The Problem with Popularity

Sooooo this is me right now. Our brand new music video kinda went viral and a LOT of people are seeing it. It's very cool to have so many people appreciate something you spent hours perfecting. We've received hundreds of genuinely sweet compliments that are beyond any reaction I had ever expected from people. These comments got me like:

But that also means more haters. Don't get me wrong, I welcome constructive criticism. If there is a part of the arrangement that you thought needed more lower register, I'm all for that input. That's what makes an artist better. But we are just a husband and wife making music out of our home as a fun hobby. We are not trying to be famous, and you did not pay us for our hours of work (unless you are one of our patrons –click here to join the fam!). I hate watching the "dislikes" go up (even if the "likes" are exponentially higher), and I hate coming across a comment like "This was dumb. Anyone could have made this mashup. So disappointing...etc etc."

We try to respond to EVERY comment, both good and bad, so Scott has completely taken over the social media on all platforms because I'm hiding. He will send me occasional screen shots of the really nice comments or the good suggestions.

Some performers can totally ignore the nay-sayers, but I cannot. Every time I watch an incredibly-composed song/music video on YouTube I'm appalled by the amount of thumbs downs.

• This Daft Punk mix by Pentatonix WON A GRAMMY, but it has 76,035 dislikes!!! Jealous much?? 
• BYU Noteworthy's astounding cover of Amazing Grace has almost 28 million views, and there were still almost 2,800 haters! That's 2,800 people that must not love good music...or at least not beautiful, talented, glowing women standing in a freezing river. 

Sure we all have opinions, but when I don't particularly care for a song/music video I don't give it a dislike, and I certainly don't make a rude comment!

The problem with making something that a lot of people like is that a lot of people will see it, and some people will just hate it. You want to shake their virtual shoulders and plead, "Why won't you like me??"

And as our following continues to grow, will we still be making music for ourselves, or will we try to pick/arrange a song that "everyone" will like? Yes and no. I'm really excited about the music videos we have planned for the rest of this year. They're all songs we love, and some will be more popular than others.

We do it for us, and for our followers. We hope that our music spreads joy, and we like to be just one more good, clean video out there in the midst of so much filth and worldliness.

We do what we do for comments like this:

So I just smile and repeat this to myself today:

Scars & Stretch Marks

Most of us have scars all over our bodies, and we can remember how we got them. There's a teeny scar on my left hand from a bunsen burner in 11th grade chemistry. Scott has a gnarly cluster of scars on his foot and leg from when he fell on a jetty at the beach.

I have a large scar across my middle from when surgeons cut me open to get Hosanna.

There's an article circulating social media called The Truth About C-Section Mamas. I've read it over and over whenever I need a reminder that I wasn't a failure. When I didn't labor for almost a week after baby's due date, I felt like my body was broken– like it didn't know how to do what it was built to do. And at the hospital when my body stopped laboring and I was wheeled into the OR, I felt like my body had failed again.

"Becoming a mother leaves all of us with scars. Some of them are emotional, some of them are physical. C-section mamas often have both. And yet their scars are powerful reminders of the strength and bravery they possessed when bringing their children into the world. These scars were the door their children passed through as they left one world for the next.....These scars are beautiful and something worth celebrating.  Instead of covering our c-section mamas with shame, we need to encourage them to show their scars of strength and bravery to the world."

Now I'm grateful for the marks on my body that remind me of the day Hosanna changed our world. Zanna has left many more "scars" and stretch marks on my life than just those from my pregnancy.

A year ago I wrote a post for Mother's Day musing about what my daughter would be like. I had no idea just how much she would turn our world completely upside down. Zanna introduced us to the word "extreme:" Extreme joy, extreme exhaustion, extreme hunger, extreme humor, extreme spit up, extreme poopy diapers. My past life (which had its share of adventures) genuinely pales in comparison to the emotions Scott and I feel on a daily basis with our little tornado.

There have been many experiences in my life that have given me scars and stretch marks. My youth, my LDS mission, marriage, and now motherhood, and I'm grateful for each unique trial. The truth is, I will never be the same again. Sometimes we experience the biggest changes during times when we least feel the need to change. That's how God works. My life's "stretch marks" are indicators that I truly have grown and become a better version of me.