Don’t hide your talent inside you; share it with others; do what you fear most and you will fear nothing. I realized these things long ago and and they are concepts I highly recommend, adding only . . . do it now!
Perfection is a trap designed by someone trying to reduce the competition. Don’t wait until your music, art or talent is perfect to get it out there. Some of the best musical albums and artistic performances have imperfections and no one cares as long as the art has some personal meaning to them.
From decades of active involvement in performing and recording music, I have found that listeners want something they can connect with and something that connects with them; something that touches, excites, moves, enthuses, reminds, inspires, arouses, affects, transports them on a journey to a new and different time and place, lets them hear old things in a new way and new things in an old way or simply something that allows them to share in the joy of creation with the artist.
And mostly, they want to connect with the world of the artist, to see what they see, hear what they hear and experience what they experience. From the viewpoint of the artist, this requires that you expose yourself to them through your art. And this can be very scary indeed, for revealing yourself through your music or your art is far more important and often a lot more challenging than just striving for technical perfection. Most artists find that letting people in on what you’re really about while performing live in front of an audience takes far more courage than practicing in a room with only a metronome for companionship. 
Sure, always try to push your technique as high as reasonably possible but the audience is still always more interested in your message. And it is certain that hiding behind the “veil of technique” – because you’re afraid to reveal who you really are – will not help get your point across.
Stop chasing technique for its own sake – - slow down and let people hear and see what you’ve got to say artistically. Open those emotional doors and let them in on where you’re at, what you’re really about, who you really are, what you feel, what you’ve experienced and how it’s affected you. They’ll feel it with you and you’ll both be better off for it.
Put yourself out there and let people connect with you and you’ll connect with them.
Truly revealing yourself may be the scariest thing you’ll ever do . . . but that’s what being an artist is all about anyway, isn’t it?
daniel w. jacobs
(c) 2005-2010, all rights reserved
Very interesting. Well written with an important message.
I just printed your essay–and have just completed reading it over and over. When, in the WORLD, did you have time for writing such a great, inspirational article? It is absolutely GREAT. SURELY SPOKEN FROM THE HEART–AND EXPERIENCE.
- Virginia