Applying Theory To Everyday Life: A Musician's Perspective

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 20 | Reflection

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What a wonderful coincidence that my reflection post happens to be on New Year's Day! Not that I'm all that bothered about dates. Things like Christmas, New Year's Day and birthdays are all just the same as any other day to me. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate that I reflect on a day like this.

2016 was a year of learning for me. Some of the most profound experiences happened to me during this year regarding self-actualisation. I've been moved to tears of joy and I've been in simultaneous states of awe and terror following some important discoveries about the true self.

I think one of the most enjoyable meditation sessions I ever had was when I went to a place in the Peak District and scaled up a steep hill, which was almost like a cliff, with my guitar. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things that ended up being incredibly fulfilling as I got to meditate for several hours as well as receive some creative ideas for my guitar playing. One of the highlights was watching a plane flying through the valley at a lower altitude than I was. I'll link a photo of that awesome day!

The other really important lessons I learnt were regarding time management (as I've written about previously) and relationships. I ended up trying out a few potential partners for relationships but none of them really worked out. The reason I tried it out in the first place was to discover how my mind would cope in those situations. It was very difficult to deal with rejection at points throughout the year. But that lead me to discover about true forgiveness and what it means to feel compassionate and unconditionally loving towards someone, so it worked out for the better in the end.

I like to think that I had a pretty good work ethic last year. However, compared to what I have become now, it looked like I was a real slacker! I've found a way to organise myself so that I can be super productive without ever feeling like I'm doing hard work. After all, there are many things I could be doing that are more difficult than music.

I've become really on top of my psychology this year. That is something I will always be looking to improve in the future. My commitment to self-actualisation work has become stronger than ever before because I can see the potential it has to make my life extraordinary. Last night, with the help of The Big Leap, I have developed a clearer understanding of what my unique abilities are and what my life purpose entails. I know what I need to spend my time doing now, and now I just need to make sure that I commit to doing those things without getting distracted.

Despite all the misery that is floating around the media and the news about 2016, I have to be honest and say that it has been perhaps the most enlightening year of my life so far. Looking back at myself this time last year, I can't even remember what I was doing. It feels like I've been reborn. I have changed so much that I can't even recognise the person I was a year ago today. That fascinates me!

All I can say is that I feel very content with the present moment. I have changed for the better. My time is being well-spent and I'm savouring every passing moment. Long may it continue.

 

Pick of the day: Shades Of Green - Phil Keaggy

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 21 | The Big Leap

Recently, I've been reading through The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. I've finished the book and I'm now applying the exercises, techniques and strategies to my life. Today's entry will be spent expressing my thoughts on the book, the most important lessons and discoveries I've made, and what potential I believe it brings for my own life.

To sum up my thoughts in a sentence, it has been an enjoyable and enlightening read from start to finish. I should mention that this is the first self-help book I've ever picked up to read. I've been used to making the most of the free material that exists on the internet up until recently. While that stuff can be really useful, this book feels much more intimate and personal, going into great depth about the concepts and their applications in our everyday life.

What I liked about this book is that you felt as though you were not only learning from the author, Gay, but you were also connecting with him. He uses many anecdotes to illustrate the power behind the concepts that he presents, which gives you no reason to doubt that he knows his stuff.

 

There are two fundamental lessons that I've learned from this book:

1. Your life purpose is to live in your Zone of Genius.

2. There is only one universal problem that stops you from reaching your full potential: the Upper Limit Problem.

 

Gay goes to extraordinary lengths to define both the 'Zone of Genius' and the 'Upper Limit Problem.' For that reason, the only thing I can do is to summarise these terms to the best of my ability. I would recommend reading the book for the most crystalized understandings of these terms.

When you live in your 'Zone of Genius,' you are living in accordance with a set of values and assets that are unique to you which give you the most fulfilment in life. The 'Upper Limit Problem' is a function of the unconscious mind to reduce the amount of abundance, success and love in your life.

Gay provides a number of action steps to help you combat both of these concepts. Having taken some of the action steps myself, I've started to become vigilent of the ways in which my Upper Limit Problem hold me back and now I'm starting to grasp how to deal with them.

I also have developed a much more precise understanding of what my life purpose is. For years, I thought it simply consisted of musical mastery and playing guitar. Now I can appreciate that it is more complex than that, although that part still remains true.

This book has provided me with an enhanced perspective of my life purpose and the specific ways in which my Upper Limit Problem prevents me from living it. I can see that these teachings will have a significant impact on my approach to my work and, when I care about it, my relationships.

It's definitely worth the read!

 

The next book I'll be reading is The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. This one will be particularly relevant for me as I embark on a career as a musician/performer. I'll no doubt make a similar post when I finish that book.

 

Pick of the day: Different Trains - Movement III: After the War - Steve Reich

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 22 | Time and Productivity

Theory: With a higher understanding of what time is and where it comes from, you can create as much of it as you want.

Applying it: During meditation practice, completely forget about the concept of time and experience existence for what it truly is.

