I finally faced my first major rejection.  I’ve had obstacles before, but any previous rejection was at least disguised as something else (e.g. “You can’t open for our band because our line up is full,” or “You can’t play at our venue because we book three months in advance”  …these could be legitimate, but you never know, they might be hidden rejections).

No, this time it was straight up rejection.  I emailed a number of house concert venues and one of them replied saying no.  They were vague, so I asked for clarification.  Among other reasons, they won’t book me because they aren’t “enthusiastic” about my music.  It’s a personal taste thing.

Fair enough.  Not everyone can like my music.  That’s reasonable.  It still sucks though.  It’s like working up the courage to ask a girl on a date only to have her look up at you with her pretty little eyes and say “no.”  It hurts the self esteem.  There is a disconnect between my desire and reality and there’s nothing I can do about it.

What happens now?

I move on.  I say, “Oh well.  Just one small opportunity lost.”  No big deal.  There’s plenty more fish in the sea (or in this case, venues in the world).