Authentically August

Ok... here it goes.

As an introverted perfectionist, I like to only put the "best version" of myself out into the world - carefully curated, all of the quirks hidden. As a musician in the 21st century, having a social media presence is becoming THE way to get your name out there. I love seeing my fellow musicians' content, yet I am soooooo scared to put myself out there. Maintaining a social media presence seems so daunting. What will people say if I'm not perfect? After reading the wonderful book by Jennet Ingle, The Happiest Musician, I learned that the people of social media don't want perfection - they want my weird and quirky and goofy take on music and life. Now that I've (somewhat) accepted that it's ok for my to be myself in whatever content I produce, how do I start? I'm not much for just jumping into the deep end and going straight to posting a practice reel or something. What's a good stepping stone to that point? How can I start putting my authentic voice out there in a way that's not as vulnerable and scary? Then it came to me: a blog.

I have always had a love for writing. It probably comes from my late grandmother, whom I called GranE (her name was Esther, so that's why it's spelled with an E). GranE was also a pianist and organist (ooo next blog topic!!). When I write, I can be 100% myself, though slightly less awkward than in person (yay editing!). I'm going to do my best to post at least at the beginning of the month. I'm not exactly sure what my content will be - maybe like reflection of my musical journey? Who knows. All I know is that it will be 100% me - quirks, weirdness, goofiness, flaws and all.

August Katelyn:

For you it’s no sin

To raise a toast - -a glass of gin

Or make some noise on a drum of tin

You’re tops among our kin

Better than a big fat hen

Or pairs of twins

You are my Zen

Whenever I have a yen

So flip a fine 

For August Katelyn!

Love, GranE (08/15/2021)