 

Around this time last year, I decided to set myself a more strict self-actualisation routine. My routine way 4 hours a day for meditating, self-enquiry, visualisations and journaling. To be truthful, it only lasted 2 weeks. But this was because those 2 weeks were the most eye-opening weeks of my life. I remember feeling so joyful after having experienced the realisation of the true self. However, I think what happened to me was a case of Zen Devilry as I scrapped that regime and decided to go pursue some things that got me into trouble (I have learned from you, Leo!)

During those two weeks, I experienced a slowing down of time that I had never thought possible. It was difficult to explain how or why this happened, but it happened. As I got deeper into self-actualisation, time got slower. It never felt like it was going painfully slow to the point of being bored shitless. Rather, it was like my days felt more thorough and consciously lived. Time didn't fly, it flowed.

After recently reading The Big Leap, I felt satisfied when I read an entire chapter dedicated to 'Einstein Time.' It feels very fulfilling to make an observation on your own and then read it in a powerful book much later. It confirmed one thing at least: I wasn't going mad.

Since I made the more successful long-term commitment to self-actualisation about a month ago, I can feel the effects of time once again slowing down. During my meditation today, I finally dissolved time into nothingness and appreciated existence without its burden. It didn't matter when my timer would sound to end my hour of meditation. As far as I was concerned, there was no such timer and there would be no such time.

Additionally, I've been able to maintain peak performance all day with my work. For only about 2 hours, I managed to write about 2000 words on my movie project for university without burning out. I've also got some more work done creating my personal website for my music which I will share when it's finished.

My concept of time is this: Time is illusory. The past and the future doesn't exist. All that exists is the present moment and, therefore, that is all that matters.

Understanding the concept is easy. Embodying it is hard. For example, at the present moment, I'm sat by my laptop typing words into this journal entry. That remains true so long as it is in the present moment. As soon as I submit this post, however, the situation of me typing up words will be in the past. Therefore, the situation becomes an illusion and, as a result, it is no longer true.

Another example. Here you are now, in the present moment, reading these words. That's true. But as soon as you click away and these words disappear, all you will be left with is a memory of these words. The questions you should ask include "Do those words exist now? Did that thing that happened a second ago even happen? If I visualised myself clicking off this journal, would that make it true if it's inevitably going to happen anyway?"

There are ways to answer these questions and paradoxes which can transform the way you think about the concepts. I may make a post about that in the future.

For now, I'll just say that by successfully embodying the concept that time is illusory, you can experience the smooth, relaxed flow of time through your body rather than the more traditional concept that says "we're running out of time!" You can be more productive with minimal time spent, giving you time to do what you know you've always wanted to do: SELF-ACTUALISE!

 

Pick of the day: 32 Metronome Synchronization

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 23 | Be Careful What You Wish For

Theory: If you have wants or desires because you think the material rewards will give you happiness and fulfilment, it's time to reassess them.

Applying it: Be clear why you have wants and desires and understand that no material rewards can influence the way you feel.

 

2016 was a year of learning for me. One of the biggest defining moments occurred when I started asking myself why I have the desires I do.

I have played the guitar for 10 years and have studied music academically for 7 years. My ambition was to make a career as a musician. Then on one fateful day, I asked myself "Why do I want this?" With everything I had learned about the ego, I was shocked and slightly crushed to discover that for 10 years, my motivations were to satisfy the needs of my ego.

My focus was always on the reward. I wanted to become a world-renowned guitar player because I believed that it would give me fulfilment in life. Having studied fulfilment, I finally recognised that no amount of prestige or money would ever be able to grant me fulfilment. Like every emotion, fulfilment comes from within and can be harnessed at any given moment.

That's how I knew that this was the work of the ego: it wanted to create an identity worth living for. It would grant me fulfilment only when several thousand conditions were met in my life regarding my success.

I had a choice to make. I could either continue to pursue my goals at creating a career as a musician or I could re-evaluate my authentic desires and see where that takes me. In choosing to do the latter option, I bizarrely found myself exactly where I started. My desires for performing music remained unshattered. This was the path I needed to take.

To give you a bit of back-story, my teenage years were perhaps the worst years of my life. After being rejected from a big circle of friends, I ended up feeling vulnerable to pretty much everyone. I decided to use the guitar as my salvation. It was going to be my way of proving to my ex-friends that they had made a big mistake.

Granted, my motivations were never out of love for the instrument but it felt like I had no choice in my position. I wanted to end my suffering and the only solution my young mind could think of was to become a kick-ass guitarist. As the years went on, I became better and better. After winning a school talent show in Year 11, my friends finally started to respect me. I'd reached my goal. I felt kick-ass!

As I got older, I started to let go of those needs to be accepted and started loving music for what it is. Every time I pick up an instrument, it feels so divine and whole that the idea of quitting seems ridiculous. It feels so magical to receive ideas from my creative Muse and be able to instantly perform them. The music flows through my body like a spirit.

