“You’ve gotta fight for your right to party.”
Thats the Beastie Boys. Did they say it best?
My desire to party is most definitely something I have to stir up. I have to create a habit of exercising my social muscles. My first year out of college I spent far too much time at home, but I got to work on a lot of projects. I was developing my craft and furthering my knowledge in the field of audio. I was glued to the computer, just as I still am now many days. I am trying to shift my focus towards people. It seems that seeing and beholding each other might be some of the most important work we do in a day.
I remember in my last semester of college I only had a few in person classes. I wasn’t on campus that much, and I was in the beginnings of my work-from-home-freelancer post-grad hermitage. Anyways, I would get quite depressed. The house would be so quiet when I wasn’t working on songs. I was grieving the loss of a season and choosing not to exercise my right to party. I needed rest, but not total isolation. I’ve said it before, Joy is a discipline ya’ll.
When I did leave the house to go to campus, I was always relieved to face another human being. Getting in the elevator would often be my first human interaction in days. I was grateful for strangers and their offerings to humanize me, so gracefully, with the question “what floor?” I was held, healed, and made whole even, by a mere “good morning” or some simple eye contact. I had been realized. I was not, in fact, a ghost. The hard work of showing up was done. It snowballs from there.
In that season of my life it was often as simple as knowing that I was not invisible. Here, now, in the thick of my post-grad pilgrimage, getting out of the house is still my days most daring duty. I am learning to exercise my right to party. I am also learning that I like to party one on one, with hand selected humans. At 23, the saying “friends are the family that you choose,” hits a whole lot harder. I also think that our actual family are the friends that we have built in, if we are lucky. Both can serve such great purposes. I am feeling both malleable and grounded in various areas. I am trying to remain open. Being a socialite, just like joy, is a discipline. Like a rubber band, I need a good stretching out every once in awhile, in order to remain useful.
Dear God, let us all stay in practice,
Amen.
Godspeed, and keep on trucking.
Yours truly,
Jake Smith
Here are this week’s “Quick Clips”:
* My new song “So It Goes” is out now and on Spotifys Editorial playlist “Fresh Finds: Folk”
* My next single “Tell Me Who I Am” will be this coming Tuesday at 11pm CST! Paid subscribers can stream it early now!
* I played Friday night in Charleston, SC and we have a few more shows coming up in July. Bowling Green was canceled but we WILL be in:
* Nashville, TN - July 14th
* Columbia, SC - July 21st - House Show
* Greenville, SC July 26th - House Show
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As always, shoot me an email if you want to work on music, remote or in-person, here in Nashville, TN.
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