Last week was a hard blow for me... a very hard one.
Being my busiest season, my stress spots were showing, was having a hard time sleeping, and everything that usually came with stress. I was preparing for a final stretch of clients that needed their music and I had until the end of October to finish them.
30 minutes before one of my clients came by the studio, my computer simply turned off all of a sudden and wouldn't turn on anymore. This was a few minutes before they arrived driving all the way from QC. I really felt bad. I wasn't worried about the files since I've had my fair share of crashes back in the day so I'm used to backing up. My problem then was the day after...
I had a client fly in from Germany to work on 12 songs I made for them and his schedule couldn't be moved. There I was, computer-less. My mind was floating in despair, I literally felt numb all over.
I had no choice but to rush to the service center the very next day and have the computer checked and fixed because by that time, I had less than 24 hours before the client came in. Unfortunately, they told me it had to be left for dignostics and repair for 7 days. By that time, my mind was spinning already.
Long story short, I ended up buying another computer on the spot. As my agent was helping me out with repairs, I ended up telling her what deal I could get for a new laptop. She advised against it because she felt bad and that it would be a waste for me to get a new one when the one I bought just 2 years ago will be released back in 7 days.
I had to make a business decision and I got a replacement.
It's hard and once again, a computer crash made me realize how my livelihood can depend so much on a piece of technology. I miss the days when I was a professional drummer and I could just show up at a show with a set of sticks and myself and I'd end up taking home some cash. Now, as I run my studio, I rely on computers to deliver my music products to my clients. It was a hard lesson to learn but I needed a backup computer. Don't get me wrong, I do have one but as time goes by, computers age and my original backup was showing its age in terms of performance. Ironically, when my Mac crashed, my PC backup laptop was the one that saved me that night for a deadline I was meeting for a TV ad. It was struggling but I was glad it got the work done.
People are asking me now what I would do with another laptop when my current one is very much still capable. Well, as the computer brings in the money for me and now my family, I have to be more responsible and have a proper backup computer. My wife may not agree much because of the cost but in the long run, it's for something that in the end supports us as well. I was telling her before getting it, that if we don't get a new computer, we can't get the money we're expecting as payments for some music I was working on and that would be worse.
I'm just so thankful to God for being there for me. I know it's a struggle seeing that I have to pay for a new computer but I have peace in my decision and I know God will provide. It was also a blessing that that night, a friend shared this thought with me... we work so that we can provide but with God, it's He who provides so we can do the work He has set for our lives and that spoke to me. I know that music is the work God has for me where He can show himself strong in what I write and produce and that in those pieces of music, He is glorified because He was the one who blessed me with the talent to make them. I know I need to work to provide for my family but with what happened, God assured me that regardless of my situation, even if I was short with cash, He will make a way to provide for what I need to continue to make music and provide for my family.
Cy
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