Wednesday, April 3, 2024
I have a dear friend who is a brilliant songwriter. She frets about how to distribute her music or how it might be received by others. She’s trying to learn the business end of copyright, marketing, and distribution; and while that is all good and well, that tends to negate our childlikeness, our free-thinking creativity, and what I call “lemonade-stand mentality.”
Lemonade-stand mentality is simplemindedness. Getting into that innocent flow makes everything easy and most of all, fun. Get inspired and work with what’s there. Get some sugar and lemons, put it in a pitcher, make a cardboard stand, paint a sign, set up in your front yard, and your business is born. It really is that easy. Build a treehouse, a shack, or a fort, and you’ve got an office. It’s this childlike simplicity that garners the most success for creative types, and playing make-believe makes everything in the process simplified, smooth, and fun. Institutionalizing it, turning into a serious business matter, and structuring it around what “ought to be done,” kills the momentum.
Recently my friend came for a visit to show me the book she was reading about music business. While I know the information will be helpful, she also shared that her friend John offered to buy her a mic so she could start streaming her music now. Sounds like a lemonade stand to me, and no book was needed for the next step.
The universe will show you the way, and the next step will seem minuscule – kid-like. Most people ignore those “kiddie” steps, thinking that their dream is bigger than that. But your dream is not bigger than the lemonade stand, the treehouse, or the shack. Your ego is. If you don’t notice the subtleties of progress, you might miss out on the trail of fun of just being a kid with a cardboard stand.