“Being a musician means being part of a total experience—no winning, no losing.” Jim Blackley
Anxiety and depression levels are at all time highs. How do we handle the amount of distraction pummelling us day in and day out from every direction on the battlefield of life? Our brains didn’t evolve to deal with the pace that the exponential rise in technology gives us. The speed of life is our double edged sword, giving us access to limitless information at any time but taking its toll on our peace of mind. We go to videos games, TV binge watching and social media to find relief, but this only RAISES our anxiety. Recovery from the noise is a NECESSITY not a luxury, and practices that fuel our FUN and ENTHUSIASM are the answer. Discipline to create SPACE is where peace of mind lives.
The root word of anxiety of TO DIVIDE. Even though tools of technology connect us like never before, so many of us feel isolated. Since we become the five people that we spend the most time with, this is where COMMUNITY comes in. Mentors can be found anywhere, and they don’t even have to be alive! Through books we can see into the arc of history that delivers perspective to the present. Living inside a past you can’t change breeds depression, and looking too far into a future you can’t control can creates fear. Taking a deep breath and being in the RIGHT NOW is where we can best guide our STATE. The obstacle becomes the way forward. What looks like a wall that blocks us, is often the bottom of the next step that we have to rise over.
There’s something about moving to music that is guaranteed to change your state every time. You can be sad when doing activities like painting or writing, but your physiology will not let you feel down when you are DANCING. And to DRUM is to dance! This is where we achieve flow through movement, connection through music, and where we strive forward relentlessly to become our best selves through drumming every day.
