First Thoughts and Reflections-You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Richard Carlson

I will be doing future posts on this book as I go back and review my highlights and notes, because there are a lot of great things to take out of this book. I wrote a few posts in the past about Richard Carlson’s book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff’ and enjoyed reading it for its practicality. I feel like this book is the same way.

Carlson begins with five chapters on five different principles for being happy: thought, mood, separate realities, feelings, and the present moment. He then talks about how to apply these principals to five different aspects of life: relationships, stress, solving problems, happiness, and habits. With this book only being around 140 pages, I find Carlson does very well with keeping the reader engaged while giving points of reflection.

The first major question I had for myself was, “Am I happy in the present moment and how long do I keep this feeling?” I have no doubt that I’m a happier person then I was a year ago or a few years ago, but there is a lot of room for improvement. As someone who is constantly absorbed in his own thoughts and someone who always feels like they should be doing better in life, it’s hard for me to remain happy with what I already have in my life. I must seek new ways of feeling happy and continue to understand when I’m in a high or low mood.

Second, all self help books I’ve read over the last year discuss what it means to be present in life. I really think that this was never a good quality in my life until recently, and I still struggle with being present. I now feel that being present is one of the ways to be happy and content. I find myself reflecting on this the most after a long and stressful day. Usually I will try to unwind somehow, like watching a show or listening to music or reading, but often realize that I can’t even focus on what I’m trying to relax to. Often, this brings on more stress when I begin to think about how busy the next day will be, and will stay up way too late with this discontented feeling.

Last thought for right now. Right from the first chapter of this book, “The Principle of Thought,” Carlson discusses that it is important to not be absorbed in our own thoughts, and that we should feel the satisfaction of being able to let go of bad thoughts. After all, thoughts are the only thing that remains of our perceptive past. I struggle the most with my thoughts in the mornings usually on busy days where I wake up wondering how I will even get my daily tasks completed. Staying away from my thoughts and outside of my own mind will be a struggle, because for years I thought that it was important to think and to “focus.” I also think I am to the point where my knowledge of this won’t do a whole lot for my own progress, and that it will just take practice and daily reinforcement.

I don’t want to do much of a review on this book, because I feel like many self-help books are subjective to what you are looking for and how open you are to the ideas being discussed. I feel like people who read this book should understand that happiness directly relates to a healthy psychological functioning. If you are like me and have read books on thinking positively, this will be a good book to put in context. It doesn’t discuss positive thinking, but simply recognizing low moods and how to return to a healthy psychological functioning.

Overall, I really do recommend this book to most readers and will be sure to do a few updates once I get around to reflecting more over this book.

Music Update, Lazy Sunday, Looking Ahead to the Week

First off, one day this week I think it is time for a bit of a blog makeover and restructure, I find that parts of this blog have changed and fallen off over time.

I would consider the gig that I had on Friday to be more of a success musically, but not much of a crowd. Still, the setting was unique and unlike many others, and now I know when Pagan Pride day is in St. Louis. I will be heading off to a few rehearsals tonight after I finish this, and one is for future recordings we will doing in the Matt McCallie Orchestra, so I will be sure to put up links for those in the future when they are put online.

Today I slept in for a bit, had a good lunch, and headed to the pool with my parents although I did more reading today then anything because of how busy it was. There’s no doubt that Summer is here in St. Louis and I’m sure we have a hot July and August to look forward to.

I would like to say that next week is looking less busy, but it really isn’t. I also hope to be more busy with certain job-related things this week considering it’s getting close to cutoff time and I have begun to apply for a few backups.

Instagram has video now, and it works on android…..AND you can use filters in the videos. I love Vine but until it works on all platforms, it’s going to be tough.

I hate to conform to Instagram too but I know that we all conform in one way or another. After all, I conformed to social media years and years ago and know I go on rants on social media about how I can’t keep up…on social media. But anyways, I’m a sucker for filters, and can never decide on what to use, so I always end up going with the coolest looking one. Here’s what I am doing now before I leave, with a nice filter.

Raw Earth tonight at Storm’s Hollow

Tonight, I will be making my premiere with Raw Earth at Storm’s Hollow in Ferguson, MO. This will undoubtedly be a show unlike anything I have done before and looking forward to fun times and new experiences. This is a burner event and a fundraiser for Pagan pride.

I’ll be back on this weekend to talk about how the event went and some upcoming shows that I will have coming up. I can’t find the event page, but more info on this event can be found at the Raw Earth Facebook page here.

Thoughts for a Busy Day

Tuesday’s have become the busiest days of the summer by far. I began today at 7:30 with a Skype interview which ended around 9:45. This has been by far the most difficult yet possibly most successful interview so far, but left me with the inability to think clearly and put the marathon into context. I feel grateful that it went well and that i had the opportunity, but it really changed around my plans for today!

Lately, I have had between 1-3 rehearsals on Tuesdays, every once in a while all three will land on the same day, today being one of them. I hope that i’m on my toes ready to go by then!

I have noticed on my blog lately that my most popular posts have been the movie reviews I’ve done, although I haven’t done a review in a few months. I was fortunate enough yesterday to go see Man of Steel and This is the End yesterday with a couple close friends, so maybe tomorrow or Thursday I will at least get around to sharing my thoughts on the two. I wish more days could be like yesterday.

