I’m not really talking about spiders or heights. I was reading a blog the other day that mentioned this concept, which got me thinking a bit. Instead of asking, “What do you want out of life?” you ask “What do you fear will happen if you do or don’t do what you want?”. Your perspective on what you want changes, and confronts what’s holding you back. It’s easy to make a to-do list for how to succeed, but it’s a lot harder to stand face-to-face with your fears, which is inevitably what you have to do in order to get what you want out of life.

Are you scared of what people will say? Are you scared to lose the steady paycheck and insurance? Are you scared to screw up a relationship? Are you scared you’ll fail? If you can conquer your fears, or at least know what they are, I think it takes you a step further in the right direction.

I know I have a lot of fears to face, and new ones are born every day. I strive to knock out as many as I can, but I know I’ve got a ways to go. As I get older, I’m realizing how fast life goes by, and risk is also a lot scarier today than it was when I was 20. People with great talent and no motivation drive me crazy though – what are these people scared of? I know they have talent and I know they want people to see it, but they do nothing about it.

When it comes down to it, the key is to get used to facing fears, even if they are spiders or heights. If you can create a knack for standing face-to-face with your fears and getting the first punch in, success and life goals will probably fall in your lap. I guess it’s time to get outta the gym and into the ring. I’m still working up the courage, but it’s building. I challenge you to face a fear today.

So, what do you fear?

Just kidding. If you know anything about 20 Minutes to Park, we aren’t the type to call you out for stealing our music; in fact, we kind of encourage it. I bring this topic up because I was listening to NPR this morning (as an old man might do), and there was a feature on musicians STILL battling over the illegal download issue. I know, music sales are down. They are at their worst point ever since the implementation of SoundScan, which tracks record sales. It’s clear that selling music isn’t what it used to be, at least not the way it’s currently being sold. I’m sorry fellow musicians, but CDs and music downloads just aren’t worth fighting for.

We’ve been giving away a lot of music lately because we want people to have it. Of course we would love for people to buy it, and many people still do, but it’s becoming very evident that music downloads and CDs just aren’t that profitable. The realization that hundreds of people are downloading our music each month for free is far more rewarding than the small amount of money we are missing out on. In time, we believe the people that love our music will keep us afloat by coming to shows, buying merchandise, purchasing music, or helping us in some other way.

I don’t really understand why musicians and songwriters are holding onto an outdated philosophy that will inevitably fail. I suppose it’s a lot like your last days on Earth, grasping for air with the hope that a miracle will happen. Maybe it’s time to get off the ventilator and start looking for a real cure. I’m not a music doctor, so I don’t have this cure, but I know it’s there.

Imagine life without music though. It would be a really quiet world. Your home, your car, your coffee shop, your favorite bar, your favorite restaurant – all silent. Would you pay for music if your world was suddenly silenced? I think most people would in some form or another.

Music definitely has value. As I’ve said before, people just don’t value mp3s and CDs like they used to. So what? It’s the music industry’s problem now. The music industry feeds mostly garbage to a hungry audience, with no nutritional value. When it’s all about quick profit, everyone loses. The musicians are hungry, and the consumers are bloated from overeating fast food artists.

I think it’s time to leave the consumers alone and find a cure. Stop whining. Start curing.

This week’s giveaway includes:

• A free MP3 download of our version of “Walking in Memphis”
• 2 signed and personalized CDs
• A surprise

I’m most excited about the surprise because we don’t even know what it is yet. I really want to do something cool here… I’m sure Mitch has some great/ illegal/edgy/wacky/hilarious ideas that probably won’t make the cut, but I’m sure we’ll enjoy a good laugh while contemplating. If we can think of something mind-blowing, this may have to be apart of the Freebie Friday ritual.

Head over to the Freebie Friday page to enter to win these goodies.

Catch 20 Minutes to Park on the Weather Channel during Local on the 8s. Here are a couple of clips of “Australia” and “Loveless Cafe” from the Weather Channel if you haven’t seen ‘em yet: