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I've been reading a lot of books and articles this year on the topics that interest me. I must admit, I love westerns. There's something about the lone gun riding on the range who runs into trouble at every corner of the wilderness he goes to. It can also be a frontier woman who's tired of the big city life and just wants a piece of land or a store filled with wares to sell to passers by. Many of these stories give the reader a sense of self-sacrifice, struggle, and finally victory. They also present some sort of nemesis or antagonist to the protagonist of the story. Often times we can identify with the main character of a story since we go through daily struggles ourselves. This begs the question: What's your inspiration? Are you the type of person who sees a challenge and makes a goal to overcome it? Or, are you one who enjoys watching someone else achieve a goal? Maybe you're one who wants to help a friend overcome a challenge? Whatever your role, you and I both know how challenging life can be. We often must overcome family issues, financial pressures, work difficulties or health challenges. Any of these can be debilitating in and of themselves. But, challenges and struggles can be a blessing in disguise! Let me explain. When you first learned to walk or helped your child to learn, did you or they get it right the first time? Did you sprint when you first got on your feet? No, of course not! You struggled up, walked a few steps and then maybe fell flat on your face. Or your child did. However, you or they got back up and tried again, And again, and again. Until it finally happened, walking! Just like learning to walk, life is full of difficult challenges. My wife and I volunteer to drive a hospital van once a week locally to pick-up people for their medical appointments. Many of these folks have had very difficult circumstances happen to them in their lives. They ARE an inspiration to us though! They haven't given up despite the difficulties they've had. There's a certain level of motivation that these people give me to keep going. Sometimes doing something new or challenging requires a little blood, sweat and tears. But, the end result is worth it. This blog entry is meant to inspire you to look into your heart introspectively and find what inspires you. Here are a few of my inspirations: Runners - Seriously, someone who runs and endures through a marathon is inspiring and crazy at the same time! Missionaries - Anyone who's willing to give up their comfortable life and go work in a foreign country is someone who inspires me! Teachers - Probably the most maligned group of people in the U.S., who have one of the most difficult jobs, deserve our gratitude and respect, period. Street Pastors - This group is probably not a very large community, but they dedicate their lives to seeing the homeless, drug-addicted, and desperate find meaning and hope! These people are some of the group that inspire me to do my best. What inspires you? Why don't you share it with me... I'd love to hear it! #community #inspiration #Creativity

Have you ever heard the term, 'Hitting the wall'? If you've ever done sports, especially running, you know what this term means. If you haven't, then let me explain. In my younger days I ran 10K races and relay marathons. When training for these events, I had to eat a healthy diet, train by running at least 25 miles a week, and get enough rest to ensure my mind and body were ready for the endurance I was going to put it through. As if that weren't enough, I was working a full-time job and carrying on the typical responsibilities of a grown adult. Do you know what happens to your body when you run long distances? It basically operates like a car. The fuel that's been stored in your body through the food you've eaten is burned at a very rapid rate. That's why most athletes stay away from heavy meals before an event. They usually focus on small amounts of protein and heavier amounts of carbohydrates. When running, carbs are your friend. At some point during an endurance race or journey as I like to call it, your body does this strange thing. Or maybe it isn't so strange. Like a car that's gotten low on fuel, it begins to consume the fumes left. In other words, instead of burning the highly concentrated fuel that you had, it now has to consume whatever is left. That's pretty much the protein left which is muscle. This is called: 'Hitting the wall'. It's very unpleasant. The same thing happens with creativity or the creative process. We can be humming right along and suddenly or not so suddenly hit the proverbial wall. That's happened to me recently. How do we get past this wall? Well, similar to running races, we have a couple of choices. Give up and go back to the status quo Forge ahead and push through this temporary roadblock When you're running and hit the wall, your body is telling you, 'Stop, stop, stop. I said STOP!' If you listen to only that response, guess what? You will stop! But, if you've trained and learned to go beyond the pain, you will keep on knowing the goal is in sight. It's the same thing with creative roadblocks. Authors call it 'Writer's block.' I just call it a temporary road-stop during the journey of life. Here are a few things you can do when you find yourself 'stuck'. Take a nice trip. There's nothing better than getting away to give one clarity. Plus you can take some great photos of a place you haven't been to before. Rest and recuperate. Sometimes our minds and bodies are just burned out from doing too much. Like sleeping at night, our mind, body, soul, and spirit need some rejuvenation. Think holistically, not just one dimensionally. Put everything away for awhile that's not of importance. The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." The time may not be best to pursue your creative pursuit. Perhaps another season would be better. Pray for help. God is always listening. In fact, He wants us to ask for help. The bible says in James 1:5 , "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking." There are other coping mechanisms for this struggle, but these are the best and the ones that I personally use. Sometimes life can just throw all sorts of stuff at us. It can come from many different directions and can be frustrating as well as cumbersome. Let's throw off those things that are just 'noise' or minor 'annoyance' and get back to enjoying our creative experience. If this has helped you in any way, I would love to hear about it at the email address below. #Creativity #God #artistry