If you’re reading this, wish me the best of luck!

Rewarding Saturday, Long Week

Thanks to any friends and anyone else that cam out to the show last night, the place was packed and everyone seemed to have a good time.

The week was quite exhausting and I really didn’t feel good any of the days. Even though I looked forward to last night so much, I wanted to make sure I got up at a reasonable hour today and enjoyed myself. It started with grabbing some food with my parents and then heading to the pool where we chilled in the lazy river and I got some fun reading done. That was followed by a quick shower and dinner with the family at Houlihan’s which is never upsetting and always a treat. Then after reading the recent issue of The Walking Dead, I proceeded to Tinder Box out in Des Peres where I enjoyed a nice cigar, friendly company, and even more fun reading. That brings me up to this point where I am now sitting at my desk in silence listening to the rain come down.

That is all for now. I hope my Bonaroo friends are all being safe and I look forward to seeing them in a couple days.

Hashtag Rehearsal Flow, pre Gig Plug

Greetings everyone reading. This has been such a long start to this week and I’m hoping to turn this week around even though I know I’m going to be just as busy. It’s 1:30 am and even though today was a success, it’s hard to put in context right now. Sleep shall come soon, I just didn’t want to forget about today before I pass it by.

I have a school interview tomorrow, and I really hope the district accepted my job interview as the screening and now having me come in. Either way, I should be hearing some new news pretty soon, and hopefully it’ll be the news where I can take away stress for a couple days then have a paradigm shift while looking towards the fall.

I had a couple rehearsals today, one was for a gig on Friday. I will be plugging this more on Thursday, but for now, just know that I will be playing on Friday and premiering with a group that has been around Saint Louis for a while now.

Now Android should update Vine, even though it isn’t up to them.

Vine App: New Love and Obsession

With all the social media these days, even a young guy like me is like “Whaaaaaaaa?” I have Facebook, this WordPress blog, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Linkedin, Snapchat, and probably some that i’m forgetting. I don’t use all of these daily but really, how could someone? That’s why I like my blog, I feel like it’s mutual ground and if you don’t want to read it like most, then you can just move on. Besides, this blog links to many other social network sites that I’m on.

An old roommate told me about the app Vine and seeing that they just released it on Android, I figured I’d check it out. Since it’s early in production for Android, I also put it on my iPad until it becomes a bit smoother.  First, it’s fun and doesn’t have to be time consuming, which makes it a bit addictive. Secondly, this is the kind of app that I wish I had thought of because it fits perfectly with what’s been popular and still is popular on the internet. If you’re unfamiliar with the app, it allows you to create six second videos, or put together small clips into a video, almost like making your own .gif file. I can’t wait to see all the funny videos that will come out and see how popular this app really becomes.

Here is my first post, without audio. I’m sure Sophie will be making plenty of Vine appearances in the future.

Currently Listening: Ethiopiques 14-Getatchew Mekurya

Normally I would do a review on this, but given my time constraints, I’ll just write about my thoughts on this album. In a recent post, I wrote about how I am now rehearsing with Raw Earth, an African/World drumming group based in St. Louis. One of the musicians passed on this album to me as it was an artist that I was unfamiliar with.

Through my first listening, there were a lot of things about this album and saxophonist that I didn’t find surprising, and some parts I wasn’t expecting. Getatchew Mekurya is still considered to be the premiere saxophonist in Ethiopia, and I was surprised to learn that he still is around and playing today. The overall haunting mood of this album was what I was expecting, full of African influences. There are usual high and low points to every song, creating a lot of excitement to me as the listener. These recordings were done in the 1970’s and Mekurya’s sound reminds me of players from the past and his own generation. He plays with a big sound with inflections and often a wide use of vibrato that makes his sound appealing and it doesn’t become dull after the first listening.

I was surprised to find that most of this music has form and keeps it throughout the song. Though I would consider Mekurya’s playing to have avant garde influences (or maybe vice-versa), he still plays and responds to the ensemble. I also love the use of the organ, another part of this album I didn’t expect.

Overall, if you want a great example of the Shilela, a popular type of Ethiopian song, check out this album. Though Mekurya can seem complex to the listener, there is no denying that he plays with real human qualities.

Why I Hate Pollen (allergies)

I blame my laziness on my allergies which have gotten to an unavoidable point, and the meds that sometimes work and always make me tired. I should feel sort of lucky that it should be more of a relaxing week, but it doesn’t help my urge for productivity. Here is a photo of sorts that a few of my friends have posted today and it’s good to see that I’m not the only one struggling.

 

And yes, that red speck in the middle is where I call home. I’m sick of it and only got one thing done on my list of what I should do. The rest of the evening will consist of finishing Arrested Development and getting closer to catching up on The Walking Dead comics. Not sure what tomorrow will consist of but I should be relaxing with Nolan during the day and getting ready for a few rehearsals. Speaking of which, I’m excited about the playing possibilities this summer and hopefully things continue working out. I’ll update more on this later on during the week. Wish me luck!