M i n d V i n e S h u f f l e [ 1 7 7 ]
Today is a day for recognizing the future I have before me. It's a beautiful spring of life even though we are currently headed into the fall season. Tomorrow, I have an interview for a well-paying job at a factory near me.
I'm not sad... or disappointed. I'm focused on the reality of my life, and the reality is that I'm not making enough money from Steemit to justify pouring my full focus into this platform for income. There's no one to blame for the reality of this situation. Honestly, if I had the last 8 months to do over, I wouldn't change how I've spent my time. I took a massive leap of faith by not pursuing a job earlier than now. During this time, I have come to know the reality of "feast or family" cycles. [Basically, when the money's good you have everything you want and then some, but when the money's not there you have nothing.]
I had high hopes that the famine period I've experienced from around the middle of March until now would lead back into a feast period of high payouts and the ability to spend money on some things I'd love to invest in. Mark my words though... the next time that Steemit swings back into a major bullish trend will see me fully ready to take advantage of the merits of the uptick.
Moving forward, I will not be abandoning this digital place/platform I've grown to form a habit with. In fact, I'll make it a priority to continue being productive musically and to let you in on my every step along this new path I'm walking. I'll be honest that I'm looking forward to getting out of the house everyday, being around people, making enough money to fully pursue my dreams and desires, etc.
On the future, I have several directions I'll be headed with the content I'm creating here, and I'd like to use a bit of time in these nighttime hours to do some thinking towards that end. Here's a list of the things I'd like to accomplish alongside adjusting to a new work schedule:
1) Diet/Fasting Blog Entries
As I first said in July, I have a dream of implementing a whole-food based diet that incorporates intermittent fasting alongside physical exercise in moderation. With fresh income, I can accomplish this long-term goal! And there's a reason this is first on my list! I cannot express the excitement I feel about starting toward this goal in earnest. I've recently read a book that I would recommend to anyone who wishes to join me on this path. It's called The Obesity Code by Fung. He exhaustively outlines the dieting fads in America from the early 1900s, and lays out a fresh approach to dieting with the recent knowledge that the key to losing weight and getting healthy is insulin. Go check it out if this intrigues you! :)
2) Fresh, Album-Ready Music. Mixtapes.
As you well know, I have a burning passion to become a full-time musician, composer, performer, dj, and record label owner. This period of my life posting on Steemit has probably been my most dedicated period of focused learning, experimenting, and collaborating to date. I have created 10s of hours of unique material from simple loops to fully realized songs.
I want to take just a brief moment to express how fulfilling it is to know this, and further, it wouldn't have been possible without you. Your gifts, your words of encouragement--your presence--has be a driving force to my daily grind. So, thank you. :) I'll never forget this time of absolutely bursting creativity, as well as the determination to actually make something of this time.
Looking forward, I am putting everything into getting an actual album together. I need to finish more songs, and let the ones that are the best rise to the surface. Eventually, I'll set a date for the completion of my debut album. For now, I'm going to let myself complete things you and I like. I'll probably need to go back through my old music to make sure I haven't let anything get cold and stale on the shelf. ;)
As for mixtapes, I am about to have two of the 50 beat-mixes to accomplish. I think I'll tackle them when I've reached 200 beats. At the very least, I'll have them accomplished by Christmas. Perhaps that can be my gift to you. We'll see!!!
3) Live DJ Streams
This is something I've talked about with close friends for months now, and I'd love to make these a reality. Timeline for the first one of these is going to be sometime at the beginning of 2019, I believe. First, I need to invest in a quality outboard mixer and a few decks for proper live mixes. I think this will be a hugely valuable skill to build as a musician in the 21st century. The main thrust for building this skill is that I listen to SOO much music that I'd love to champion in my own artful mashups and stream shows. I mean, my Spotify playlist just for the summer season already has 900 songs and counting!! I'm seriously into listening to music. I've gotten so many hours of inward discovery and countless moments of inspiration from listening. There has never been a better time to be alive and into music I assure you! :)
4) Gaming Streams
I figure there will be days in the middle of working 8 and 12-hour shifts that I'll simply just want to be in a passive mode of existence. I hope it is no secret that I love playing video games in my spare time. I'd love to begin capitalizing on this time to have an open line of communication with you guys. I'd love to just chat and get to know you all. Answer your questions about my life or whatever we find interesting to talk about that day. I need my friend time, and even more so these days as I've been holed up in my childhood bedroom by myself day in and day out.
5) Goals/Dreams/Ambitions
Looking forward, I want to keep a daily commitment to posting on Steemit again. So, I want to spend the days that I have no music ready to use this blog as a space to journal my longings, job strife, etc. Basically, I want to use this space as a way to keep myself hyped about the future with music I'm already getting close to having. My journal blogs will be about the immediate goals with music mostly, but I'm sure I'll be open to sharing my diet progress, as well as pictures from my everyday life. Help keep me pumped about the future ahead! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think! :)
6) Build Relationships within Steemit
Having close friends through Steemit has been a dream of mine since day one. I'll admit that this is perhaps my biggest area for improvement looking forward. My time has been so focused on music that I've always prioritized my spare time to diligently create music. This is something I think can be solved by my gaming streams where I just turn on obs and begin a dialogue with you all. Maybe I crack a beer and just kick it with you all as the weather turns cold, and we can get to know one another better. Cool with you? Alright! Same here! :)
7) PR for my first proper album
I've got a mountain to climb here with this one. I want to be on a lot of radars for my first release. I want to have a full plan of how I want everything to rollout, such as interviews, singles, pictures, website for my artist page, etc. My first priority after I've got my first killer track created is to get it trending on blogs. I've got to do some serious networking, so I can stand out from the crowd of other absolutely killer 'underground' tracks. I'm super hyped that you all have my back. I cannot express how much your help is needed with regards to getting noticed. We'll have the opportunity to talk about this more in the coming months! Number 7 is all about building my reputation on the world stage. I want to be a brand that people know about within the right circles.
8) super secret idea
Suffice it to say I have a plan that is going to take a huge investment of my time but could eventually help me to not need income from my music in order to travel the world full-time performing my music in the best locations.
9) My Official Website
This one is another big project I'm excited to have the money to rollout to you, my fans! :) I'll share with you here my ideas about how this website will work. Basically, my website will be an internet radio where all of my creations will be hosted 24/7. I haven't decided much more than that and that there will be different was of interacting with the content I've created. I want this to be a time-sink of a digital space. I want you to come here to gain inspiration, laughs and to listen to the things I've spent hours upon hours on this year. Stay on me about this because it could be your next favorite obsession.
Whew! What a Post!! haha
Thanks for following my train of thought here tonight. Didn't realize I had so much to say! Hope you played the track while reading along! In case you didn't click the green link at the beginning of this post, here's your second chance to hear my latest upload:
Sending my love! xx
Journey Once, Then Jernigan!
Hello @rusty-jernigan, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!