This is a pretty simple gauge to check with our lives.
It’s one or the other.
Are you on or are you off?
We can live…
…on purpose or off purpose.
…on a mission or off our mission.
…on call for inspiration or off call.
Awaken this awareness before you go back to sleep. (That in itself is a worthy daily goal)
We’re live. This is happening. Flip the switch.
#LTMP
I think we procrastinate because we’re afraid to look our finished work in the eyes. In a way, we believe we’re looking at ourselves when we look at the work that is done, and it’s never easy to hear “not good” or not be accepted.
But what if we just had the eagerness for great work that would eventually lead us to great things?
It’s not about what’s created, it’s about the fulfillment found in creativity. That’s what we’re after. I’m convinced an eagerness to simply start things will quiet the voices of fear that fuel our procrastination.
We remember prepping the meal more so than the oven dinging.
You were labeled ‘smart’ when I grew up by being able to regurgitate off the cuff how things are and you could recite things that we already knew to be true. Smarts equaled memorization of the past and an understanding of the proven. The smart students understood photosynthesis, could work a mean algebraic problem, and never were outed with having to spell superfluous in the spelling bee.
But look at who we’re referring to (and they most definitely are) as smart today. They are mostly people who take the instruments of creativity and innovation and, with those, make the music of change.
Pat yourself on the back if you know how things are and what has happened up until now. Rest assured, knowing that 1492 rhymes with ocean blue and the historical implications of such a riddle has done nothing for me on this side of academia.
On the flip side, you’ll get patted on the back by showing us how things are going to be. They’ll probably call you ‘smart’ too.
I’m not here to define what smart is. That’s an unnecessary journey. I just know that whatever it is, it points to change and a revelation of the future.
We need you to hold our hand as we walk into tomorrow.
Look up the word consensus and you’ll find it is synonymous with the word harmony.
If you know the experience, meaning, purpose, and fulfillment for your life, you then know the instruments that make the harmony of your life’s music. In other words, you have a consensus on what your music is.
Jean-Jacques Nattiez once said, “in short, there is rarely a consensus …By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.” True – the world may not be able to agree on defining what music truly is, but I believe, independently, we all can have a consensus. No, we must have a consensus.
Your music is not mine and my music is not yours, but collectively we must celebrate and cheer each other on in the art of making it, defining it, and bringing it into the world.
Want to know why you are here? Go define music and there will be your answer.
Your thoughts, feelings, wonders, and dreams are physical.
They need room to breathe and an opportunity to fly.
Why keep them in your pocket?
Something special happens when we view and treat the spiritual and the unseen as physical and look at the physical things in our lives with a spiritual perspective.
Awareness is the Great Precursor to your music being made and you may need to check your pockets to see what you’ve forgotten that’s in there.
Ashton.Gustafson 