How do you explain Passion? Re: Manifest Destiny, Matt Westmoreland and the Arts

I've always said it is funny how the world goes around and discovering new things and new people is always such a thrill.  What I'm referring to is the epiphany when the stars align and you realize that there is in fact someone that shares your passion, that is like you, that you "discover."

That just happened to me but happened in spades and right under my nose.  Let me explain.

My nephew, Matt Westmoreland is a musician.  Now, maybe I wasn't paying attention and maybe I should have been watching closer, but for whatever reason it slipped by me, right in front of  me and I just spaced it.  I should have known better because I'm an Actor and have worked hard to gain some recognition, make a film here and there and gain at least some notoriety if nothing else.  I'd like to be paid enough to support my family.  But whatever, I should have realized WAY sooner that I need to be paying better attention.

Ironically, it took the post of  my "niece-in-law", Jennifer, Matt's wife, and a blog post by Josh Coats of Manifest Destiny (that's the ironic part to me, Destiny), who is a stranger to me but a friend of Matt's, to wake me up to smell the coffee!  Yeesh, I feel like a bonehead, but it has passed and I am now fully awake.  I listened and paid attention and through that got to interact with Manifest Destiny and learned something and asked a very important question.

How do you explain Passion?

First, let me add a couple of Links for perspective.  Here's Josh's blog and Matt's song so that you can kind of get where I'm coming from.

Josh Coat's Blog, Featured Artist:  http://featuredbandsmattwestmoreland.blogspot.com/2011/06/featured-band-matt-westmoreland.html

Matt Westmoreland, "Nameless Town":


Having posted that, I immediately went to Manifest Destiny's page on FB, LIKED them and posted on their wall thanking them.  I was surprised, but I got a reply and it rang a bell in my head.  Let me post that for you to read as well:

ME: Thank you for your blog about Matt Westmoreland! You ROCK and not just in music! I have the honor of calling him nephew and for you to step up and share something about him is awesome. Much appreciated.  


Manifest Destiny: (Reply):  It was my honor! Thanks for reading it and supporting him! I can say from personal experience that you have no clue how much it means to us musicians when friends and especially family support us. Theres so many people that write us off and never take the time to even listen to our hard work. We spend hours upon hours of our time to put out 4 minutes of our heart, so thank you so much for making it worth our time!  


ME: Well, you have another supporter out of it as well. In this case, I happen to know because I'm an actor and have movies that some of my family have never seen for the same reasons. It is just hard to explain to them the passion. You have a new fan and a proud one and I have some music to buy. Yours. Thank you for posting and God Bless! I'll definitely be buying your music and spreading the word. Take care.  


So, I assume that was Josh that posted but don't really know.  Be that as it may, he did say something very interesting in there that prompted me to respond with a nugget of my own that just kind of came out.  


"Thanks for reading it and supporting him! I can say from personal experience that you have no clue how much it means to us musicians when friends and especially family support us."  And I responded with, "It is just hard to explain to them the passion."


And it is.  Sometimes, you just can't explain the passion to your friends or family.  They don't get it.  You're the weird cousin or son or daughter or in-law that is, "that actor" or "that guitar player" or whatever.  It's like you're something less than human, that sort of "off" member of the family.  It isn't intended to be hurtful or insulting or anything like that.  But it is sometimes if you let it and Artists are sensitive (not whiny cry-ie sensitive because that is so Prima Donna) but are tuned into their emotions and passions and are chasing a dream.


And how do you explain a dream to someone who may not have one?  How do you explain it to someone who has no personal passion of their own?  You don't.  You SHOW them!


I had to see Matt's video, AND SHAME ON ME FOR IT I MIGHT ADD, before I got it and it clicked with me.  I'm sorry, Matt, but I just didn't get it.  You're in Tulsa and I'm in Atlanta and THAT IS NO EXCUSE but it just went by me.  But now I am ON BOARD!  I get it.  I'm with you, buddy.


And the good that came out of it is that I have found a new group, Manifest Destiny, that I can follow and have new music to listen to on two fronts.  Matt and Manifest Destiny.


And maybe, just maybe, I will learn from this and do more on my part to tune in to other people's passions, support them and love them and encourage them.  I have posted friends IMDB pages and spent time on that site and others like Screened.com working on their profiles, trying to get them some recognition, promoting them.


Because I got it with them.  Now I  get it with my nephew and I'm proud.  Not because I got it from the beginning, but because he SHOWED me and it clicked.


If you are an artist and you're struggling and no one around you cares (or seems to because expressing it is sometimes difficult), look for those with a kindred spirit and let them share your passion even if you have to show them you are serious.


And let the chips fall where they may.  Growing a fan base or following as an artist, actor or musician, is hard and time consuming and expensive.  You have to balance "shameless self promotion" with encouraging people to listen and look and pay attention.  I do it all the time and wonder when I'm crossing the line or if I'm crossing it at all.  I have friends that don't follow my FB page who say they support me as an actor.  So what!  You accept it.  It is only FB or  Screened or whatever.  But you keep on chugging along and you will reap the rewards of your labor.


But SHOW your passion because I just don't think you'll be able to explain it and if you do, please let me know because doggone if I've been able to do it.  As I said to Josh, God Bless and take care.  Chase your dreams and don't let anyone kill your passion!  It will be very hard to live with yourself if you ignore that voice inside and don't do the very thing you were created for.  To LIVE!  Take care.


Shameless Self Promotion:  :D
James Jarrett on the IMDB:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1599107/
James Jarrett on Screened:  http://www.screened.com/james-jarrett/14-323378/
James Jarrett on Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Jarrett/111683460125?ref=nf
James Jarrett Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/james.jarrett
James Jarret on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/James_Jarrett

Whew!  That is a lot of work, but it will pay off one day.  Take care!