[Harp-L] How one measures success

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

The recent thread about "real creativity" sparked this question for me:

How do you measure success when you play your harps? (As distinct from when you listen to others.)

Do you aim chiefly to entertain/amuse others? Perhaps to earn money, personal pleasure, sex, drugs, food & drink, respect, acknowledgment or attention?

Do you mainly seek to entertain/amuse yourself?   Perhaps to get emotional support/sustenance, as a personal soundtrack, performance fantasy, satisfaction of technical accomplishment?

Perhaps you have other reasons?  Like, as an excuse to spend hours of tweaking and soldering and filing and banging away on the poor little tin sandwiches or amplifiers or microphones?  

Or, as a way to cover up one's mouth to keep one's foot out?  Hmmm...

I, for one, treasure equally both the moments by myself when I played what felt true, complete and soothing to my soul, AND those moments in jams when we melded and made beautiful music spontaneously.   

For me, playing a set piece "just so" or "right" or (god forbid) "note for note,"  has never been particularly satisfying ('tho it's good practice I suppose), possibly because It's not my strength.  

And yet I love watching others play the "same ol' blues stuff" reliably, with heart, hot licks and moments of melding magic! 

Sure plenty of times I've been on stage and actually undertaken to entertain others, and that's fun, but for me that's not the motivation. I really don't care about having an audience.  Whereas for others it's all about the performance, absent an audience there's no reason to play - except to rehearse.  

Vive la difference!

So how do YOU measure success?

-Dave Fertig