Am I Good Enough? by ViX Perks (Plugin Project blog)

As Community Music Facilitators, we are generally pretty adept at supporting others; the project participants, the staff we encounter, our colleagues… We are what some might term as ‘uplifters’. As a Music Leader and also a Wellbeing Coach, I pride myself on bringing out the best in people, spotting their hidden talents, adapting to their needs to help them develop. We enthusiastically celebrate their uniqueness, making them feel proud, capable, inspired… better about themselves - or at least that they’re ‘good enough’.

But recently I’ve been pondering how proficient are we at supporting, bettering, uplifting ourselves?

I’ll be honest, I’ve been meaning to learn more about music tech for years. There was always so much other stuff to do! I’d ask producer pals, or search on YouTube on a need to know basis, because I could get by, and I’d happily record vocals and put demos together for my own music projects. But, when working alongside a colleague who was truly confident and skilled in this area, I have become aware that I take a step back and let them lead that aspect of the workshop/session. I revert to my areas of strength such as songwriting, singing, performing… my comfort zones.

The use of music tech has become far more prevalent over recent years, and shows no signs of diminishing any time soon, so I decided that it was high time I skilled myself up!

It was extremely timely and fortuitous that at a Plugin Project Evaluation Meeting, Quench Arts offered the option of doing Peer Skill Sharing alongside their Peer Observation offer. I jumped at the opportunity! Many moons ago, myself and another Music Leader had casually mentioned that we’d be keen to swap skills some time, so we booked a session there and then.

My predominant focus was to use Logic Pro to its full capacity, filling in the gaps in my knowledge and putting it into practice. Practical application is absolutely key, and whilst I am keen to continue to keep learning, I do feel far more confident to include music tech as part of my skill set offering.

In return, I ‘traded’ my wellbeing coaching knowledge and skills in areas such as Mindfulness, Relaxation, Growth Mindset, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing!

It was a privilege to learn in person, in a relaxed, fun way, with the sessions tailored exactly to our specific needs and aims, rather like a Community Music Session! I’m truly grateful to Quench Arts for providing the opportunity and impetus for me to finally allocate and dedicate time for this long-awaited self-development. We continued with this symbiotic relationship beyond the allocated slots, mutually benefiting from the experience.

Whilst it may appear that everybody else is satisfied and confident with themselves, when you start to open up, reach out and share, I’m certain you’ll find you’re anything but alone. I have encountered many other music leaders experiencing feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, including concerns about still being relevant, feeling judged, additional needs, too old, too young, about their gender, sexuality… The list goes on… It can even be a case of ‘imposter syndrome’ at times - not uncommon in we creatives!

We would do well to take a more mindful approach when we evaluate our own practice, affording ourselves the same compassion and positive ‘can do’ attitude, as well as the patience and time that we so naturally gift to others.

We can be our own ‘uplifters’ and celebrate our own uniqueness and then we can feel proud, capable, inspired… better about ourselves - or at least that we’re ‘good enough’.