It's this reason that I decided to continue my pursuit of a career in music. It is no longer to make a name for myself in the guitar community. It is no longer because I believe the success will bring me fulfilment. It is because of that divine flow of energy that runs through my body whenever I play music. That in itself is incredibly fulfilling. It becomes more fulfilling the more I can allow my Muse to speak through me.

On the outside, my approach doesn't look much different. The key difference on the inside, however, is my intentions. Rather than using my ability to play the guitar to put me on a pedestal above others, I want to use them to explore the many beautiful sounds that are possible on the instrument. I also want to push myself on a daily basis to improve my technique so that I can accommodate any new ideas that my Muse presents me with.

I have a sudden urge to explore what music I can create using pots and pans in the kitchen. It's the most bizarre thing that my Muse has come up with but I must surrender myself to it, even if it's going to annoy the neighbours!

 

The main thing to remember is that your intentions are more important than your actions. If your intentions are to serve your ego, then you must expect the misery that accompanies it. Whereas if your intentions are to serve your intuition, creative Muse or your Higher Self in general, you can expect to feel the fulfilment it brings with it.

 

Pick of the day: Raag Jog - Ravi Shankar

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 24 | Worries

Theory: Worrying is perhaps the single most unnecessary thing that we do. Yet we seem to continue doing it despite the negative energy it provides.

Applying it: List everything that you remember worrying about and work out methods to eliminate those worries.

 

I've returned back to university and my schedule is back on track. I've worked out my whole day to give me time to meditate, exercise, do university work, do applied self-actualisation work, cook tasty food, play on my instruments, do some reading and still have a bit of chill time. It's so wonderful to have the freedom to plan my day's work and that's something I'm going to make the most of during my final year.

Anyway, today's topic comes from a little exercise I did today. It felt like I was so enthralled with my new self-help books that I forgot to stop reading them and actually do the work. So as part of my hour of applied work, I decided to focus my attention on worries.

Usually, when I sit down to contemplate, I feel so present that when I try and focus on my worries, my attention would always be shifted to being in the moment and enjoying what existence is. That's all well and good. However, what I noticed as I carried out this exercise was that my mind had plenty to worry about.

The exercise is as simple as just sitting down and writing a list of things that you worry about. My mind came up with the initial response "I feel fine, I'm not worried right now." As I didn't want to waste my hour, I dug deep into my past and uncovered as many worries as I could. It seemed that after I found the first few worries, my mind just began to pour them out by the dozen.

It was an eye-opening experience. To see your mind's worries in a long list makes you appreciate that there will always be work to be done on this self-actualization journey.

As I took a quick glance over them, I could see the stupidity of these worries. In each case, I could come up with a good argument against them. Yet the truth is that those worries are still present in my mind. They still need to be addressed.

So that is my goal now. I need to go through each worry-thought, let myself feel the worry in my body, and then go through the process of releasing that feeling and replacing it with positive energy. This technique helped me overcome my social anxieties during the start of university. I'm confident that it will work once again for my worries.

Naturally, it won't be the most pleasant experience to sit down feeling all my worries. But it's a crucial step that I have to take in order to release them. Sure, I can argue against all of my worries when I'm not feeling those worries. But when I have those negative emotions flowing through my body, it takes a lot of strength to make those arguments stick. When they finally do, the worry will disappear.

I've yet to try this out, of course. But this method worked wonders for my anxiety. Two years ago, I would struggle to be in a crowded room without a good purpose (e.g. performing a show.) Today, I give no shits.

And that's exactly what I want to be able to do with my worries. If it means doing something practical to get rid of those worries, fine. If it means just sitting and arguing against each worry until I get the message, fair enough. As long as I can be willing to feel those emotions, I'll be in the best position to know how to deal with them.

 

Pick of the day: Don't Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 25 | Guitar Mastery

Theory: It feels deeply fulfilling to gain mastery of anything, especially if you're passionate about it.

Applying it: If you have a desire to master a creative art, just do it. Life will never be the same again once you reach mastery.

 

I'm a little bit dazed and speechless right now. Please forgive my writing ability today.

My original plan was to talk about my findings regarding how I am going to deal with my emotions. Right now, I have no plan. I'm just sat here feeling ecstatic.

I've just had a short jamming session to myself on the guitar. When I play music, my whole essence of being changes. It likely results from my past experiences. As I play, my sense of self vanishes and my body flows with music. It's like I become the music.

Today was perhaps the deepest I've ever gone.

I'm having to concentrate so hard to actually produce words.

I may have talked about the Muse before. In summary, it's a mysterious, uncontrollable force that provides us with ideas and inspiration. In my case, it provides me with music.

Steven Pressfield talks about these muses in The War of Art, which I've nearly finished reading. He refers to them as godly forces that belong outside of time and space. They are a part of what is effectively the True Self, aka God, the Higher Self, etc.

To think that music comes from such a divine place makes me appreciate it even more. It's just beautiful.

What was special about today was how I was able to receive the music from these muses in the True Self, produce them instantaneously in this time-bound universe and be highly aware of all of my sense at the same time. This all took the form of one long improvisation.