This month's blog post sounds a little daunting but is really a probing question to ask those of us who write and arrange music. Those of you who have other interests would also be wise to entertain this thought for your artistry. One time many years ago my Mom asked out loud: "How do people come up with new melodies? I would think there has to be a limit of how many different ideas people can come up with." That is a great question! As I've thought of that question over the years, I've realized there really is no end to what one can come up with. Let's probe the question at the start of this article a little more with some background. When I was growing up, there was a revolution of new music. One could listen to the Motown sounds like Dianna Ross and the Supremes or the Temptations, hard rock like the Doors or Steppenwolf, Acid Rock like Pink Floyd or the Grateful Dead, Heavy Metal like Deep Purple, Folk music from Peter, Paul, & Mary or John Denver, or New Age from the 5th Dimension. There were also the Pop icons the Beatles and Elton John. Some of these groups are still performing to this day. Others have even expanded their playing horizons. Look to Elton John who performed with Lady Gaga as an example. My point in asking this question is: How do you as a composer come up with a tune that you can put to music? Or maybe you could ask: What's your motivation? The motivation I have is my love for Jesus Christ. He is the reason I compose, arrange, and play the music I do. Without that love from Him, I don't know where I'd be. So what is your motivation and how do you express it? Let's then talk a minute about tools. Every musician needs to be familiar with modern day tools that are available through various distribution outlets. One of the top notation tools that I use is called: MuseScore. MuseScore is by far the best tool that I've seen around and was developed by musicians for musicians. It's also free! Like any tool, it takes time and effort to get the hang of it. But, if you chip away little-by-little, you can learn it. Next would be a music recording tool or digital audio workstation (DAW). Of all the tools used for recording these days, the one that I use is Studio One by Presonus. Studio One version 2, 3, or 4 Professional has A LOT of features and takes a long time to get to know. Once you do though, you will thoroughly enjoy its ease of use. Like all DAWs, you can add on instrumentation or buy plug-ins. There are other DAWs. One that's very good is from Steinberg and is called CuBase 10. Disclaimer: These are NOT endorsements; they're merely examples of what I use or am aware of. The final thing you'll need is a website. You must have a distribution channel to get your music out there. If you notice above, all of the legacy and modern performers have a website. It's just the way we expose the world to our music. It's the best way to get noticed. For a better understanding of web hosting, read my blog post titled: Hosting is the mostest from January, 2019. It may not answer all of your questions, but it can provide some food for thought. Let me know if you have any questions about this or if Gentle Haven Music Web Design can help you. Blessings, - Matt #Music #Musicrecordingsoftware #composition

This post is to wish you an early Merry Christmas! I would also like to mention that on my music page on this website, https://www.matthewgoolsby.com/music, I have some Christmas songs that I recorded. I've remastered them to give them a more 'robust' finishing touch. They are free as my gift to you! Since I'm writing about gifts, now is the time to talk about the most precious gift that was given to all of us more than 2,000 years ago. That was God's precious gift of His son, Jesus Christ! It's very hard for us to imagine these days how much Jesus' mother Mary must have had to go through, most of all how painful giving birth was especially in a cold stable. It's also hard if not impossible for all of us these days to think about raising God's son! As parents, we usually say things to ourselves such as: "What if I screw up God's son?" or "How should I discipline God's son?" Well, evidently Joseph and Mary were able to figure that out as the Bible never really mentions anything they did to 'mess him up'. I would like to point you to one of the best written accounts of Jesus and His birth as done by Luke who was both a Doctor and quite a writer for his day. The 2nd chapter of Luke tells us the story of Jesus' birth and what shepherds experienced from the Angels declaring it. There is also a good recitation of the 2nd chapter of Luke done by Linus of the Peanuts gang (Comics) from the story, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. I've been through stables before and have cleaned up after horses and cattle, but never in my wildest thoughts would I have pictured someone having a baby there. Stables are smelly, noisy, and drafty. Not something that a woman would want to give birth in. But Mary and Joseph had little choice as the inn they visited was full. Now the choice we have before us is how to celebrate Christmas. Is it about giving or receiving gifts? That's not a bad thing. It's something we can do to bless others. Or is there a deeper meaning to this time of year that we really need to concentrate on? My answer is that there's a deeper meaning to Christmas. I celebrate it because God sent His son to redeem us from death and to give us new life. That's why I celebrate Christmas. It's also why my wife and I love to celebrate it with friends and family. We also love blessing others this time of year in whatever way we can. Having said all that, may you have a blessed Christmas season. May you experience God's love for you all year long! #blessings #love #Holidays #Christmas

