Saturday, May 3, 2008

"Cinder Bridge?"

Coming up with a band name is harder than you think.

When Ron and I decided the time had come to call our project something other than "our project," the goal was to find one word or phrase that conveyed everything we wanted to be. Something that said we didn't take ourselves too seriously. But not so weird that we'd get sick of it in a few weeks.

Oh, and it had to sound cool.

We asked other people for advice, then realized this may have been a mistake as they flooded us with Mad Libs-style offerings. I could be, say, eating a banana while talking about about searching the classifieds for jobs, and a friend would say, "Hey! How about "Banana Classified"? They'd be all disappointed when I explained that although the name was cute, we didn't see calling ourselves Banana Classified for the rest of the band's career. Meanwhile, we weren't coming up with anything better on our own.

So why Cinder Bridge?

At some point I got it into my head that I'd like a name with "bridge" in it. Not sure I could tell you why. It felt right. When "Cinder Bridge" popped into my mind, I liked it a lot ... and then discounted it. It sounded good, but what the heck did it mean?

Still, it stuck with me. Eventually, the meaning began to emerge. One of my dominant personality characteristics has been a fear of starting anything. I always feel unready. If I begin my endeavor before I'm fully prepared, I'll inevitably screw the whole thing up. I'll burn my bridges behind me.

The lesson I've had to learn over and over again is this: The worst thing you can do is nothing. The burning bridge behind you is better than the bridge you never had the courage to cross.

* * *

I've been wanting to start our little band blog for a while. I haven't done it 'til now because I've felt unready. What if I had nothing to write? What if nobody read it?

Eh. The hell with it. Welcome to Cinder Bridge world. And may the bridges we burn light our way.

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