I tend to wear a lot of hats. We all do. It makes life difficult, and a little confusing at times, but it sure makes life interesting. The one that feels the best on my head is definitely the one titled Artist – not especially the performing kind, but certainly the creative kind.

I have to admit, I live each day trying to get into the studio to get to work on whatever project is next and though I don’t get in there near as much as I’d like these days because of my duties at Watchfire Music, the act of sitting down and exploring the wonderful world of music is truly sublime.

The process is, in fact, so fulfilling that for years, it satisfied all my pent up longings concerning my artistic life, so much so that when I’d finish a project, I’d just start another, leaving the previous project often to founder on the shelf.

My shelves became full of ‘unpublished’ music – music that was greatly fun and satisfying to create, but music that nobody ever heard.

I woke up to this fact several years ago and decided that I needed to work harder to get it out there, that I needed to be a better businessman in this world of music and that I needed to value and complete the experience of making and sharing music.

And so Watchfire Music was born to complete that purpose and that process.

Many good things have come out of this experience. Of them all, one was a special surprise.  This comes under the heading of what might be called Public Reaction.

I’ve always been one to minimize the rave reviews, appreciate, but not thrive upon the applause, to keep the ego in check and not fall into the trap that so many creative people go through when faced with the glories of stardom and fan appreciation. It can make for a very rough road and it’s easy to lose one’s balance in the throes of a standing ovation.

So I’ve probably gone too far in minimizing that part of the process even to the point of ignoring it under some false pretense of balance.

Now, finally in life, I’m beginning to learn to see it and appreciate it differently. I’ve become aware of seeing it from a different angle. Now I try to focus on the graciousness of the people responding. And it’s a revelation how sweet it is.

As is my want in life, I looked up the word “gracious” in the dictionary. It said, “Gracious: having or showing kindness, courtesy or compassion.” I realized that this was a wonderful and fulfilling part of the process and is also a necessary feedback to any artist’s endeavors.  To be appreciated is often our only pay. To be loved should be a natural outcome of our efforts. After all, the best of our ideas come from God, so in essence we’re just engendering gratitude to God through our work. I can live with that.

Now that the loop has been completed, I must say that I have loved the feedback from so many of you regarding what we do at Watchfire Music and the effect our music has upon your lives. I’m simply amazed at the amount of people who take the time to write in and respond to our doings.  I see that we’re all just bringing out the best in one another.  This is good.

Recently I wrote a post in my blog, Sparks From The Fire, entitled, “The Best Audition I Ever Saw”.  It was a story about Broadway star Betty Buckley and her superb audition for us many years ago. About a month after it was posted, through the wonderful world of the internet, it somehow got to her and she graciously wrote back a response.

The fact that she took the time to do this was a simple gracious act, and an act that continued the positive feelings of the story in the first place and illuminated the magnanimity of the woman.  Here is the letter in its entirety.

Dear Peter,

My friend Seth forwarded me a link to your blog about “The Best Audition…”  I was so touched that you remember that day.

The funny thing is that the day you were posting your blog, I was in Provincetown doing a concert and I decided to sing “I Had A King” by Joni Mitchell (which was the song, by the way, not “Case of You”.)  So I was thinking about that audition, and you guys, and how I loved singing that song for auditions, and how that was the first time, etc. that I tried it.

I will never forget that experience and your enormous generosity and the kindness of your collaborators. That you still remember it, is so lovely and amazing to me. Thank you for writing about it and sharing the experience with your students.

You mention that you’ve always wondered how I do that. I meditate while I am working.  Meditation and prayer are the tools I use. I teach this technique as well. It is a very sacred technique and fail proof – that is, it has never failed me. I love teaching meditation and a universal spiritual philosophy as the means for true communication with an audience.  I have seen it transform so many lives in my 36 years of teaching.

I think it is so interesting that you are on the same path – probably why my work moved you so back then. Sending you all the very best with all of your work and your family.  Thank you again for your kindness.

With warm regards,
Betty Lynn (Buckley)

Yesterday I received another letter through our customer relations department. It seems that we had made a bit of a slip up in the process of a CD delivery and when we righted it, the customer graciously wrote back. Reading this gracious response prompted my thinking towards the writing of this blog post and once again kept the circle of human endeavor spinning, fulfilling and inspiring.

I thought to myself, “I did all that work on that CD and she listened and heard it and she got it. She got it! She heard me.” That music did not sit on the shelf. The experience and the process were fulfilled. Here is Jan Sweet’s gracious response.

Thank you, thank you so much for your very kind call! I figured it must be something like that, that delayed the order. But, boy, it sure was worth waiting for!! My husband and I just finished listening to the whole “Ode to Joy“. WOW, it’s fantastic.  What a wonderful musician/composer you are, Peter! I just love your work. And, of course, Julia’s and all the others involved in making it one great CD!  I just love “Anadori“, especially remembering and re-reading the Sparks blog: Make those Mistakes.  Also, “Rocky Road” and “This I know is True” just made me dance!  “How Great Thou Art” and “Ode to Joy Finale” are majestic!  I just love the whole thing. There is something in me that just loves the idea of mixing traditional CS hymnal favorites with different cultures of music and different styles of music… was that a little bit of heavy metal in the first “movement” of Ode to Joy?  Again, thanks so much for the quick delivery since your kind call!

Much appreciation for all you all do!
Jan Sweet

Thank you, Jan and thank you, Betty. Your graciousness becomes part of my life lesson.  Your feedback completes the circle.

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please visit Watchfire Music.