- What? Yes. Value systems can serve you and assist or they can swerve you from your goal or goals. - We have lots of value systems, some we're aware of and others not so much. They are normally constructed of If...then. - If my voice is not how I want it to be, then I am no good (or not talented or whatever). - If I am not rich, then I am not smart. - If he or she doesn't call, then they don't care about me. - If I have trouble learning something, then I am stupid (or dumb or worthless). - Value systems can be true or they can be false, or partially true. Singing and music are 100% mental. What? Why do we do vocal exercises? Well, Johnny, because we are actually training the brain to control the body. Value systems can serve or swerve, help or hinder. If I practice the right thing, the right way, for the right amount of time, over a period of time, then I will improve my ability to control my voice and sound how I want to sound. True, or true?

Four co-written novels, I did music, video, voiceover, video, and artwork in this trailer: Trailer

Be able to do what he/she teaches. This is not terrible: VEGAS, BABY! My wife is the dancer who takes my hand in the video. It's old, but it is proof I was in a show in Las Vegas.

What does painting have to do with singing? You might wonder. I might have an idea or two about it. Singers or Musicians Who Paint: Tony Bennett did David Bowie did Bob Dylan Paul McCartney Stevie Nicks Paul Stanley Janis Joplin did What's the deal? is it frustration? Is it expression of an artistic bent? Is it to sell to make money, leveraging the already established fame? Maybe art comes from the same place as music. Maybe one enhances the other. Maybe pencil drawing is less messy than paint and might be a good place to start art. I know I have drawn literally millions of lines, curves, letters, shapes, etc. I did a few thousand digital art things at times I had severe pain from an arthritic issue, now mostly under control. I've only done 70 acrylic paintings. They are NOT for sale, except as prints, but not yet. You can see some of my stuff here: Stewzart,com , if you're curious.

Grasping for straws. Holding on for dear life. The common phrases of hopeless desperation ring out from the world of uncertainty. How can we be certain about anything? The next minute? The next breath? The next day? The past doesn't predict the future, but it may assume there will be one. Do we hold on to the angst, or let go and enter our own flow? Letting go of self-judgment and self-criticism are great activities to free the creative flow, the creative mind. When I did that, I wrote over 4,000 pieces of music since 2014. Before that, I had only written about 500. The thinking goes away and is replaced with the doing of creation. Do you have to believe that? No. Many of us may be standing in our own way, or stuck as if in concrete. I've been there. It's not force that frees us. Letting go, because we are the legs AND the concrete. Serenity and freedom are waiting. Let go of judgment and self-criticism and create your one voice, your unique sound and find the sounds you enjoy to hear. Hear them come out of you and if they are not, there are keys to some of the unlocked doors, to find freedom, hope, and expression. I believed that I was good enough to be on stage in a show in Las Vegas and only had to share a recording that got me in. My audition was for the cast. The producer already accepted my being good enough. I did prepare extensively, honing my sound three hours a day for a year, I paid my dues, one could say. Letting go of the self-criticism and building on the good helped me let go of the frustration from self-judgment. Let go and go!