Frank Rosaly
SPB: What's the worst (or strangest) stereotype you encounter from people when they find out you're a musician?
Rosaly: “It must be so fantastic to be following your dream!”
This response is probably the strangest of them all. I mean, it really bums me out. I understand that some people don’t have a calling to a particular career as a young person. Most people have a dream job they never pursue. Most people have a choice. Fear of discomfort keeps people from their calling.
*stepping on my pedestal. clear throat.*
In the United States, there is so much pressure from shit media, the poor education system, and our overwhelming Disney ® monoculture about pursuing “dreams”— big cars, boats, giant TVs… Those are things, not dreams. People often work super hard at jobs they generally don’t like for their entire lives in pursuit of things… things that make life more bearable. That’s the pursuit of comfort, which is BORING.
Some people take on a hobby, say dirt biking. Why not just work your ass off at being the baddest motocross racer EVER? Yeah, you could break your neck. Yeah, it’s tough, and maybe you’ll never be good enough. I believe if you love something, if you really love it, you will find a way to be one of the best. You’ll get to wear those Kawasaki green pants without being a poseur.
You love working in the garden on your day off? Why not work your ass off at opening an urban farm on 2 acres? Yeah, it’s rough. You may even fail. That’s a lot of money to throw away on a failed business. If your “Little Jimmy’s Cream Acre” doesn’t pan out, then you work at a gardening center for a couple years, get your shit together and do it again. Move to Iowa and work with people that are successful at running a business. Read some damn books. Learn as much as you can, then do it again.
You love playing accounting simulation games on the weekend when you’re not busy swimming with beluga whales at the Shedd Aquarium? By god, fuck the whales and start working at H&R Block right away.
*and off the pedestal*