Welcome to my blog! As you may know, this week is Thanksgiving for the United States. Having first been celebrated in 1621 after a bountiful harvest by the pilgrims to the 'New World', it was deemed a national holiday by George Washington and officially enshrined as one by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Having traveled quite a bit over the years, I've come to see how much blessing our country has. Not only does it have beautiful geography, it is a land that welcomes people from all nations, lives as a republic with inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and allows freedom of worship. It seems though at times that we easily take for granted all that we have. When I was twenty I went to Mexico for a short missions trip as part of a church I was attending. It was an eye-opener! Until you've seen how some people live in other countries, it's easy to forget how much we have. The 'rich' people there were on one side of the street that we traveled while the destitute and extremely poor were on the other. The poor lived in cardboard and aluminum shacks that leaked when it rained. I came back with a renewed sense of blessing. I also came back with a stronger desire to help those in need. It's also part of the good news that God shared with us in Proverbs 28:27, New Living Translation : "Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed." This year I was fortunate enough to be able to share my musical gifts with the homeless. I played at an event called 'Homeless Connect' in January for about an hour. This event is held once a year for the most destitute of individuals in our area who receive needed medical care and physical needs such as coats, gloves, and blankets. My time to play was for about an hour and I performed while people were eating a hot meal, perhaps the first hot one they've had in months or years. It was a blessing and I'm grateful I got a chance to share with others. This blog isn't about what I've done, but is an encouragement to be grateful this Thanksgiving. And if you find someone who doesn't have a place to go for dinner, consider inviting them to your home. You never know what impact you may have on their life and your own! #blessings #Holidays #Thanksgiving

Today's blog post is one that I could easily expand upon for days if not weeks at a time. The languages of love. I will relate this to music as the blog unfolds. Did you know that each of us displays our love languages differently? Or maybe you didn't even know that you had love languages. Renowned psychologist Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a book titled: 'The Five Languages of Love' back in 1995. His book is a discussion of marriage, emotional love, and how spouses can recognize each other's love languages and then fulfill them. Each individual typically has one trait that is strongest and another that comes second while the other three may be more latent. I believe though and so do others that these five languages can be demonstrated to others who are not our spouses or even friends or relatives. The five languages of love for spouses are: 1. Words of Affirmation 2. Quality Time 3. Receiving Gifts 4. Acts of Service 5. Physical Touch I highly encourage you, the reader, to look at Dr. Chapman's book to get a better idea of how to love your spouse more fully. It will also help to understand how emotional love is shared and nurtured. For those who aren't married, I would like to expound on these points a little more and encourage you to recognize love languages from those you know best. You don't have to be married, engaged or even in a relationship with someone to see these traits in someone's life. You can even see them in your own life. A little caveat before I begin: Physical touch can be a problematic issue for many people so one needs to be very aware of other's personal space and never invade it. Respect and dignity for others is essential! We all need words of affirmation. Everyday we're bombarded with negative messages, thoughts, and words that are sometimes just overwhelming. Have you ever seen someone on the side of the road dejectedly walking? It's heartbreaking. We can though, with our words affirm and encourage others. Another way to show people love is to spend quality time with them. One thing that can get very annoying is when we spend time with people and they decide to spend it on their phone. Can we all just put down our phones for a while and spend time together? Face-to-face conversation is becoming a lost art with all of the distractions around. Let's be purposeful about sharing the precious time we have with others. The next aspect is receiving gifts. You may wonder, "How am I supposed to receive gifts?" Maybe what you need to do is to start giving in order to be able to receive. Sometimes just giving a small gift like a cup of coffee can open the door to one's heart to receive back something. Let me relate this to music for a moment. When I started this website, my intent was to demonstrate what can be done with music for the promotion and distribution of one's artistry. I also found that I wanted to give to the internet community some of the work that I've done in some tangible way. That's why this website is here. It feels good to give and it also feels good to receive positive feedback about the music I create. The next aspect of the five languages of love is: Acts of Service. If you volunteer your time or talents for something, then you understand this one. If you don't, try to find something that you can do for someone else. You could always take a meal to them, drive them to an appointment, invite them over for coffee, or any number of things. The sky's the limit. The next aspect is physical touch. A hug can be huge to someone. It can reaffirm their humanity and warm their heart. A word of caution is as I said before, always ask permission if you're unsure. A couple of other things to mention are that we each give and receive love in a way that is unique to us, but as we are all human, we have similarities. I love being able to show love to others through my music. I also love spending quality time with people. These become special memories in my heart. Why don't you think about a way you can make your heart feel good this week. It will also bless you! #love #community #God