Sure, there were imperfections in my playing. That's completely natural. However, I managed to sustain that divine connection into the Higher Self and play the music. When that happens, it almost feels like I've turned on a tap to allow all of these musical ideas to pour into our everyday existence. As a result, I feel whole and completely at one with existence. And I struggle to find the words to talk about it afterwards!

 

If anything can be taken from this experience, it's that the deepest levels of happiness and fulfilment come from following your most passionate dreams. This modernised version of happiness, which involves alcohol, clubbing, partying, drugs, presents at Christmas time, birthday celebrations, binge-watching TV, excessive listening to music, eating fatty foods and countless other unhealthy activities, is a complete waste of your time and potential as a human being.

What excites me the most is that I know that there is still so much more to learn about music and guitar playing. I'm no master at guitar playing and I never profess to be. While my mastery is significantly high compared to the average person, there will always be new challenges for me to overcome.

That is why I love what I do. This intense feeling of joy in my body can only grow bigger and stronger and, all being well, I've still got some mileage to explore how far it will go.

I'm so happy that I've found this level of high from nature, not drugs.

I've got nothing but love running through my body now. For all things.

Need to go and cry now!

 

Pick of the day: Sacred Medley - Doyle Dykes

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 26 | Dreams

Theory: It can be beneficial to try and interpret dreams to see what they can teach you about yourself.

Applying it: When memorable dreams happen, take as many notes as you can about what you experienced. Then try and understand them.

 

Following yesterday's experiences, I had some of the most unusual dreams. There were three distinct dream scenarios that I can remember: a soul-lifting one, a run-in with a thief, and a mystery.

To understand concepts in dreams on a basic level, I use Dream Moods to find basic information about specific things that happen. To understand the dream in its entirety, I have to connect everything together to create the bigger picture.

I've only recently started to believe in the power of dreams and their relevance to everyday life. After understanding the concepts of Muses and the Higher Self, it seems obvious that these are where the dreams are coming from. If they create dreams of vivid beauty and intensity, then it's time to sit down and interpret them because the true Self is trying to communicate something vital to me.

The first dream I had was the soul-lifting one. In short, I dreamt about seeing a god-sized skyscraper/tower over the horizon with a lookalike Statue of Liberty on the top. I was stood somewhere in England and was told that the tower was in Korea (weird dream logic!). The next thing I know, my body is flying across the world to reach this tower, with my parents by my side. We flew around it to witness its majesty and then flew back to England.

Now at any other time in my life, I would have just passed that off as one of the most bizarre dreams ever and look over it. However, I can see the strong connection between that dream and the sheer joy I experienced yesterday whilst playing guitar. After looking up the meanings of each aspect of the dream, this is the analysis I made:

Quote

Overall, I think this dream came to me to show me that I’ve reached a whole new level of spirituality. Also it shows that my high ideals, creativity and imagination are the most important things in my life right now. Seeing the Statue of Liberty and my parents flying beside me is an indication that I have found my own independence and I don’t need to rely on them anymore, even though I love them so much. The dream was very exhilarating and left me feeling whole and complete.

1

That was with the help of Dream Moods to help me explore the significance of each part of my dream.

What I noticed as I looked up each part of the dream was that each of the explanations felt true. For some things, there was more than one explanation, which led to just choosing the appropriate truth.

A skeptic might argue that this website is just a bit of fun. The explanations they give are so vague and basic that you'll just project your life experiences onto them and claim them to be true.

All I have to say is that there was a very good reason why I received this dream at this point in my life. The same applies for the other dreams. I genuinely feel like I am connecting more spiritually with existence, like I'm valuing my creativity and imagination, like I have found my own independence to make the most of my life. The Self has produced these dreams following my breakthrough yesterday to show me that these things are vital aspects in my life. It is telling me that I'm growing.

My third dream also affirms this. I dreamt that I was lost in a busy airport when I bumped into a music trio. One of them looked like Evelyn Glennie. As we were talking, some kid tried to steal a guitar: my guitar. I wrestled him to the ground and fought him until he let go and I came out on top.

Here's my analysis:

Quote

Being lost in an airport seems to represent me adjusting to a new departure in my life. This might be a whole new spiritual adventure that I am embarking on due to my sheer joy of playing guitar yesterday. Seeing a band and Evelyn Glennie in my dream reaffirm my life purpose to perform and suggest that I am thinking more similarly about music as Evelyn. My guitar in the dream represented that I am focused on enjoying life and all that it has to offer, as well as my talents and my ability to communicate with others. To fight against a thief and win must symbolize that I am doing everything in my power to prevent people and circumstances from taking these desires away from me.

2

In this dream, I am fighting for my highest values. Namely, I want my guitar not to be stolen because of the happiness it brings me. In my waking life, I am battling to maintain my highest priorities. Namely, I want time to contemplate, meditate, create music, learn, and so on. I have to say no to everything that is not important to me.

The second dream I had was a bit more specific and unrelated to the other two. But by carrying out analysis on my dreams, I've learned so much about myself. I know that I'm growing spiritually, my life purpose has been affirmed by the true Self and my highest values have been presented to me.

