Freshly Squeezed OJ

I've started to work as a part-time waitress at my favorite cafe for some extra money, whilst playing gigs, filming music video's and mixing an album (and planning a tour of Germany).

Somtimes I get asked to come in early to open the shop and when I do, I am assigned to squeeze oranges. There's this machine, with a basket on top, where I dump hundreds of oranges into it. As the horizontal wheel spins round and round, the oranges roll down the tube, get spliced in half as cogs the size of baseballs inevitably squeez the juicey life out of them. The syrup collects in a bowl at the bottom, where I open the nozzel on the end of it, filling pitchers with freshly squeezed OJ. I usually only get about half an hour to fill kegs worth of juice before hungry customers begin queuing, greedily rubbing their greasy paws together for a bacon butty (or something).

Today I feel like I've mastered the machine. It's touch and go still, but after a handful of openings, I kinda think I got the hang of it, I found a way to take control over the machine, than it over me as it did in the past. Point is, the reason I felt like I got the hang of it today, was through practice. And to master this through practice, I had to go through various trial and errors before I felt confident enough to get those oranges pressed in time to take orders.

Running a little label as I do, I get questioned by artists and other curious souls, how I got so confident with my work. Pure and simple - Practice. And with practice comes confidence as well as 'perfection'. Sure, you can start out confident, even if you don't know what the hell you are doing, but for me, to be truly comfortable in my work and show the best colors, it all boils down to practice.

So yea, here's me trying to master the juicer, my life and my art. I guess the one thing I truly dig on getting older, is getting better in what I do.

(also a side point - challenge yourself daily. The minute you kinda fear in doing something because it's  unknown territory, usually means you're already way too comfortable hanging out on the sofa. Comfort will only make you fat and old. Wanna stay young and healthy? Face your 'fears' - that's what waitressing does to me, face my fears and keep me on my toes, literally).