In Pearlspective

Fear of change. Fear of failure. Doubt. Hesitation. Sound familiar? Maybe that's because I talked about this at the beginning of this year. If you missed my most-read blog post , may I suggest you go catch that before reading on? Photo by Nick Tiemeyer on Unsplash At the time I wrote that, I was facing a very pivotal decision in both my career and my personal life. I wanted so much to quit and run away, to find a place with no risk and little responsibility, but I couldn't. The decision had already been made. So as I wrote that slightly ambiguous blog post, I was trying desperately to silence my fears because I had to move forward with that decision, with or without them. I did move forward. Almost 9 months ago now, two of my siblings and I split off from a 14 year career with our family bluegrass band to forge a new path in our musical journey. It was frightening to effect a change that would affect both my family and my music in ways none of us could entirely...

C an we just take a minute to appreciate the complexity of that title? It can and does indicate the nature of the post to follow, but it can also stand alone simultaneously contradicting and proving the very fact it states. Cool, huh!? A lright, enough of that, let's get on with the show. If you have read my blog before or know me personally, you might have noticed that I am a big fan of explanations. I will think, overthink, and rethink anything to find an explanation for said thing. Photo by Ken Treloar on Unsplash Some things need no explanation because they are as obvious as the nose on my face and make perfect sense. Some things positively don't have an explanation and never will, no matter how hard I try to find one. For instance, why do only 9 out of 10 restaurants I enter serve coffee? This is sad. But worse yet, why do 7 of those 9 restaurants have no idea what coffee should taste like (if that's actually coffee they're serving), or that it shoul...

I t seems like an unspoken rule that the first post a blogger publishes in a new year should be goal focused and extremely motivational. I'm not usually a rule breaker but I'm really not feeling very motivational (a possible factor in the lateness of this "New Year's" post). Photo by Isaac Holmgren on Unsplash Honestly folks, I'm ready to quit. Maybe I'm stressed. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe it's just time for a change. Maybe it's different every day, but everyone has their limit and I've reached mine. Like so many people do, I've tried setting goals and tried my best to achieve them, but my best never seems to be enough. The things I accomplish bring little satisfaction and I always feel like I should have done more, but if I set bigger goals then I'll only increase my stress and my chances of failure. I can't take it anymore and it's just time to quit. After all, it's better to quit than to fail, right? WR...

T he calendar pages have flown rapidly by (sometimes threatening to hit you in the face as they pass) and the first 10 months of the year are a faint blur in your memory. Now you can take a deep breath Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash --- and dive headfirst into "The Most Chaotic Time of the Year" (isn't that a song?) commonly referred to as "The Holiday Season". Holidays are such interesting occasions and there are many ways you can spend them, but I will try to summarize the two scenarios that stand out as being most common. (In an attempt to create some diversity among the long list of lists listed on the internet, I have listed the second item on this list first.) Holiday Celebration #2: Although there is a certain sense of excitement in the air, this is a dreaded occasion almost guaranteed to be one of the most awkward days of your entire year. You rush out of bed on the morning of the holiday and scramble to make the best culinary cr...

I can remember it like it was yesterday but yet it's somewhat of a blur. It started on October 11th, 2015. We were relaxing in an Oklahoma hotel room on a Sunday afternoon, and some of us were going to take a short nap before going to set up for our show that evening, but the phone rang before any of us could fall asleep. The call was from a friend in Minnesota who had gone to visit my grandparents that day. Grandma had been quite ill for a while, but we thought she was on the mend. Our friend, who had a background as a hospice nurse, could see otherwise. "How soon can you get here?", she asked my mom. "I know performing is your livelihood, and I feel sick telling you to cancel a show, but I'd feel worse if I didn't. The time it takes to do the concert might be all the time you'd have to say goodbye." So, we canceled our show and left the hotel as fast as we could pack. We got in the van and headed north. We stopped after a few hour...