This is all done with incredibly subtle delivery, to which I highly recommend Dream Moods to get you started. If you can take away anything from this post, let it be this: dreams are full of wisdom from the true Self. Listen to them, take note of their messages, and apply it to your waking life.

 

Pick of the day: Dream Beach - Michael Hedges

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 27 | The War Of Art

So as I did with The Big Leap, I'm going to talk about my experience with The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield.

While this book seems a lot less practical in terms of action steps, The War Of Art has turned out to be a highly informative read particularly for me as a musician. As my second self-help book, this has presented me with a spiritual way of looking at art, describing where it comes from and how it can be harnessed. It is probably the book that has inspired me to take an interest in spirituality in the last few days.

The book is divided into three parts. The first talks about our Resistance to pursuing art as a life purpose. There are many ways that our minds prevent us from succeeding with our goals. Steven goes into depth about all of the possible ways that cause us to fail, claiming that this is the result of our Resistance.

The layout of the book seems somewhat artistic, in my opinion, as there is a mixture of headings with huge chunks of text underneath and headings with one sentence underneath. Each point Steven makes is concise where it needs to be and detailed where it is called for.

The second part of the book, which was particularly useful, was the distinction between the Amateur and the Professional. As an aspiring musician, this is the exact advice that I have been looking for to help me adopt the right professional attitude. 

The third part goes into the juicy content. Steven talks about muses, angels, the Ego, the Self (or God), the authentic self and the difference between hierarchical and territorial orientations. He lays out fundamental information in a no-nonsense way that feels completely genuine. Although it might take a lot to convince someone who isn't that open-minded of these concepts, I can recognise the wisdom beneath the words on the page thanks to having studied self-actualization for a while.

The book itself doesn't blatantly ask you to carry out action steps to internalise the concepts that it provides. However, there are many teachings in the book that will be incredibly useful for success and happiness. Rather than just believing those teachings, all I have to do is to look for direct experiences in my own life that validate these teachings. That way, I will be able to witness the teachings and unquestionably rely on them.

I would recommend this book to anyone with artistic or entrepreneurial aspirations, or to anyone who wants to understand the Ego and the Self.

The next book on my list is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It might be a while before I produce a review of that book because it has occurred to me that I am reading them too fast. I'm so eager that I forget to spend the time reading my previous books to death.

 

Pick of the day: Masterpiece - Paul Drayton (performed by The King's Singers)

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 28 | Flowing Creativity

Theory: If you structure your time properly, you can ensure that you maintain a peak performance level in your creative endeavours. Favour more days with less hours than less days with more hours.

Applying it: Schedule your day so that you are doing your creative work at the same time each day for the same amount of time.

 

As part of my music degree, I have chosen a module that allows me to compose music for two short films. Although this is all the work I have to do for the first semester, it takes up a lot of time. To compose around 6 minutes of music for an entire orchestra is a daunting prospect at first. And with one more week until the deadline, I have to make sure that my time is spent wisely.

I'm going to use the gym as an example for how to ensure peak performance level. While it may not be a creative activity like music composing, it is the most relatable example that shows how time spent is proportional to tiredness and fatigue.

If you spend about 30 minutes a day in the gym (as I do), you spend enough time so that your body and mind receive a workout without getting excessive fatigue afterwards. Counterintuitively, you will feel more energised throughout the day and your desired goal (lose weight, gain muscle, etc.) will slowly, but surely, start fulfilling itself.

Whereas if you take the more impatient approach and try to go 90 minutes a day, your body will become incredibly fatigued and sore while your mind grows tired. You may be inclined to miss a day at the gym and when that happens, it will be twice as difficult to return.

Any Actualized.org fanatics will probably recognise that Leo gave this advice in one of his videos. I'm mentioning it here because it's true. By taking the patient, 30-minute approach, you open yourself up to way more fulfilment and productivity. You will feel inclined to work extra hard on some days because 30 minutes is practically no time at all.

I have started using this exact process on my creative work. Each day this week, I am committing 4 hours to finishing my film composing. The rest of my day is for gym, music practice and self-actualization work.

The ideal scenario is that by the end of the 4 hours, I will have produced a lot of work and I will still feel eager to continue. It is extremely important that I stop myself because, just like the gym, I don't want to spend so much time that I begin to grow tired of it.

Disregarding some preparation time over the Christmas holidays, I have worked on my film score for 3 days from 1-5pm. My productivity levels have remained extremely high and consistent, being able to produce 1 minute of music per day.

The reason why I think this works so well is that I have made a strict schedule for myself. I know that from 1-5pm each day until the deadline, my sole focus is on what I have to create. I don't focus on what I'm having for tea or what time I'm going to write my journal entry because I have planned it all out.

When you set specific times to do your creative work, your Higher Self will start to recognise the pattern and it will start producing you with an abundance of creative ideas exactly when you need them. It doesn't give you these ideas at any other time in the day (or at least not very often) because it has synced with your schedule. That's why so far, I don't feel short for creative ideas.

