Seth Godin’s 10,000 Blog Posts
I will never catch up to the amount of blog posts Seth Godin has. He’s approaching 10,000. If I write every day for the next 27 years, I will have 10,000 posts. And Seth will have 20,000 posts.
Blog - Amy Mantis
Latest posts
Stop Gamifying Your Life
Your life is not a game. There are very real and sometimes lasting consequences to the choices you make. Gamifying certain aspects isn't a bad thing, but when you look at your life as a game, you're cheapening it. Games are designed. They are clear containers. Life unfolds as it does in unpredictable ways.
34 Little Music Lessons
On my birthday, I rounded up 34 lessons I learned (or relearned) over the course of the year. Given that I view myself as a musician first, I thought, “Can I think of 34 music-specific lessons? I don’t think I can.” *15 minutes later* “…Oh. I can.” Second to breathing and existing (both very important things), I’ve probably spent more time thinking about or playing or listening to or writing music…
Who Needs A Master's Degree in Jazz in 2024?
Turns out I do. My native language isn't jazz. My native language is rock and roll. So why am I pursuing an advanced degree in a difficult genre whilst struggling to communicate? Because it scares the sh*t out of me. And I don't swear. Some (most) people would see this and think, "Why on earth is Amy, Little Miss Rocker, going back to music school?" Again, because it scares me. Jazz is one of the…
Art Is Not Selfish
"Making art is not selfish; it's for the rest of us. If you don't do your thing, you're cheating us." - Kevin Kelly One of the best books you'll ever read isn't a book as much as it is a list in book form. Kevin Kelly's Excellent Advice For Living is just that. It's excellent. And it's excellent advice for living. Something I struggle with is justifying my work. Some days, I feel like it's…
Bad Advice From Good Musicians
Even the most gifted people have terrible ideas I've had the fortune to spend a lot of time with some really good musicians. From my earliest days of playing guitar through college and beyond, there have always been better musicians than me in my circle of friends. I've learned a lot about the vast ocean that is music from every single one of them. Some advice has been invaluable. Other bits have…
How Your Past Self Can Help You Right Now
When I find myself in a funk, I revisit my writing. I write a ton and know that at some point, my past self was feeling better than my present self. I logged into the Google Drive associated with my amy@amymantis.com email. It used to be my band’s hub, but since I no longer have a band, I repurposed it. But the stuff in the Drive remained. In 2021, I decided to reboot my blog. Only this time, it…
Record What You Learn
If there’s one thing I regret from all the time I’ve spent taking music lessons, it’s not recording my lessons sooner. The first time I started recording my lessons was when I started taking voice lessons in 2013. That undoubtedly sped up my progress as a singer. I still go back and listen to those lessons for reference or when I feel like I’m in a rut. It’s also cool to have an archive to…
Why Disney’s ‘Tangled’ Isn’t Just For Kids
If you scoff at kids’ movies, you’re missing out on essential life lessons. Kids’ movies are not just for kids. They’re Trojan Horses for adults who have forgotten the foundational truths of life. They’re stories of friendship, love, empathy, persistence, courage, doing the right thing, finding ourselves and finding joy along the way. The best example of this is Disney’s Tangled , their 2010 movie…
How to Accept Changes and Choices
We spend a lot of our lives defending past decisions instead of considering new paths forward. - Seth Godin I was living this way for a long time. It wasn't hurting me - or at least it didn't seem like it was. In some ways though I was stuck. I didn't want to look for a new path. And it took several years before I felt like I was even ready to change course, let alone actually change course.…
Observations of Four Weeks Off Facebook
I haven’t kicked the habit yet, but I will. Almost a month ago, I signed a contract with myself to spend the next year away from social media. Mostly Facebook and Instagram. I haven’t been a big Twitter user in over a decade, and with the exception of Molang’s account, I’ve never been one for TikTok. YouTube is fine. I use it as part of my outlets. Long-form content is a strength of mine, but…
Just Like Starting Over
I’m a touch nervous as I type this. It’s late on Sunday, March 10, 2024 and I told myself I would build my website and post a blog by Friday. This is a poor excuse for a post, but you gotta (re)start somewhere. So here I am. Again. It might be harder to restart something old than to do something brand new. But I’m here for the challenge.