If I could focus on one thing – a craft, skill, trade, creative outlet, etc. – for even just one year without having to deal with the crazy frivolousness of this modern everyday life, I would undoubtedly become famous, rich or insanely wise. Possibly just insane… but only because I would have to return to the ‘real world’ after my ‘year of discovery’. I wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent, eating trans-fats, Fox News, politics or talking to people in India when I have a question about one of my many bills. I would just be able to learn, get better at what I want to do and live the purest life I could. There are so many little things in life that just slow us down and keep us from reaching our true potential… but that’s just life right?
I have so many ideas rumbling around in my head that at times it’s hard to deal with these moronic drivers or incompetent customer service reps or all the other excruciatingly mundane things that everybody in America has to put up with. It’s hard to be creative and really get into my writing or musical state of mind when I’m constantly worried about getting financially screwed by some corporation or run off the road by an old lady texting or simply not having enough energy at the end of the day to do anything for myself. Not to mention all these mind-bending things that keep happening that are convincing me that the end of mankind is looming (BP DISASTER, politics in general, the Snuggie for dogs, the growing number of seriously twisted people, the exponentially growing population that this Earth can’t support for much longer, etc…). It’s all too much, like the Beatles sang a while back. Especially if you really think about it.
If I could just spend a whole year focusing on writing/recording music or living in the mountains making art or roaming around the country writing about anything and everything… I think I would finally be able to free my mind and get all of these wonderful images, sounds, thoughts and ideas that seem to be stuck behind reminders, to-do lists and utility bills out there in the open. It’s not that I can’t do all of the things I want to do, it’s just that we’ve become so bogged down with information and so wired to be worried about money and possessions and corporate ideals that we forget to live. We forget about why we’re alive, why we exist, why watermelons grow from a tiny seed and taste sooo good at the first sight of summer… It has almost become unnatural for people to think that way, but it should be the essence of natural.
We don’t have enough time here to forget these kinds of things. I don’t have enough time on this earth to not write or not create music and art when I was given the skills and the drive to do so. I don’t have time to simply go about my life without cherishing every single second and every little tiny thing my daughter learns and does. Being responsible and having goals and plans is incredibly necessary in this crazy world. If you don’t pay your electric bill those corporate bastards won’t think twice about shutting off your electricity, no matter how pure your outlook is on life. Nobody cares if you don’t have any money. This is how the world works and you have to accept that… but don’t forget about what really matters.
Does your plasma TV matter to a homeless person on the side of the road? Will it matter to you at all (or anything you’ve ever watched on it) when you’re about to say goodbye to the ones you love? Cherish your memories, leave your kids great ones, enjoy what you do and own your life. No matter where you are in it and no matter where you’re going. Own it. There is no time to waste.
