I used to teach music -- folk styles on guitar, banjo, mandolin, whatever I could play, and it was ... okay, but not great. I played in bands and all, but didn't get many gigs to speak of.

It was getting to be a drag, and I told myself, "If I wasn't teaching music, I'd go crazy."

Then one day, having my days free, I started being a substitute teacher. What a revelation! It turns out that what kept me going was that I was teaching, and once I could teach something else and play music for the playing, the music became lots more fun.

So when it's your job, it's a job, and that makes it work. When it doesn't have to be work, it's play. And they call it "playing music," so it wasn't meant to be a job, right?

Bob