Postcards from the Funny Farm

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Well, there weren’t any comments yesterday so either you are all speechless about my question or you are waiting for me, your dysfunctional guide to psychology, to give you my take on how to let things go. SPLENDID … I have a few methods I can recommend. Before I do though, let me just give a quick update on the house. It’s going really well. Unfortunately there is a lot of stuff we still haven’t gotten to but we are learning to just let it ride. The doors to the kids rooms are laying off their hinges on the floor as we are planing them to the right size and it’s a real bitch! Actually I should say that Sarah’s dad is doing that job and dealing with the hassles, but we all wish it could go smoother for him. We sat in the spa for the first time day … niiiiiiice. Okay, enough of the update. I only have a short time here at Starbucks since I have to get back with dinner for everybody. This is so weird not having internet at home. Driving around town finding the hot spots feels a lot like wanting sex! Anybody ever try it? Hopefully you won’t have to. Oh, one more thing: I just want to recommend movers as another way to relax. Without them this time I think we appeared to our new neighbors to be their new freaks moving in faster than the speed of light probably on criminal amounts of diet pills or something. On to letting go (how appropriate).

The Christian mystics said that getting closest to God was possible by completely letting go of all physical material things. That means, for example, that you would give up your house, your possessions, and even people if they got in the way of you surrendering completely to God. While I shiver at the thought of such a life, I do feel they were onto something. We can all benefit from this type of thinking if only varied by degree a bit.

The two words “oh well” are some of the most powerful when used together. In essence what you say with them is that you prefer something higher. Remember when you were a kid and someone took your new bike to be a bully. If you cried about it they laughed and had a blast. You might get it back eventually but only with your ego badly bruised and everybody on the street labeling you as a major wimp. On the other hand, if you used the words “oh well,” you might have found as I did that the bully’s psychology changed. Now, he wanted to know WHY you weren’t affected. You took away his power. It’s the same now as adults only the bully is in our own minds and we victimize ourselves with stress. Saying “Oh well” can get us through a world of trouble and come out the other side shining.

Have you ever lost your keys? I have gone literally insane looking for them. I have thrown couches over I have done terrible things to unsuspecting items on my counter space … I am not proud of these things. Recently my wife lost hers and after much of that, we decided to table the worry and take my car. The end result was an amazing conclusion that restored the keys and our sanity. These things couldn’t have happened until we let go and said “oh well.”

So there is my suggestion to you. I know it isn’t too complicated but I offer it anyway. Did you expect the Mayo Clinc summary of the matter? Come here, I want to tell you a quick secret: it’s just a blog.

A friend’s spouse told me the other day I was lucky because with a guitar I’d never be unemployed. Hmm, that made little sense to me but I thanked him for the compliment anyway. I used to teach guitar out of my home and had a bunch of marketing pens that lie around my house to this day … without the millions of dollars I secretly thought might follow.

I played until my fingers bled as a kid and spent countless hours through my tween and teen years … even through my 20’s jamming and tuning and restringing that marvelous instrument.

But it hasn’t done me any magical favors or anything. It got me to thinking: What can a guitar player do with a guitar? Here’s my list I came up with:

1. Play on the street corner for maybe a few bucks.
2. Start a band and disillusion other people the same way you are disillusioned (LOL - Oh I have so many times)
3. Record on a home recording system that no one will hear except your wife who will be annoyed she has to sit through it.
4. Play local bars for drunks.
5. Play coffee houses for people who don’t want to hear live music while they talk.
6. “Jam” with friends from work or church etc.
7. Create melodies you think are original only to find later they are plagiarized (there is so little left to invent since the Beatles).
8. Entertain kids that are wild. Music calms the savage beast.
9. Solo to the radio and envision you’re Eric Clapton or that guy from Creed.
10. and finally, smash it to bits against the house in the backyard.

Below are MP3 links to some of the music I’ve wasted too much time making through the years. I could say it feigned insanity but then again … look at the name of my blog ;) I don’t mind the insane label when it involves a 6 string.

people.mp3 surehigh.mp3 fallen.mp3 soultraveler.mp3

If you are a player and a songwriter, you might be interested in my post on how I write songs.

What else can a soul do with a guitar? Your thoughts.