This may seem like a strange title, but we recently returned from a very fun trip that I thought would be a good opportunity to encourage you to get out and travel! My wife and I are going on 30 years of marriage, but my parents just this year celebrated 60 years! We were fortunate enough to be able to go on a cruise together in Hawaii and greatly enjoyed our time there and together. Now I realize that not everyone can travel long distances because of various constraints, but you still can do short adventures. What these trips do is to help us see beyond our everyday lives. They expand our horizons and help us to see what a beautiful creation God has made throughout this earth. In fact, He does mention that in Psalms 19:1-2: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge." The picture above I took off the Napali Coast on the island of Kauai, Hawaii last Friday. We even were fortunate to have a rainbow showup while we were there. There isn't much more thrilling to me than being on the ocean and seeing God's creation. It's a wonder to behold! It also gives a sense of peace that God in His infinite power and wisdom can do anything! When we look at His creation as a child, we can be filled with awe and wonder again. A couple of other significant events happened while we were gone that I'd like to mention here. Three separate times I ran into people who either live very close to us, who know someone we do, or who know others that are friends of ours. Think about that for a minute - here we are almost 3000 miles away and we just by 'chance' run into people we know? I don't believe in coincidences, but I do believe in the hand of God orchestrating divine meetings. The strangest one was on the island of Maui. We were there for a day and happened to go to Lahaina. The famous 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' restaurant is there named after the Jimmy Buffett song. My Mom and Dad decided to wander down the street into a small shopping area. I saw a Ukulele shop and thought I would try out an expensive one. Not really having played the instrument much, I asked about the tuning and started playing the song 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' as done by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole. I didn't think it sounded very good, but amazingly someone else did. As we talked, I found out that he was a retired UPS driver who used to deliver in the neighborhood we used to live in and knew the driver who took over. He even knew some of our current neighbors. Amazing! My encouragement to you today is to get out there and experience life. Travel, make friends, experience God's creation and the beauty of it. You never know, you might just meet someone you already knew and what a kick that would be! , #God #Travel #Hawaii

It's a beautiful Summer day in the Pacific Northwest and as I write this I'm wondering how many more of these we have before the rain and overcast gloom frequently associated with the Northwest begins. We're very blessed to have such luscious scenery and astonishingly gorgeous weather here for about four months of the year. The other eight are where we pay our dues for the one third of the time we get to enjoy it. Some people love the rain though so this is their haven. What does this have to do with writing you may be thinking? Well, two reasons actually. When we read something, we get to exercise our 'mind's eye' or reference point to the realities we've experienced. Take for example how marketers are always trying to get you to buy something. It could be food: Today at (name your favorite grocery store), we have layered pulled-pork sandwiches with BBQ sauce, mouth-watering corn on the cob and to top it off, ripe blueberries lavishly covered with delectable homemade whipped cream.' What I've just done is to describe in somewhat vivid detail what a typical grocer would like you to think of and obsess over. Then they're hoping that you will stop in to their store and pickup these delicious treats. In other words, I've put something into your mind's eye that will stay there until you decide what to do with it. Many people would love to be able to write well but may not have the practice or background to do it. That's where I would like to offer a couple of tips. Start simple - You may want to write but it overwhelms you. Start simply by finding one subject that you'd like to write about. Try to hone in on that one topic and do some research on it. Don't just try to tackle a topic without thinking it through. It takes time and effort to find what to focus on and then discuss it on paper. If you need some further tips, one of my previous blogs talked about ' brainstorming '. Use your experience - I recently started writing articles on a topic that I have some experience with: Nurses in war. I haven't been in a war but have visited numerous places where nurses are memorialized and many of my family have been in wars from the American Revolution to World War II. Many of their stories, especially my Uncle who was in the Bataan Death March , impacted me deeply about the suffering experienced and how nurses helped them through after the war. In fact, if you're interested in reading my inaugural article about this topic, it's located here: Nurses in war - Cornelia Hancock, Legendary Civil War Nurse . Never underestimate the power of your experiences to inspire and motivate others to great deeds. Make it human - With all of the negativity that we experience everyday, people get weary of hearing about how bad things are. Why not write something that could be uplifting especially when there's so much better that we can talk about? When you write about someone from the past, you can highlight their strengths as well as their weaknesses. We all have 'em! This makes it much more interesting to the reader because they can identify. Writing can be fun and so can history. It doesn't have to be dry and boring. Many of the experiences we have today are no different than our ancestors had. They struggled with financial hardships, medical conditions, marriage problems, and most of the same things we're plagued with today. We can learn so much from the journey that people took before us. My final point today is that if you get stuck being able to write something, feel free to get in touch with me. I can assist you with a writing task that may need some editing, touch-up, or polishing. Maybe even an idea! One example of some editing work I've been doing is for the drummer in the band I play in: Wrecknciled. He's written many stories that God has inspired him with. Here's the link: https://www.wrecknciled.com/bandblog. Have a great week! #inspiration #artistry

