Living in the Pocket

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I look at this and I imagine my fingers being scared, so they hide in the pocket...


Since I was a kid, I've had a lot of desires and dreams, but I wasn't really allowed to do a lot of things. When I got "grown", I was bold enough to make whatever reckless, adventurous decision I felt like making, with no fear. YOLO right?

Here's the thing! Now that I'm very much an adult, I don't have that same boldness that I did just a few years ago. I still have many things that I want to do, things I believe I'm good at, but I get stifled (sometimes right at the conception of the thought) -I let fear set in and I want to either quit, or not give it all I have because I start feeling incapable. So I live in the pocket...

I've often heard the phrase "stay in the pocket" as a joke on musicians who do the most on their instrument. It's like they are trying to shine so much and they forget that they're playing with a band. So in the audience, we would telepathically urge them to just play straight and stop going off because it was taking away from the sound.

The dangerous part about staying in the pocket through life is that you may miss out on using your God-given talents to their fullest, and in turn may not make the impact you are supposed to make. I know all to well what being afraid to put yourself out there looks like. I don't want anyone to think I'm doing the most. I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to show off or that I have this persona of being better than everybody else. I don't like shining, I just like being in the background. But when you continue to play it safe instead of taking risks, you don't have the chance to make mistakes and grow.

One of my passions is singing. By myself, I think I'm a beast. But in public, I always beat myself up and belittle what I have due to comparison. In many instances where I have to sing in public, I stay in the pocket for fear of making a mistake and being ridiculed or fear of judgement that I'm not as great as someone else. Have you ever pulled back on something you knew you were good at because of what someone else might think?

It's kind of ridiculous. Why are we that afraid? Who are we going to hurt? Somebody might criticize negatively; so what?

There is an audience that needs what you have to offer; what I have to offer. Somebody else does it better...stop thinking this way. You must stop NOW! There is someone who needs what you have? They will receive it from you and nobody else. There is a group that will hear you, not them.
So give it all you got because God gave it to you. If you make a mistake, oh well. Pick it up and learn from it and do better next time. Keep honing your craft and don't let your passion go because of comparison.

Come out of the pocket and live your best life!

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