Some Change
"I would say that I'm finding my voice in more ways than one. "
- Boz Scaggs
Not sure what it is, but I've had Boz Scaggs on my mind since I woke up this morning. For those of you who are unfamiliar with his work, Boz is the great "blue-eyed" soul man of the 1970s. He had a string of hits in the late 70s, then decided to "retire" for almost all of the 80s. The guy just wasn't feeling the music inside him anymore, so he didn't record. He came out of retirement in the 90s, put out one of my favorite albums of all time, "But Lovely." His cover of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is probably the best 99 cents I have ever spent in my life. At the very least, it's worth a listen on iTunes.
As I was writing "Looking for Brain Candy" last week, I called up MAD looking for some answers to dealing with the "grind." One of the things that I really respect about MAD, is that he has never lied to me. There have been a couple time we have adamantly disagreed on some things, and the guy has never broken stride. He's always been unwaveringly honest. So I am thinking that if anyone is going to be strait with me about this, it's him.
MAD picks up the phone, and I waste no time at all, "Does the grind of working ever get to you?" There was this slight pause, a laugh, and then maybe one of the most honest conversations I've ever had in my life. Much of that conversation I will choose to keep private, but there is a story that came out of it that helped me process my new found professional maturity.
So MAD has this friend who graduated from a very prestigious school, knocked out killer scores on the LSAT and was accepted to Stanford Law School. Right before they are about to head off to law school, their brother asks, "So why do you want to go to law school?" This innocuous question completely derailed everything. They completely bailed on law school, and pretty much bailed on having any direction in life. This person holds a job long enough to scrape together enough money to go on extended hiking trips, and comes back to the world when they are dead-ass broke. Awhile back they broke their foot badly, didn't have health insurance, and had a real nasty problem on their hands.
This is where MAD really made things clear. Instead of saying this was a path that a person shouldn't go down, he said, "You can go down a path like this anytime you want. But doing so isn't going to solve any problem, or give you any great clarity. All you are going to do is delay doing any real internal work."
Last week I wrote "Creating one's life is like putting together a jig-saw puzzle where the picture is constantly changing." My shower thoughts are usually right on the money. This idea is of the same vein as Boz Scaggs quote. Even after years and years of singing, recording and performing, he's still refining his craft. My sense is that he does this because it brings him a lot of joy as well as a lot of challenge. As Gil Fronsdal would say, "Practice is forever."
Just like last week, I don't really have any real answers. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the place that I'm trying to get to isn't a world without any problems. Rather, I am trying to get to a place where I have the confidence and the supporting skill sets to handle Life's challenges as they come my way.
Namaste
- Boz Scaggs
Not sure what it is, but I've had Boz Scaggs on my mind since I woke up this morning. For those of you who are unfamiliar with his work, Boz is the great "blue-eyed" soul man of the 1970s. He had a string of hits in the late 70s, then decided to "retire" for almost all of the 80s. The guy just wasn't feeling the music inside him anymore, so he didn't record. He came out of retirement in the 90s, put out one of my favorite albums of all time, "But Lovely." His cover of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is probably the best 99 cents I have ever spent in my life. At the very least, it's worth a listen on iTunes.
As I was writing "Looking for Brain Candy" last week, I called up MAD looking for some answers to dealing with the "grind." One of the things that I really respect about MAD, is that he has never lied to me. There have been a couple time we have adamantly disagreed on some things, and the guy has never broken stride. He's always been unwaveringly honest. So I am thinking that if anyone is going to be strait with me about this, it's him.
MAD picks up the phone, and I waste no time at all, "Does the grind of working ever get to you?" There was this slight pause, a laugh, and then maybe one of the most honest conversations I've ever had in my life. Much of that conversation I will choose to keep private, but there is a story that came out of it that helped me process my new found professional maturity.
So MAD has this friend who graduated from a very prestigious school, knocked out killer scores on the LSAT and was accepted to Stanford Law School. Right before they are about to head off to law school, their brother asks, "So why do you want to go to law school?" This innocuous question completely derailed everything. They completely bailed on law school, and pretty much bailed on having any direction in life. This person holds a job long enough to scrape together enough money to go on extended hiking trips, and comes back to the world when they are dead-ass broke. Awhile back they broke their foot badly, didn't have health insurance, and had a real nasty problem on their hands.
This is where MAD really made things clear. Instead of saying this was a path that a person shouldn't go down, he said, "You can go down a path like this anytime you want. But doing so isn't going to solve any problem, or give you any great clarity. All you are going to do is delay doing any real internal work."
Last week I wrote "Creating one's life is like putting together a jig-saw puzzle where the picture is constantly changing." My shower thoughts are usually right on the money. This idea is of the same vein as Boz Scaggs quote. Even after years and years of singing, recording and performing, he's still refining his craft. My sense is that he does this because it brings him a lot of joy as well as a lot of challenge. As Gil Fronsdal would say, "Practice is forever."
Just like last week, I don't really have any real answers. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the place that I'm trying to get to isn't a world without any problems. Rather, I am trying to get to a place where I have the confidence and the supporting skill sets to handle Life's challenges as they come my way.
Namaste
posted by Zen_Accountant at 9:20 AM
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