Anna and I in Balboa Park, San Diego

I will write you soon again with changes and advancements?

What a wonderful last couple of days I have had.  After leaving Boulder on Sunday evening, I traveled for a time and then found a place to sleep.  I am sleeping in my van on a cot/bed, very comfortable.  I shower when I stay with people, or, when I am on the road for a few days I will pop into a motel and use their pool for a swim (yes, a big bath.)  Before I go in I put a small amount of shampoo on my head so that, once I am in, I can wash my head and body with it.  Quite the life.

On Tuesday night I got into Salida, a neat little town that has a circus school.   I was two days early so I looked around the town for things to do.  As you know, I ruined my other laptop and had no way to reach you.  I went to the library in Salida to use their computer (bought my new Acer yesterday.)  There was a nice old women seating next to me.  We had a nice conversation and ended up going to lunch together, a nice talk with “Felice”.  Felice happened to know Jennifer, who runs the circus school and set up the presentation.  So, we went to visit Jennifer.  Jennifer was able to set up a place for me to stay that night, Tuesday.  After we talked with Jennifer I drove Felice home.  When we arrived I saw two large deer to the side of the house–they looked like statues–then I saw them move.  What a wonderful sight.  After leaving off Felice it was off to meet up with Jennifer, who lead me to where I was going to stay that night.  And, what a wonderful place it is.  Lori and her ex-husband built this place into the side of a hill.  Stones and wood prevail, large logs.  With a horse pasture right out in front and a barn and large garden behind the house and up the hill, it is like paradise.  Lori’s two kids were there, and, of course, I taught them to juggle.

On the map, the road from Boulder to Salida, Colorado looked somewhat barren and boring, yet, what a fantastic drive.  Mountains, forests, streams, small quant villages.  Reminded me of Southern Germany.  I love to drink fresh clean water from mountain springs.  This is something I have not been able to do in years because of where I live.  The taste of the water was so refreshing.

Going forward on the road, off to the right I saw a dirt road that had a sign saying, “National Forest”.  After driving some ways into the superb setting I parked under trees and saw no humans for the whole time I was there– no connection with my phone, my radio could not connect to any stations, no people anywhere. I am enjoying my solitude (wish “you” were here, though.)  For that time I was hiking, reading and resting–how pleasant.

But don’t you need a casting director to give you a part? Don’t you need a publisher to give you a book deal? Don’t you need a record label to sign you? No, no, and no. If you’re an artist, don’t put your success, your passion, and your life in somebody else’s hands.

Don’t be an aspiring author, an aspiring actor, or an aspiring musician. The difference between an aspiring artist and an artist comes down to one thing… an artist creates. An aspiring artist wants to create. They talk about creating. They dream about creating. They tell others they will create someday. They wait for someone else to give them approval before they create. They wait until their name is called.

I get emotional about this because I have a lot of friends who are amazing at what they do, but they don’t get it. They wait around for someone to give them the nod of approval. “If I could just get that part,” I hear them say. “I nailed that showcase but never heard back from anyone.” My motto is “if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em.”

History is full of examples of artists who decided to take matters in their own hands. Examples include Colbie Caillat, an unknown and unsigned singer-songwriter who had success on MySpace and has since won Grammys and has had hit songs, to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting. Where would these artists and thousands of others be if they didn’t take their life into their own hands and create?

Here’s a more recent example – Ambrose. Ambrose is my favorite new rock band. Several months ago I heard them on Sirius Radio and immediately loved their sound, which doesn’t happen often. When I got home, I went to Amazon.com and tried to order their CD, but couldn’t find it. I did a quick search and discovered they didn’t have a traditional CD — they only sold their album on iTunes – which I quickly downloaded. Their whole album is amazing. I’m becoming a huge fan. I go to their website, which is actually just a MySpace page. I watch a great video and then check out their tour dates and notice they are playing a bunch of venues in LA such as the Viper Room, the Roxy, etc. Now these are cool venues, but small. I started to think Ambrose wasn’t as big as I thought they were. It turns out, I was right.

I emailed them and the lead singer, Zak Ambrose, emailed right back. They are unsigned, which means they don’t have a record label. I also discovered that Zak is not only the lead singer, but also the band’s publicist, manager, web designer, promoter, and just about everything else. I told him I wanted to interview him about how he is able to pull it all off.

Zak Ambrose gets it. We talked for several hours. He is a hard worker, passionate about his craft, and is doing everything he can to make it (based on his talent, I’d be shocked if he didn’t!). He hasn’t waited to get signed. He’s gone out there and made an album. He sells it on iTunes. He books concerts. He sells merchandise. He interacts with fans via social networks. He does all of this even though nobody has told him he can. He didn’t stay in his garage waiting for somebody to tell him he was a musician. He knows he’s a musician, and what do musicians do? They make music.

The most successful artists are going to be those who create. Not the ones who wait around for approval.

So what’s the takeaway? Don’t wait for permission. Don’t make excuses. Get out there and create something — anything. Stop aspiring and start creating.

Continuing to very much enjoy my trip driving from the east coast to the west coast.

After I left Branson, MO, north I drove to Kansas City to present my juggling workshop  On the way I saw a turn-off for a national park off the road, hard to see.  I had to go see this park.  Dick Franco’s wife, Maki, had prepared a great lunch for me of terriyaki Chicken and rice, I ate it, all alone in the park, in this beautiful setting.  Enjoying my time by myself.

The workshop in Kansas City went quite well. One comment I received:
“The juggling with finesse workshop helped me remember what attracted me to juggling it the first place. Kit was very encouraging about pushing the boundaries and acquiring new skills.  I also gained valuable pointers about performance, presentation and character.”

Yesterday, while on my drive across to Boulder, I happened upon a street performers festival in Lawrence, Kansas. I saw one of the best street juggling acts I’ve seen. Cate Flaherty does excellent. Her comedy, her skill, her timing, great. She is here on stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxjsySoXs1I&feature=fvsr
Another act who was there, Lindsey is another excellent female performer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm65wB6hEaQ
Cate and Lindsey both have great confidence in what they do, necessary for a good street act.

McDonald’s has free wifi, so I often stop and write to you from McDonalds, where I am now.  Will write to you again soon, my friend.

Bye for now>>>>Kit