Hello to you. It's been a bit since my last blog as I've been working hard on a local festival. I'm publishing this after the festival has finished because there are a couple of areas I'd like to discuss with those of you that drop by. For those of you who may be looking for musician tips, this posting will still be applicable to your life. It will just seem like a bit of a deviation this week. When I was growing up, my family used to say: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me." Let me tell you that that phrase is full of hooey! Anybody over the age of 10 knows that words can be used as weapons or they can be used as bandages. When we use our words like weapons, negative consequences occur. The bible in Proverbs 15:1 says: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." This is fairly self-explanatory and I'm sure you can think of a good example of this. Perhaps something that happened today! But, I would like to talk about the effects our bodies have when we use harsh words towards others or ourselves. Did you know that your body produces a natural hormone called cortisol? Cortisol is a very effective short-term response to a perceived or real threat. However, when your body is continuously producing this hormone, it can cause numerous health issues including anxiety and depression. Let me bring this back to music for a bit. When we listen to soothing, inspiring music, our hearts begin to feel like they're healing. I dealt with that topic in my last blog. When we listen to music that is violent, degrading, or just plain annoying, our minds and bodies react to it. There's no getting around that fact. Our blood pressure increases, our muscles tighten, and we experience a cortisol moment. Look at what happens when emotions become unmanageable and violence occurs. What is the solution then for this? The answer lies in our choices of what we listen to and what we tell ourselves. In the delightful movie the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's companions are each looking for something that they already have. The cowardly lion is looking for courage. The friendly yet not-so-bright scarecrow is looking for a brain. And the cerebral tin-man is looking for a heart. Each eventually finds out that they already had what they needed. They realize that they can be their own best friends or worst enemies. This is really what words do to us. The point I'm making through this posting is that our world is filled with people who want to degrade, demean, and disrespect whoever they come across. If you believe in Christ as your savior, then your calling is different than that. One that is meant to heal, to listen, and to love others. This is completely contrary to what our human nature is like, but is so important in having meaningful and fulfilling relationships. It will also help our lives be the kind that people want to model and can change the whole demeanor of someone who may just be having a bad day. So the next time you want to lash out at someone because they 'rocked' your world or caused you pain, remember that we need to be the 'Salt and Light of the world'. I know this is hard and takes work, but it is so worth it! Blessings to you and may God give you peace and grace! #love #inspiration #God

(Note: This is a duplicate of a previous post. The event is only two days away!) Today's blog post is about the first ever, Dallas Christian Music Festival. I'm excited to be working on this event for the summer. There are more details available at: https://www.facebook.com/DallasChristianMusicFestival If you live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, please come out and see us. We will be at the Rotary Performing Arts Stage on, Thursday August 16th, 2018 from 4 to 8 pm. The Dallas Area Visitors Center, Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Dallas, are promoting this event and assisting in facility preparation. We're also working with the Dallas Ministerial Association to facilitate cooperation with the local churches. There will be local food vendors and kids' activities galore. We would love to see you there! #Music #God #festival #community