Jenna, what on earth does calling your mom have to do with the music industry??
What is this teaching me about gaining connections and having a successful career??
I never promised I was an expert in everything I talked about, certainly not relating to the music industry.
I am not an absolute expert in anything I talk about.
I can confidently say one thing for sure though: call your mom.
Call your mom.
Call your dad.
Call your grandmother.
Call your sister.
Call your brother.
Call your aunt.
Call your grandfather.
Call your best friend.
It can be two minutes. It can be two hours. Call them.
You will never know how much you needed that phone call until you have it. You will never know how you much you needed to hear their voice in order to finish typing up that email you’ve been putting off until you hear it. You will never know how quick that idea will finally come to the front of your mind after venting about having a creative block to your dad and him asking if you have eaten lunch yet today. You will never know unless you pick up the phone and call. You will never know until you can’t.
It is something that falls to the wayside a lot. It something that only happens if you have the time and remember. It is only something that happens when you have a question. It is only something that happens when you’re upset and you just really need to talk to someone. It is something that happens when you are frustrated about something and you tell them to call back later. Don’t let it only happen then.
Call your mom.
They want to hear from you.
The people who love you want to hear from you. They want to hear the good and the bad. They want to hear the excitement and quivering in your voice. They want to hear the laugh and the sigh. They want to hear from you.
Their lives may be busy too. But they love you, and they want to hear from you.
The only way to keep going in this business is to stay grounded with the things and the people that make you whole. It is SO easy to get so lost in this industry. The more you stay in touch with yourself and the ones that have been there with you through the best and the worst times of your life, the bigger the chance you have of keeping hold of yourself.
Some days it is harder than others. Some days you can barely get yourself to get out of bed, let alone carry on a full conversation with someone who may ask you how you are or what your next steps are. They may ask you if that one job ever called you back. They may ask you if that write ended up happening finally or did it fall through again. They may ask you if you have had anything other than coffee today. Whatever it is, tell them. They want to hear from you. They miss you. You know you miss them.
This simple act can be the one thing that boosts your confidence for the day and gets you to close an opportunity with one of the biggest acts in town. This simple act can be the one thing that sparks that hard-hitting line that ends up being the title track on the next album. This simple act can be the one thing that gets you from point A to point B that day. You never know.
So call your mom. She’ll be happy, and so will you.
