Money and me, InZaneCountry and the Trail to Somewhere..
There’s only so much contemplation of Life, the Universe and Everything you can do, before the realisation dawns that nothing is getting done, nothing is being achieved, and simply won’t, if all you do is think about things.. Thinking is not such a bad thing, and everyone needs to do some, now and then, but it’s so easy to let your thoughts dance and swirl, interminably, intermingle with your dreams and troubles, and let the truth, the reality, disappear into the mist and haze of indecision and confusion, to let it all drift off to the horizon, while you do nothing but get through another day.
So, there comes a time.. Now, for me, the time has come. I need to explain and amplify what I’m about, if I really want to take my work, and indeed, my life, beyond the point I reached about two years ago.. I had gone so far down the InZaneCountry trail, stopped in a green, shadey, protective valley, meaning only to refresh myself and the horses, for a little while..I stayed there, in a mini idyll, for two years. Two years is too long to simply watch and wait..So, today, I’m heading back out, into the dust and the blazing sun, in search of the distant horizon.. I’m going to be publishing a lot more, here, over the next few weeks and months, as I move out, along the trail to somewhere…
I was certain of what I wanted to do..learn how write some songs, record them, make some money, change my life.. help some people. Helping one particular person, a good friend, was first on my agenda. My attitude was nieve, maybe, but very determined, and I did most of it..I think I helped my friend, though I can’t be certain, but I learned a lot, and among the things I learned is that I have the ability, and the potential to do better, to help more people, and, in the process, help myself..
Recently, I decided I would tell the world a little more about me, what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, what’s happening now, and where I want to be.. At present, to the extent that anyone notices me, I probably come across as slightly oddball, mildly eccentric, a bit enigmatic, something I think I tend to cultivate, a little .. chirpy, jokey, trivial, not too serious, occasionally irritated, sometimes angry, with a flash of insight now and then..whatever, I try, always, to be polite, sympathetic to troubled people, helpful and kind, though I sometimes fail dismally in all of those aspirations.. Well, that’s me, I’m human..show me a human who doesn’t let the world down, once in a while..
Anyway, while I was contemplating writing an introduction to a few planned posts on what I do and what I’m really about, I encountered a question on Twitter.. The question was about Money, something which is very much front of house, you might say, at present, in the media.. @TrudyYS wanted to know about Twitter folks attitudes to Money.. I promised to give my views, though it interupted my planned posting Schedule.. [Schedule? I have a Schedule? 
].. It occurred to me, though, that money is pertinent to virtually everything we do in the modern world, and certainly, most people would assume that Musicians do what they do, not just for love of music, fame, adulation, ego and the rest, but for money.. well we do, but some of us are different, have a different world view from the rest. Perhaps, I pondered, my attitude to money might be just as pertinent as anything else I might post on my music, or other aspects of InZaneCountry, my online music project…
So, here it is.. Money..Money and me and the InZaneCountry Trail to Somewhere..
Yes, I’d like to be a multi millionaire, who wouldn’t? The thing, is though, money only does one thing. It buys you freedom. Whatever you want to be free of, a lot of money will get you some way down the road to being free of it..I say, some way, because Money is not the answer to every problem..Money may get you better treatment and medical care if you are ill, but there are some illnesses no amount of money can save you from, ultimately.. Money simply buys you freedom, to a degree, from some things. That’s it. It doesn’t make you happy, if you aren’t, it just makes it easier to be free of some of the obstacles that might bar your way to happiness, if happiness is what you seek..That, in a nut shell, is my attitude. I don’t actually care much about money, for it’s own sake. I’m alive, well and happy, and that’s enough. I wouldn’t burn a winning lottery ticket, but I’m not desperate to win…
There was bound to be a however, wasn’t there? It’s here. However, I would like to have more money than I do, and it’s one of the reasons I’d like to write great songs, great songs that sell, and make a lot of money. Why? I have a good, happy life. I have a great family, a nice home, good food on the table, every day. I take nice vacations, in the Sun, most years. I have all of the things I need, and most of the the things I want. I have those things because I worked for them, all my life, and I continue to work for them, today. I’ll be leaving for work in about an hour, and I’ll be out of the house for about nine hours..while I’m not at home, while I’m doing things for other people, I’m not doing things to make my projects succeed. So, there’s your why..
It costs money, and it takes time, to write, record, print and publicise records.. I don’t have enough time, because I’m spending too much time working at something else, something comparitively pointless to me, I might say, to earn the money that keeps me, my family and my simple lifestyle ticking over…I love my family, and I cannot live without them. Losing them is the only price I will not pay for success, in any endeavour.
I am, nonetheless, very ambitious for my music and my projects, and I need money to spend my life working on them, without the distraction of having to work, full time, at an ordinary day job.. As this series of posts develops, incrementally, anyone who is interested enough to read them will see what my work with music is really about.. money is an important factor, but, in the context of what I’m trying to do in the world, rather than for me, per se. Read them, and you will know as much as I do about InZaneCountry, why it exists, what it is all about..
In the meantime, before too long, I hope to be in the luxurious position of being able to live, modestly, freely, with the family I love, working full time at my music..Money is, to me, then, fundamentally, about buying that freedom..and, using it, and anything else I might gain, to help make a better world for those I can. That, actually, is all.
George Bolam
InZaneCountry
