It would only be appropriate to start with writing about a few key people who have most recently influenced me to start blogging (whether they know it or not). 1st up is a man named Derek Sivers. Many of you might not have heard of him, but thousands upon thousands of indie artists owe Derek BIG! Ever heard of a site called CDbaby.com? It's a site where I was able to sell my CDs without having to do it myself (so that I can have more time to do things like, write music!) This was back many years ago when it wasn't as easy for indie artists like myself to set up e-commerce on our websites. CD baby also got my music onto iTunes - which way back when seemed like it was only a platform for well established artists. If you have more time, check out how CD Baby got started. That alone is an amazing story!

I'd get emails from Derek (at the time who was the president of the company) with encouraging notes about CD sales I made. And I actually got REAL emails from him checking in on me to see if I was still doing music. Eventually, I'd occasionally receive emails with extremely practical and beneficial tips for those who had independent music careers like mine. I loved that these emails were really short, and just had links I can click on if I wanted to read more.

Then one day, out of nowhere I got an email that said the following:

New article you might find interesting:
Quitting what you love : https://sivers.org/quit
It includes my little announcement of something I'm quitting after 22 years.

I was intrigued. I read the above link, then started going down the rabbit hole that is Sivers' website, and discovered that he's been making a series of incredibly radical decisions about his life and his career. Everything from moving to a different country, selling his company CD Baby and then NOT keeping the money he got from it. This guy does what he wants!

THEN, I read his entry about parenting. He spent the last 5 years spending at least 30 hours with his son every week giving him his full attention. Talk about #dadgoals . More than anything else he's accomplished, that... THAT is inspiring.

Sivers is a THINKER, and he lays out all his thoughts in an extremely organized manner. His website is the most amazing minimalist self-cross-referencing site ever. You know that he is incredibly smart, but he chooses simple words and communicates clearly. I want my blog to be like his site. And I don't say this about a lot of people, but I want my LIFE to kind of look like his too.