{"id":295,"date":"2013-01-15T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/welcome\/persistance-pays-off-i-got-granted\/"},"modified":"2013-01-15T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T21:05:00","slug":"persistance-pays-off-i-got-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/persistance-pays-off-i-got-granted\/","title":{"rendered":"Persistance Pays Off – I Got Granted"},"content":{"rendered":"

A poet friend of my mother’s once said that she considers applying for grants to be part of the job of being an artist. Not a part of the job she enjoys, mind you, but something she grits her teeth and gets through, because if you want to be a poet and not starve to death, that’s what you’ve gotta do.<\/p>\n

I decided to follow her good example and dutifully completed a grant application last spring to cover costs associated with my new CD, Blackbirds<\/a>. It was a roughly $13,000 project, and I could use all the help I could get. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when the rejection came back. Very. Oh, I knew the odds going in. And I knew that asking for the maximum grant amount lowered my odds even further. But I was still disappointed.<\/p>\n

Be thankful for crowdfunding, I thought. Be thankful for your friends and family and day job that will all help pay to make this piece of art.<\/p>\n

I hate getting back on any horse after a rejection. I should be tougher, but all I really wanted to do after receiving the big “NO” was to crawl under a rock and stay there. But, there was work to be done that needed financing. And, there was a nice little note on my rejection letter inviting me to apply again.<\/p>\n

So, this past fall, I gathered up my courage and prepared for rejection once more. I requested funding assistance for a smaller project this time \u2013 and less than half of the grant’s maximum allowable request.<\/p>\n

And I got granted.<\/p>\n

Oh, the ELATION! The VINDICATION! The RELIEF!<\/p>\n

Sure, it’s just a little bit of money. And I have to spend at least as much again to validate my grant request. But, at the end of the day, I’ll have a new web site and professional video. And I’ll have had the opportunity to work with some great people in Nova Scotia’s music community, like Katy and Stephen at Analog Songs<\/a>. And have the fun of hiring musicians I respect and adore to help me.<\/p>\n

Even better, though, there’s a lesson about overcoming rejection, trying again and getting accepted, that I needed to learn. This dynamic plays itself out all the time \u2013 booking gigs and getting promotional recognition, like interviews or reviews. I find it a gruelling process; I spend too much time wanting to crawl under a rock after people say “NO” to me. This is a lesson to keep the faith, stay calm and simply keep asking until they say: “YES”.<\/p>\n

This blog post owes a debt of gratitude to the Nova Scotia Department of Culture and Heritage:<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Hickey recognizes the support of the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage. We are pleased to work in partnership with the Culture Division to develop and promote our cultural resources for all Nova Scotians.<\/i><\/p>\n


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A poet friend of my mother’s once said that she considers applying for grants to be part of the job of being an artist. Not a part of the job she enjoys, mind you, but something she grits her teeth …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexsings.ca\/music\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}