Meet Eric Welty

 

We recently connected with Eric Welty and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I have been teaching music for over five years. In that time, I have taught over 100 students ages 6 to 60+. These students come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, experiences, and lifestyles. While these students may all have individual goals and passions, I am often asked the same question in many different forms. Whether it’s the high schooler about to graduate and has no clue what to do next or the mom who wants to finally pursue her passion for music, the question of music’s purpose in someone’s life often comes up. In turn, more profound questions sometimes arise about one’s purpose and how that relates to one’s passions and pursuits.
When this happens, the lesson often involves little music or playing. Some might say it turns into more of a philosophy lesson, and I agree. For those who might not have the luxury of being able to pursue a passion for its own sake, the idea of music or art bringing up these deeper and existential l ideas might sound absurd or “too much.” However, no matter the discipline, the truest pursuit of passion will often lead you to think deeply about your existence. Having experienced these existential questions, I can relate to others trying to process these more profound questions.
If we take one of my most common examples of a high school junior or senior with no idea what to do next when they graduate, much less for their entire life. At first, I will usually express that they are not alone. Often informing them that, unfortunately, society as a whole has not done a great job of helping them find or figure out what they and their peers should do next. For some reason, we stop asking people what they want to be when they grow up around age 10 or 12. Then, most people collectively turn an eye away from helping kids and students find their passions and skills. I do not know why this is the case, but I do know it leaves the majority of our younger population feeling as though they should have just “figured it out” by now, and because they haven’t, they must be lazy, lost, or a failure. In turn, many of them will pick paths and live almost like throwing darts at a dart board, hoping they hit the bullseye, which aligns with their rough idea of what it means to have purpose and success. As many of us know, that will almost always fail.
Once we have addressed the fallacy and impact we have created for our younger population, I usually address the idea of perspective on purpose. Sometimes humans like to have a very pinpoint and exact idea of one purpose. “Find out why you are here and do it!” is what purpose would boil down to in its simplest form. However, that often overlooks the nuance behind how purpose applies to us. For instance, a person can find purpose on different levels. The most basic level is the purpose of being a human being. The inescapable bind of having to eat, sleep, and keep safe to survive is one of the baselines for our purpose.
While most people would like to live a life outside of having to make survival our sole purpose, it’s a reality we must all face. Another level of purpose can be in how you relate to the world around you. For instance, as a child, your purpose does not tie to the world around you as strongly. One of the biggest things about getting older is how you start to find your purpose in the world at large. It can take a lot of work to make this transition from purpose as a child to the purpose of finding purpose as a young adult. However, if you can successfully navigate the idea of your purpose to the world around you (i.e. find a good job that makes an impact on the world and you’re able to survive), now you can think about your personal purpose. The apex of what might be a determining factor for much of your life. When you work through this idea, the best thing you can do is focus on what matters to you. If money matters, a person’s purpose might be to obtain increasing wealth and money. If what matters to you is making the world better than you found it, your purpose might be more engaged in helping and supporting others.
My journey to finding my purpose took work. From a tough upbringing to many points where things seemed unclear and uncertain, it was hard to live a life where I even felt I had the luxury to decide my purpose. However, when I moved to Colorado, I could leave behind a vivid and rocky past and have enough clarity to see the forest through the fog. After a few years and some incredible guidance from my teachers and mentors, I have a clearer idea of what I believe and what makes my personal purpose. I am here to leave the world in a better place than I found it using music. My purpose is not rooted in fame, money, or accolades. Instead, my purpose is rooted in enjoying the journey of creating, destroying, building, and impacting music.
Always remember, your purpose is not given to you. It’s a construct you create for yourself, by yourself. I do not walk around or create while thinking about my purpose. I do the tasks at hand. Knowing my purpose helps me when things seem uncertain or confusing. Having that idea lets me stay grounded in what I love and believe. It is perfectly fine if you need to have a purpose to create. In a practical sense, that’s how I operate day to day. But when asked, I communicate and understand my personal beliefs about my purpose.
Purpose is almost like a thread in your clothes. When you see the big picture from afar, it looks like its own creation, but up close, you can see the threads that make up the bigger form. Purpose is only one of these threads. I hope everyone is able to find that thread for themselves.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

When it comes to my pursuits day to day, I find myself in all aspects of the creative process. Not only for myself, but also for the community around me. For one part of my week I am a teacher. I currently have about 12 weekly students ranging from about five years old to forty five years old. Each student on their own path in guitar, or drums, bass, piano, theory, and songwriting/composition. Another part of my week (usually on weekends) is rehearsing and performing music with various groups. Some under my own name like my electronic or full band music, but also for various other artists like Keddjra, wAHb, The International Disassociation, and much more. Finally with any and all time in between I am focusing on my organization PUSH Music and Arts. Through PUSH I try to support fellow creatives by putting on shows, promoting music and events, and helping creatives in any aspects they might need to push their art to others. For instance we are putting on a music festival in Denver Sep 22nd at Roxy Broadway. We are also putting artists on the road for touring.

Over all no matter if I am teaching, playing music, or putting on events, it is of great importance that I create and foster a supporting community around me. Not only because in helping one another, we all rise to a higher level of artistry and possibilities, but also because art is rarely made in a vacuum. We need to experience life with and around one another to have perspective. From that perspective we are really able to show the world what we see and feel through our art.

If you would like to know more about me or PUSH, please reach out via email or instagram @pushmusicandarts .

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

When looking back on attributes that have gotten me to where I am today, I would say perseverance, gratitude, and handwork really paved my path and gave me the ability to grow and continue growing.

If you are really shooting for your goals and pushing yourself to achieve them, you will come to a point where it will not be easy to move forward. This block in your way can come in many different forms. It can be harsh and sudden, or slow and gradual. Either way, you must have a level of perseverance to see you through to the next thing. Without that you will be stuck or fall backwards in your journey.

Similar to your perseverance, you should also hold gratitude for your process. In this you must learn to love and enjoy the process in all its parts. Not just when it’s easy, but also when it’s tough or seemingly impossible. To learn to love the struggle is to achieve one step closer to personal happiness. Some might tell you to look at things as a healthy challenge every time it gets rough. This can work great for you if you like a challenge. If not, make a habit of not letting the idea of a challenge get to you in a negative way. Do this for your present situation, and past situations that got you here today. Slowly you can have a perspective of gratitude to what you have gone through and what you will go through in the future to get to where you want to go.

Last but not least is the idea of hard work. Find what is important to you, and go for it with all your soul. Put the hours in! Just like some people’s parents might have told them as a child “If it matters enough to you, you will do it”. Do not let other things blind side you to the goals you have in mind. This can often be where people get lazy and stop putting their full effort in. Its hard to keep up, but possible for everyone.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

Every choice my mother has made for me since she had me April 25th 1999 to today has been the most impactful and amazing thing she could have ever done. It’s why I go by Eric “Welty” on stage. Welty is my mother maiden name.

From the easy times to the really tough things we had to go through together I am beyond grateful and thankful for all of it. She gave me the gift of getting to live and experience the crazy world around us. While also trying her best to help me navigate it. Without her I would not be here today in the position I am to respond to these questions. For that I am forever thankful.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Chris Waters and Anthony Maldonado

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,