Sink or Swim

Change: it's about as certain as death and taxes. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good, and sometimes it takes a long time to really decipher whether it's bad or good. Bad or good, it gets you out of your comfort zone and either you can swim with it or sink with it. Change has happened. And in result, I have a lot of extra time on my hands. Which, on a positive side, gives me a chance to update this blog:) But on the down side, if I do nothing special with this time, I start to sink. So here's what I propose: I need a project!


These are ideas that I've toyed with for a long time, but never really got off the ground since my energies were focused elsewhere. There's three of them, and I can't seem to decide which is most worth my time, or (let's be realistic here) which I'll actually be able to pull off. I'm going to list them off, along with their positives and negatives. Perhaps this will help me funnel my thoughts, strap my water wings on, and finally be able to get at least a good doggie paddle going.

Missy's Crazy Ideas (or Crazy Missy's Ideas)

1. Perform...Again
Positives - I've been dying to sing on stage again. Singing will always be a great love of mine and I'd give anything to enjoy it again.
Negatives - I'm too picky about projects. I surf craigslist daily for the perfect opportunity to get back in the scene, but not too far in the scene. I want to perform but not too often, with a small group but not too small, in a group not too old but not too young, etc. This all leads me to believe that my pickyness may just be me trying to avoid it all together, since my last experience with performing was quite a messy one. And in result, I honestly don't think I could enjoy performing like I once did...

2. Write a Curriculum Book

Positives - I have so many ideas for curriculum in my field, and I use them a lot for my work. And actually, there are very little curriculum materials to be found for this particular age group. There's a big ol' gap in Early Childhood Music Education and I feel it needs to be explored, so there:b
Negatives - How the hell do you get things published? Haha.

3. Make a Children's Album
Positives - Move over Raffi, Missy's a comin'! Yes, this has been done before. Sometimes very successfully, and sometimes... (well, let's just say there's a LOT of bad children's music out there. But that's a whole blog post on it's own.) Anyway, once again, I've found a another gap. There's children's music that teaches math, reading, spelling, even science. But there's very little children's music that teaches the basic musical concepts. You'd think there would be music that teaches about music, but there's not. I've already written a few songs that I do with my kids. And I know a lot of local musicians who could help me out with this.
Negatives - How do you market stuff like that? Yes, I could get it made, but I have no head for business and wouldn't know what to do with it after it's done. Obviously my audience would be music teachers and preschool/kindergarten teachers. How would I get it into the classrooms?

So those are my crazy ideas. I'd really like some feedback, if possible. Which do you think could swim the best? And even if nothing big comes out of one of these projects, I'll still be better off having accomplished something besides eating ice cream and watching the Olympics. Tootles!