American Idol And Personal Destiny

When did American Idol become the only path to singing stardom?  Whiners, criers, and freaker-outers, please go home and sing.  Do you not understand the odds?  Only one American Idol is chosen, and there are thousands of contestants.  What boggles my mind is the seeming total lack of comprehension that we are all in charge of our own destiny.  You could even WIN American Idol, and still not become rich or particularly famous or even happy.

You want to sing?  Sing.  Practice until it hurts.  If the desire, the talent, and the drive are there, you will eventually become a professional singer.  Why are you giving your power away?  No one else decides if you will become a professional performer.  YOU decide.

I understand that you may be terribly disappointed not to make the top 100, the top 24, or the final 12.  But judging and performances are just moments in time, capsules of how you sound and how they feel on any particular day. 

If you truly bombed, go home and practice harder.  There are no flawless performers and every day is a fresh start.

But please don’t whine. 

You have an incredible opportunity to experience what it is like to be a top performer.  Listen and learn, and take that knowledge with you.  Besides, there are lots of record labels that promote performers who don’t necessarily rank the highest.  And you may go home to a routine gig and find that there’s a record producer in the audience who decides you are worth promoting.

But always, always promote and believe in yourself.  And keep it positive.  Audiences like to watch performers who seem to have it together-- whether you actually do or not is immaterial.

I would love to hear your opinion about what I’ve written here, whether you agree with me or think I'm a crazed writer wannabe.  Please feel free to leave a comment.  And thanks for your time.

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://www.writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com



On Having a Nice Rest of the Day

Of course there are many issues in the world right now that are much more important, but I’m sorry to say that I’m obsessed with this single phrase:  “Have a nice rest of the day!”  I hear it almost everywhere I go, and every time it makes me cringe and makes me angry.  And why is it so button-pushing, you may ask?  To me, it feels lazy and disrespectful—two traits that tax my tolerance to the limit.

I mean, is the day running out?  “Rest of the day” sounds so time-limited.  Makes me think of sand fleeing the hourglass.  And I even hear it early in the day.  We’re all harried, and we don’t need to be reminded that the hours are escaping.  What’s wrong with “Have a great afternoon!," or even, “Have a good day!”  I can also put up with “Have a nice day!”  Sounds just lovely when compared to “Have a nice rest of the day!”  Or just forget about the day altogether if its’ so dang hard.  A genuine “Thanks for shopping with us!”  or “Hope we see you again soon!”  will get you lots of points in my book.

Manners and respect go hand in hand, and being mannerly is one of the hallmarks of true customer service.  Granted, I had a grandmother who would threaten me within an inch of my life over mannerly indiscretions and I’m more sensitive than most.  But even if you’re a confirmed finishing school dropout, you can take a few seconds to put together a proper greeting and a proper goodbye--especially in a customer service setting.  That’s an important part of being human.

More aware than ever that the clock is ticking, I’ll stop ranting.  I need to go have a nice “rest of the day!”  And if you thank me for my post, I promise not to say, “No problem!”  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
http://www.writerattheranch.com/
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com