What is your "why?"

--Colleen Kelly, June 2018

One day, back in June, one of my colleagues at Southwind, Colleen Kelly, asked the trumpet section one of the most important questions a person must address if they are going to do drum corps.  Drum corps is expensive.  It's grueling.  It's hot.  The rehearsal days begin at 7:30 a.m. and "lights out" is usually around 11:00 p.m.  The kids generally only sit down at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  There are one million things other things the kids could be doing....and they choose this activity. Why???

And that was her question....what is your why?  

We made all 20 trumpets write down their why statement.  Some of them were anonymous.  Some were signed.  This one caught my attention.  

"I've always been told I'm not good enough; after a while I started to

believe it.  I'm here because I want to change that.  I want to feel good enough again."

This was written by a kid who was paying almost $3000 to be a part of Southwind; by a kid who had endured hours and hours and hours of practice; by a kid who had sacrificed one weekend a month to be here; who had sacrificed an entire summer to be here; who had been hand-picked by me to be here!  Who in the name of God had the impudence, the audacity, the unmitigated gall to ever have made that kid feel like he/she wasn't good enough??????????  It absolutely pisses me off.  (I am literally pounding the keys on my computer while I'm typing this!)......and I see it every day......

Tomorrow, LBW will start classes.  There will be someone in my classes who has been told "you won't make it." There will be someone who has been told "you are too old for that."  There will be someone who has been told "you aren't smart enough to do that."  There will be someone who has been told "you don't belong there."  There will be someone who has been told "you can't succeed."  

To each of those I say this: 

 "Those who say it can't be done should never interfere with those who are doing it."

The key is to remember why you are doing whatever it is.  It may be your kids.  It may be for your parents.  It may be for any number of reasons.  But when the going gets tough, remember why you started, and you'll keep going.   

I can't wait for tomorrow.  I can't wait to have a hand in someone walking across that stage next May or the May after. Heck, even if it takes 7 years like it took for me to graduate, YOU WILL MAKE IT.  And when you do, I'm going to just make up a picture in my mind of whoever it was that told you that you weren't good enough, and I'm gonna punch that image right in the face!

Years ago, the Ensemble covered Staind's song "Outside."  Dusty Morrow nailed it.  To this day, that's in my top 3 moments of our performances over the past 15 years.  The lights were incredible, thanks to Jerry Wishum, Dusty's vocals were on fire, and the band was stellar that year.  But....there's a definite sadness to that song, and I suspect EVERYONE has been the character in the song at one point or another...we've ALL felt like we were on the outside, looking in...like we don't belong...like whatever it is, it's not meant for us.  What a lie.  What a gigantic, straight-from-the-pit-of-Hell lie.

You know, as silly and cliche as the character was, Stuart Smalley was right...you are good enough, and you are smart enough.  God said so.  The end.  

Have a good day.  Brewer out.