The Day the Music Was Reborn

Don't get me wrong Don McLean. I think we definitely suffered from the loss of Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper but music has suffered death once again. Now into my 4th decade of music and listening to music from my dad's generation I got to say we have suffered through a dark season recently. Suddenly everything is auto-tuned and digitalized. The Billboard charts lost their soul and sold out to commercialism and formulas. All we get is LadyMileyBeiberSpears shoved down our throats and told it is good for us. Soulless music deprived of anything artful, meaningful and just plain good. Country music just became rock with a fiddle. Rap just became about girls, making money and being awesome. Rock all but disappeared and I desperately await its return.

Don't get me wrong. There is still a jewel or two floating around out there. Reminders of what music once was. But good music had been dead and buried. Ladies and gentlemen let me tell you music has been resurrected. It has been resurrected in the form of modern folk music...yes...modern folk music.

My iTunes account is full of names like The Cave Singers, The Civil Wars, Mumford & Sons, First Aid Kit, Josh Garrels, The Mountain Goats, The Decemberists...and on it goes. That is barely scratching the surface. Music is rising again. Real music. Music that has passion, purity, heart and is really good to listen to. What a breath of fresh air. As I write this I am listening to Mumford's new album Babel. So good.

I do truly believe that these other genre's of music will find life again. One day. But I'm not waiting on them. I will go where there is life. I love old country, and the soul of rap music...and pretty much no pop music. Not since the 80's anyways.

OK I take music way too seriously. Maybe. Maybe not. I think music should tell us a story. It should tell us about the artist or the authors perception of the world. Just like painting, sculpting, composing or writing it should compel us and move us...not just ask us "what we gonna do with all that junk?" Good grief. lol.

Anyways. Check out Mumford & Sons if you never have before. Start with "Sigh No More" and move on to  "Babel". I haven't met anyone who has been disappointed. Peace.

Pulling Punches and Crossing Over to Crazy

So I am convinced. I am convinced more than ever that there comes a time when you just have to make a decision. We treat our lives as normal. We think, "Well I'm here. That's nice". We were meant for so much more than eeking out an existence. But for so many of us (including me) we just do enough to get by and have lost our hearts. Our passion. Ourselves.

Life is amazing! Isn't it? I mean here I am. I exist and it is awesome. What an amazing privilege. Don't get me wrong. Crap happens and tragedy strikes us all at some point, but that is something to hold on to as well. We are alive and experience it all. What a gift to get to experience life, love, hope, tragedy, but for so many of us we are paralyzed or numbed by it all and we pull up short in grabbing life and living it fully. I know I do.

I know I up and moved my whole family to Thailand. Some would say that is grabbing life and living but to be honest I still pull punches at times. I don't say what's really on my mind. I don't choose the adventure or the unknown. Even our move to Thailand was well researched and planned out as much as possible. I sit back at times and look at life and say, "I can never do that." Or I say, "Good for them, they took a risk and it worked (or it didn't)." But I don't make those choices. I play it as safe as possible. I push my limits to a point and say "that's far enough." But I have stifled the fire in my belly. We have been conditioned to stifle it. What about you? Not to be reckless...well maybe reckless. We worship "safety" and "predictability" and in the process we lose a piece of our soul.

I want my soul back.

I want to embrace this life I was given and live it. I have met amazing people in my life. They chose to live their lives by their rules and live it passionately. They don't seem to follow the dictates of their culture. I want to love people unconditionally. I want to believe I can do more than I ever thought I can do. I want to be the person God made me to be and not shy away from it. I have been pushed by those around to share my thoughts more. I tend to pull punches and say just enough. I tend to make different choices, but I don't cross the line to where people will think I'm crazy. But then isn't it more crazy to live life full of "what if's"? Surely there are worse things than failing. Like never trying.

I love my life. I love my family. I love everything about it. But I still think I am not living my life the way I was made to live it. I suffer for it. My family suffers for it. Because it steals my joy, my hope and love. So I have decided to embrace 3 things unashamedly.

1. Jesus. I want to be more like him. Honestly, who wouldn't?
2. Unconditional love for all people with no "but's" or (insert cliche' line here that makes us feel better).
3. That I have been given the "want to" to do some crazy things. Things I don't think I am physically able to or mentally tough enough to. And maybe I'm not, but I sure want to find out.

Ok. Enough talking about it. Good day.

And here I thought I was going to talk about the virtual partner option on my Garmin... maybe tomorrow.