It's Ok to Pause

byEdaum

64 followers

3 years ago

Good evening everyone! (Or good whatever day and time of day it is for you...) Due to some rather bizarre incidents (nothing too sinister) I have had to be away from my training at WA and the WA world for a couple of weeks. Even though I have been very impatient to return and get back to work at WA, my time away has given me a bit of perspective that I was not expecting, and had forgotten. It is ok to take a pause and reflect. In fact, I think that sometimes its essential. I have been very excited about WA and the potential here, and I continue to be, but occasionally you need time to look up from what you are doing to make sure you're on the right track, or at least still on the one you started.

I remember this feeling from my younger days. In another life, and in a world that most of us can barely remember, I used to be a recording engineer and music producer and made music for a living. One of the most beautiful and rewarding things about recording for people was the mixing process - the time when we took all the little pieces, parts, and instruments and put them through one console and bit by bit made all those parts come together and become one piece of music - one song. It was truly magical every time. That moment when all the individual performances became something more than the sum of their parts. I loved it. But there was an artistic danger in the mixing process. After hours and sometimes days of mixing one song you could get lost in that song. Lost in the sounds and how they should go together, and that occasionally made for awful sounding music. This was not only a waste of your time (and everyone else's) but it was also a disservice to the artist - distorting what they wanted to create.

That was where I learned to pause - to listen to something else. If it was a rock record, listen to some classical music. If it was a country recording, put on some Backstreet Boys, if it was metal, break out the Gregorian Chant! It was not at all about listening to things you liked, it was about letting your brain rest.

There are times when I forget that - I think many of us do - to just take a break. What was it that you were wanting? What was your plan and does it still sound valid and realistic? Have you gotten any advice during a pause that could apply to what you are doing now? Did you think of a new strategy that will help you? Evaluation, perspective, openness, patience. All big words and all completely necessary.

Take a break people! Think, relax, ask, answer.

Now, let's get back to work!