Before this year, I was far less organised with my work. I never scheduled my time whatsoever. The work only got done when I started stressing about it. And of course, with no strict schedule for myself, I felt constantly short for creative ideas when I needed them most. The ideas I came up with were completely arbitrary with no imagination at all. My marks came back significantly low and I felt bitterly disappointed with myself.

By embracing a strict schedule, all of the stresses and the clawing for creative ideas can be avoided completely. This is the first time in my life that I can confidently say that I have no stresses about getting my work in on time. And that confidence can even feed into your creative abilities and your resilience to fatigue, maintaining your peak level of performance.

Overall, remember to choose the patient option: spend more days with fewer hours in them to do your work, rather than cramming in as many hours as you can into a few days. Also, make sure those hours you do spend are at the same time each day so your body and mind can get into the habit of working. By doing this, you transform your stresses and worries into positive, creative energy that will leave you feeling fulfilled.

 

Pick of the day: Victor Borge - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 piano jokes

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 29 | Healthy Eating

Theory: By making a commitment never to buy unhealthy foods again, it becomes much easier to enjoy healthier foods.

Applying it: Take note of your eating habits and try and imagine what would make your meals healthier. Buy the foods you come up with and commit to eating them.

 

I find it pretty crazy that my friends and family consider me as a healthy eater. Given the chance, I could devour an entire chocolate orange in one go if I wanted to. Sadly, I still have that tendency to finish them completely. But for me, the trick is to never cut down on such foods but to cut them out altogether.

I've started to acquire a deep appreciation for my body thanks to self-actualization work. I feel so grateful to have a young, fit body to walk around in. To honour my body, I eat healthy food and go to the gym every day. The temptation to have a take-away meal, fast food or microwave meals has been completely removed from my psyche.

Whenever I go food shopping, there is no reason for me to buy chocolate or biscuits for myself upon each visit. There are lots of tasty fruits, vegetables, salads, fish, meat and other things that will actually nourish my body without filling it with fat, sugar and salt.

Having said all that, I am no health guru. There are still many ways I can improve my habits. Even the occasional time I fancy buying chocolate as a one-off reward, which happens very infrequently, can be removed completely.

The trouble starts when you own unhealthy food in the first place. Especially with Christmas just gone, my family members have bought me chocolates as a present. I still have some biscuits left over from when I bought them last month. As they sit there, I can just imagine them calling to me saying "taste my deliciousness!"

Owning the food in the first place becomes more than just distracting. Let's say I want to get rid of it. If I gave it to a friend, would that mean that I am encouraging their unhealthy eating? If I threw it in the bin, would that be an abuse of my privileges to throw away edible food like that? If I finish it myself, then I won't accomplish my goal to not eat unhealthy food.

All of these problems come about just by simply having unhealthy food in your possession. That's why it's best to just not come into possession of them. When you get past the urge to binge on some fatty foods, you start to appreciate healthy food on a much deeper level.

For instance, I've started having chopped banana slices on my Shredded Wheat in a morning and it tastes so divine! When you remember that these fruits are just grown by the Earth rather than some factory, it just makes the taste of it even sweeter. I can't believe that I'm getting passionate about having a banana for breakfast but it honestly is the most revitalising food I've had at breakfast!

Better stop now before I talk about how much I enjoy salads!

But to cap it off, it is very satisfying to hear people compliment you for your healthy approach to food and even more rewarding when they become inspired to do the same.

Let's face it: we are what we eat. So eat healthily!

 

Pick of the day: Watermelon Man - Michael Hedges

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 30 | Reflection

That's roughly one month since I started this journal. I'm amazed at how I became so committed to writing every single day, even though my timing has been a bit iffy in the past!

So I'm back at university now and my deadlines are on the horizon. My coursework will be handed into the office next Tuesday and after that, there is a performance exam with some friends.

It comes as a wonderful relief to admit that I am completely stress-free at this point in time. I have my past self to thank for setting that goal several months ago (before I started this journal). For once, I feel disciplined in my life. My vision back then was on the long-term benefits that I am feeling today: peace of mind and the confidence that I gave it my all with my work.

As far as self-actualization work, I have never been more productive than I am now. I spend 4 hours a day dedicated to meditation, applied work, journaling and reading. To sacrifice short-term pleasures, such as watching TV, for something so rewarding has been one of the best decisions in my life. I never cared for much of the other stuff in the first place.

Having said all that, there is still much work to be done. SO MUCH.

In the past, I only ever applied self-help strategies to my life when I wanted to make big changes in my life. This included overcoming severe anxiety, trying out the dating scene, setting a schedule for myself, and so on.

Now that I have made the promise to constantly do applied work to be the best I can be, there are suddenly lots of barriers preventing me from reaching that goal. And it is a goal. I feel so inspired to become the best version of myself now.

There are many ways that my Ego is stopping me from reaching my goal of living in accordance with the Higher Self. That's actually something I discovered about my meditation today. Now that I know what to do when my Ego strikes again, it'll by no means be easy to overcome it. That's where I've got to stay strong-willed and determined in my efforts. I know the Higher Self is the best thing to believe in but I also need to keep drilling that idea into me until my Ego backs down.

