success & joe bonamassa

Last week my dad dragged my family to go see Joe Bonamassa in concert.

Joe Bonamassa. Have you heard of him? I hadn’t. But I was still excited because I had a photo pass to photograph the first three songs. I have a little bit of concert photography experience from my photojournalism days, but it’s been a while. It was so fun to give it a go again.

Half way through the concert, Joe took a break & started talking. He said, “I’ve made 11 full length solo albums & I’ve written over 100 songs, but I’ve never had a hit song.” He laughed. He wasn’t asking for sympathy, just pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation. He works in an industry where success is judged by number of hit song. Joe Bonamassa has never had a hit, yet his concerts are selling out all over the country. He’s doing what he loves for a living. I call that sucess.

He’s the tortoise. The opposite of a firecracker.

I’m finally at an age where there are lots of people younger than me are doing crazy awesome things. I’m also at an age where success isn’t easily quantified. No more standardized tests & grades to tell me. It’s a weird feeling, but I just keep reminding myself of the tortoise. Alan Rickman had his first real acting break well into his 40’s. Joseph Conrad didn’t speak a lick of english until he was 21. Wassily Kandinsky gave up teaching & applied to an art school at the age of 30. He didn’t even get accepted.

So fellow tortoises, just remember:

(Source: Demetri Martin)