The other night, I sat in with the band playing at my local jazz club.

There’s a lot to unpack here. Points we could touch on are “Staggeringly low self-esteem”, “This tends to happen from time to time, actually”, “no no no don’t play the song you want to hear, play the song you know”, and so on.

But here’s the thing. I knew the song we played … well enough, but not all that well. Certainly I knew enough to keep up, and they even gave me a solo (for what reason I can’t quite imagine, but thank you!), so I couldn’t have been too far out of the pocket.

But I can also tell you I wasn’t all the way in the pocket, either. And it occurred to me afterward (‘cause that’s how it has to work, right? If it’d’ve occurred to me in time, there’d be no story) that I was, in fact, too caught up in playing it “right”.

Yes, a baseline* must be achieved, but I could have believed in myself and been that much better. There were glimpses of what it could have been, if only I’d’ve let it happen.

Not that I’m anything but grateful to have sat in!!

But the point here is: I can see myself getting in my own way – in much the same way! – elsewhere in life.

Which is more to say: it’s good to maintain your core competency, but don’t obsess over it at the cost of being in the groove with everyone else.

Let’s keep this in mind as we continue our ascent, yeah? You can vibe all you want, but it’s when you groove that you’re really cookin’.

* see what I did there?