Also with my applied work, I'm starting to make a list of commitments. These are phrases that I need to know off by heart whenever I notice myself falling off track. For example, if I catch myself trying to come up with excuses so that I don't have to do some applied work, then I reaffirm myself: "I commit to maintaining my integrity by honouring my schedule."

I've never tried this technique before. But by having them written on a whiteboard in front of me when I'm at my desk, I'm constantly being reminded each day about what my problem is and how I should fix it. In the future, I'll write about the very first technique I ever learned for self-improvement, which is what I am using now to dissect my problems and invent solutions to them.

It's come to a point now where I have learned so much actualization work that I am starting to "connect the dots," as Leo likes to say a lot, between multiple sources. Every time I hear something new, instantly I think "that sounds similar to what he said over here" or "this is a different way of looking at it compared to her way over there."

Throughout my whole life, I've always been a bit of a dreamer. Coming up with grand goals for how I was going to be a kick-ass guitar player with the coolest tunes ever!

Looking at my situation right now, I'm sensing something. I can't describe what it is. Maybe it's like some spiritual growth or shift of energy. Whatever it is, it is making me feel like I am going somewhere special in my life. Of course, who am I to assume that my life is going to be so wonderful and happy? But in terms of what I value most in this existence, I feel like I am more capable now than ever before to bring everything together and create a life that I love deeply.

 

Pick of the day: Stronger Than Me - Amy Winehouse

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 31 | The Model

Theory: This is the ultimate model that shows you how your psychology creates your results in life.

Applying it: If ever you have any thoughts, feelings or results that you want to change, use The Model to understand where you are coming from and where you eventually want to be.

 

This was the very first technique I ever learned for personal development, designed by Brook Castillo. I first stumbled upon her podcast "The Life Coach School Podcast" when I was looking for ways to deal with my anxiety problems two years ago now. It benefited me hugely and it applied to every situation I found myself in.

That's why I love The Model. It's the number one method to deeply examine any problem that you had. On the one hand, it gives you a neat overview of what is going on in your mind. On the other hand, it can be used to create substantial changes to your life if you stuck by it.

I'm not saying that this is a better technique than any other that's out there. However, it is the one technique I have found myself returning back to time and time again. For that reason only, it is perhaps my favorite.

 

Here is The Model:

Circumstance:

Thoughts:

Feelings:

Actions:

Results:

 

Explanation: The first thing you start with is a circumstance (i.e. what is). Your circumstances trigger thoughts. Those thoughts create feelings. Your feelings inspire your actions. Your actions create your results. In all cases, your results will validate your thoughts.

Brook explains this model in great detail on her podcasts which I highly recommend. She emphasizes that the Circumstance line must be something that is factual, not opinionated. For example, you can't have "my boss doesn't like me," but you can have "my boss shouted at me." The former would be the thought that follows the circumstance.

This model can be used to show the power of The Law Of Attraction too. I'll use one I filled out today as an example.

Negative Model

Circumstance: I am currently studying my final year at university.

Thoughts: “What if I don’t succeed with my career?” “What if I end up having no friends?” “What if I fail or give up on my desires?”

Feelings: Confusion, worry, anxiety.

Actions: Take no action to secure these goals.

Results: You won’t succeed, have any friends or follow through on your desires.

 

Notice that the thoughts here are all focused on the things that I don't want. Failure, loneliness, quitting. By focusing on these things, I trigger negative feelings that end up making me too afraid to take action, which give me the bad results. The results validate the original thoughts.

Now if I take the same circumstance and convert the thought line to only include positive thoughts, we have this idea:

 

Positive Model

Circumstance: I am currently studying my final year at university.

Thoughts: “I am going to succeed with my career, no matter what.” “I will have great friends no matter what.” “I will achieve my desires no matter what.”

Feelings: Determination, security, resilience.

Actions: You will make the effort to do the work necessary to achieve your goals.

Results: You will succeed with your career, relationships, and desires.

 

All of a sudden, the feelings have transformed into the necessary emotions that will allow me to do the work necessary to achieve my goals. The circumstance doesn't need to change. In fact, some circumstances can't be changed such as terminal illnesses or death of a loved one.

The only thing that you have the power to change is your thoughts. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of drilling in these new thoughts to replace the old thoughts. But, another thing I learned from Brook, your brain likes to focus on what it is good at. And how do you get good at something? By repeating it over and over. That is what practice is all about; repetition, repetition, repetition.

If you're constantly thinking negative thoughts, it is because you've gotten so good at practicing thinking them that it may be an unconscious process. The Model is your best shot at bringing these unconscious thought patterns into your awareness.

If you want to change your thoughts to positive thoughts, you practice thinking them. Repeat them over and over again until your brain gets the message that this is the new dominant thought that you want to use. After a good while, it will feel natural to think positively because your brain knows it so well that it has made it an automatic process.

