And it was because every adult conversation I’d hear seemed to hinge upon the demands of both their jobs and life itself. But with no marketable skills at the time, it was hard for me to imagine what my developmental process would have to look like in order to shoulder the types of adult responsibilities I kept hearing about. So at 12, after having realized that I might have some kind of natural aptitude for playing drums, I decided that I was going to attempt to see where life would lead me if I dedicated the majority of my time towards becoming a real contributor to the lifeblood and preservation of Jazz music. And so between the ages of 12 and 22 there were three major moments that required a leap of faith that have invariably lead me to the life I lead today.
The first happened when I was about 15. A friend at the time had introduced me to Wynton Marsalis’ “Black Codes from the Underground” record. This record completely stopped me in my tracks! I had never heard rhythms, grooves, harmonies, moods, and interplay like that before. And upon hearing it for the first time, I was suddenly reminded of that same youthful feeling of inadequacy I once had regarding my capacity for growth. This time, however, the potential fear for future regret for not investigating those sounds and their underlying philosophies scared me more than having to confront where my competency level REALLY was, with respect to music as a whole. And so just like Miles Davis’ trek to NYC as a youngster to find Charlie Parker, I too felt compelled to make it to NYC somehow so I could be around people like those on Wynton’s “Black Codes” record.
The second was joining the Marine Corps out of high school. And the leap had to do with the fact that while I had just learned that I could continue to play music in the Corps, there were still no guarantees that my time with them would manifest a path for me to not only make it out there, but to stay out there.
The third came in 1998 when the Corps was nice enough to send me to NYC for the now defunct IAJE (International Association for Jazz Educators) conference. And upon that first visit to the city, I instantly fell in love with everything about it. So again, the future fear of regret for playing it safe if I moved home to Oregon after the military was what motivated me to accept the fear of the unknown and to try to enjoy as much of the journey as I could. Besides, if it didn’t work out, I always knew I could just move back home to Portland. But with my first substantial leap of faith in life under my belt (i.e. joining the Marines), it gave me the confidence that I could negotiate whatever unknowns lay ahead in a place like NYC for a young 22 year old.
Suggested Takeaways…
a) A few key phrases to live by are…
“You can’t get an A if you’re afraid to get an F.”
“Be willing to live like others won’t, so you can later live like others can’t.”
“You have to be willing to crack a few eggs if you want to make an omelet.”
b) The stronger your vision the smaller most of your obstacles will appear.
c) Every leap of faith requires a reconciling of emotions, which looks like a willingness to accept responsibility for if a plan doesn’t pan out.