Hey there,

Time for reflection is easy to overlook or dismiss. Yet reflection is priceless for feeding the creative soul. Without reflection, we can become exhausted mentally, spiritually, and physically. The absence of reflection is a detractor to our creative selves. A life without reflection can be a detractor to creativity. It can be exhausting, leading to a lack of clarity and eventual health problems.

Conversely, reflection can help you see the value of rest, of daydreaming, and deciding. It is an essential part of the creative process. Reflection allows us to evaluate our work, gain new perspectives, and generate fresh ideas. It's also crucial for maintaining well-being, especially in the fast-paced world of music, where burnout and exhaustion can easily creep in.

I know that that last one can sound depressing or morbid, but done with sensitivity and balance, it's a great reminder of impermanence. This reminder can lead us to a more appreciative life, allowing us to focus on things that truly matter.

Time for reflection can nurture creativity, recharge your batteries, and produce life balance. We should all make it part of our artistic journey to stay inspired, innovative, and resilient. Practice it. Let it be a reflection of you and your art.

Love-hate relationships with social media

Not long ago, I posted about my love-hate relationship with social media. I called it a complaint experiment and I was looking for inspiration. Up until the time of that post, I was struggling to make appearances on my social accounts.

I don't have any love for social media, but I do hate it for any or all of the same reasons that you might. The truth is, however, that these sometimes wretched platforms are filled with people like you and me. Some of those folks want to support us. So we need to make the rounds. We need to keep making connections.

Here are tricks you can use to hate social media a little less.

1. Learn how to get in and out, a few minutes per day, 4-5 days/week.
2. Reconnect with people you've not spoken with in a long time. Just say hi and let them know you've been thinking of them.
3. Don't read news or hater speak on social media
4. Take walks w/o your phone.
5. Write daily about things that are on your mind, but do it on a notepad or in a text file. Use snippets of your writing for social posts.
6. Keep a list of topics you'd like to post about. For example, about gigs, new recordings, the music business, relationships, misinformation, AI, whatever...
7. Share and comment on posts by others
8. Don't look at any social media until after 10:00 AM, the point being not to let be one of the first things you do when you wake up. Give it a couple of hours.

I return to this topic because thoughtful use of social media can help you build connections that can lead to collaboration, new fans, and more. I'm always learning, as my modest following will indicate. But I know by closely watching others what works. It's all about fine-tuning and improving.

Assuming you've not given up on social media, what tricks do you find helpful to not hate it?

Do you have a YouTube channel?

I'd love to know what you're doing with your YouTube channel. Are you posting performance videos from your home studio or live shows? Are you giving lessons?

Last November, Moser Cafe Kultur recorded a show I did with Johnny Burgin. The videographer was kind enough to send me the raw footage, which I edited into individual videos for my artist channel. You can see them here. 🎥

Maybe you're doing TikTok videos. Still, I'm interested in knowing what types of things you post. Please send me links, if you have anything share-worthy. I'd love to share your content with the Unstarving Musician community.

Podcast Startup by The Unstarving Musician 🎙️

If you happen to be making plans to start a podcast, I hope you'll check out Podcast Startup by The Unstarving Musician. After more than 300 published episodes and guest appearances, I thought it would be good to share what I've learned with new podcasters.

Podcast Startup is a course designed to help new podcasters start and grow their podcast the right way. In this course, I share all the things I wish I'd known when I started out.

Learn more about a trial deal I've created for Liner Notes Subscribers at the link below.

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Shout-out to Bandzoogle

​My music website is on Bandzoogle and I almost never worry about it working as it should. Bandzoogle has everything you need to promote and sell your music, keep your supporters informed, and sell merch. Bandzoogle also has EPK templates, crowd funding templates, email and social features for staying connecting with fans, and more.

If you haven't yet looked into it, visit Bandzoogle.com and use promo-code R O B O N Z O to get 15% off your first year!

Peace, love and more cowbell,
Robonzo
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