Not exactly how I would describe myself, but those words came to me in my sleep last night, so I feel I must at least mull them over, and consider them, I mean, if the shoe fits. I do listen to, and play, and think about music, all the time. I do have a good sense of time. I can keep a beat. Just like Yo-Yo Ma I do consider music to be my "spiritual practice." I mean, otherwise, I am nothing like Yo-Yo Ma. He was a child prodigy, brought up to be a musician, he decided at 2 1/2 that the violin was not for him. He settled on the double-bass at age 4 as his instrument of choice. He became one of the greatest cellists in the history of cellists.
Me? A toe-tapping white guy.
Music is my religion. I started playing guitar at around 12 years old. I am a long-time strummer. But you know, I've also done a lot of wandering around, feeling my way in the dark, sometimes put the guitar away in a closet and didn't touch it. For many years I had no clue. What was I going to do with my life? Where was the meaning and purpose? Who was I? Where was I going? Lots of uncertainty.
Later I settled on theater, acting, writing, directing. And then, my partner and I worked music into our theater pieces, and that totally re-lit the flame. Music, playing guitar, singing, writing songs, became a mission, a purpose, a meaning, a practice, a way of life. It's been that way pretty much ever since. Bands. Band practice. Intense song-writing sessions. Playing, to always be playing, is the thing.
And listening. Listening to music for me is a transcendental, mystical experience. I don't just listen to records, I absorb them, sink into them, totally lose myself into them. It's a powerful, rewarding, exciting, never-ending inspiration. Lately, I commune with sounds by putting on my super-cool headphones and get horizontal and let the music wash over me. Dare I say it, it brings me closer to god, or you know, a god-like state of mind. Vibrations. Sounds. I do think those sound-waves change your brain-chemistry. They can transport you, change you. It's just the best thing, it's a religion, whether you tap your toe or not.