This is my favorite method for applying personal development. Having made these models part of my everyday routine, I can now have a deeper appreciation for multiple other self-actualization concepts from sources such as Actualized.org and other books. This technique brings together everything I have learned and applies it directly to my life in the most personal way possible.

Tomorrow I may talk about an extra step I've added to this process which takes the form of commitments. This is something out of the blue that I felt was necessary to really ground myself in my highest values on this never-ending journey of self-discovery.

 

For those interested in learning about Brook's concepts, click here to visit her coaching website which contains links to the podcast.

 

Pick of the day: Shofukan - Snarky Puppy

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 32 | Practicing Commitments

Theory: To keep you focused throughout your personal development journey, make solid commitments that evoke the necessary thoughts to make the positive changes in your life.

Applying it: Write down a commitment, then practice saying the commitment to yourself in different ways to make it a fun learning process.

 

This leads on from yesterday's topic. Every day, to apply self-help work to my own life, I go through the same process. This involves picking out a negative behavior that I have and writing down a positive and negative Model on it. I then write a few paragraphs elaborating on how the Positive Model will serve me better.

To cap it all off, I write down a commitment. This is a sentence specifically designed to align my thoughts with the Positive Model.

For example, today I used The Model to examine why I was avoiding communication with a particular person. The Thoughts category in the Positive Model went like this: "I am him and he is me.” “There is no separation between us.” “My ego is creating a separation between us.” “My Higher Self only cares about loving him."

This proved to have a much deeper solution than I originally anticipated. In order to eliminate my feelings of awkwardness around him, I have to embrace the truth that all beings are one and that my Higher Self only wants to love the guy in an unconditional way.

My commitment goes as follows: "I commit to embracing the truth that all beings are one."

This commitment, when spoken, triggers the other positive thoughts. All I have to do is memorize and internalize this commitment.

 

So how do you learn these commitments? By repeating them over and over again.

But how do you repeat them over and over again without boring yourself into a trance where you're not able to concentrate? To answer this question, I treated it like music practice.

During music practice, I love to have fun whilst doing it. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that you are improving yourself whilst also being playful about it. For instance, if I was given the melody to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, there are so many possibilities I could explore with that one melody. I could play it loudly, quietly, quickly, slowly, energetically, romantically, heroicly, comedically, solemnly, I could play it whilst dancing, I could sing it, I could play it in a minor key, I could make it sound like Indian music...

Hopefully, you get the idea through text that there are perhaps an infinite number of ways that I could interpret that melody.

Now applying it to spoken word. You can take the sentence "I commit to embracing the truth that all beings are one" and dictate it in all the many ways listed above. Exaggerate it so much that you end up taking the piss out of it. Why? Because it will bring out that childish, playful side of you that makes the learning process much more fun and engaging.

I love the paradox that whilst you must treat these commitments with so much respect to repeat them every day, you also have to utterly disrespect it to make it sink in! You'll be much more likely to remember the time when you belted out the commitment in the style of your favorite singer (or maybe the Go Compare singer) rather than the many hundred times you read it with the most vacant, deadpan tone of voice you can muster.

If you find that you have taken the fun out of learning or doing anything in life, put it back in like this. Rather than losing concentration because of you pratting around with the activity, you will actually pay attention more and learn the material quicker. Incidentally, a playful, emotive musician is far more captivating to watch than a lifeless, unemotive one.

 

Pick of the day: Like A Rolling Stone - Michael Hedges

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 33 | Serving Your Desires

Theory: When inspiration hits and a desire begins to grow, it is your duty to honour that desire and see it through to the end.

Applying it: No matter how radical your desire may be, recognise it without passing judgment on it and work towards it.

 

Very recently, I've been hit with a desire that I never saw coming. And yet it seems so obvious to me that I can't believe that I had never considered it before. For 10 years, people have recognised me for being a guitar player and singer. My new desire is now suggesting that my next calling in life is for percussion.

I'm not going to lie, this comes from being heavily inspired by Evelyn Glennie. She has a wonderful playfulness about her work that I like to believe that I have myself, not to mention being extremely talented as a percussion player.

But to reach this point in my musical life and then suddenly wonder "maybe guitar playing is not for me anymore," it is a very scary concept. It's not suddenly like I hate guitar playing because my passions for music are still as high as ever. I prefer to think of it as an evolution into my new self.

Back when I was a metal-head and listened to nothing but shred electric guitar solos, the whole concept of becoming an acoustic guitarist seemed like an alien concept to both myself and others around me. However, my desire to become an acoustic guitarist remained persistent and strong. Now, it feels so natural to play the acoustic guitar. Even a lot of people at university were shocked to hear about my metal background when I first told them.

I have now read the first chapter of Think and Grow Rich which, coincidentally, talks about the power of having a burning desire. As a musician, it is very easy to look back on how my desires have shaped me to become the player I am now. Without them, I would not be at university studying music and learning new musical instruments.

Then the idea hit me: I can use these same desires for every single aspect of my life to get the results that I want. Whether it be earning money, finding a great relationship, reaching a higher state of consciousness, having a kid, having an idea for a book, having a new business idea, or maybe simply having more instruments! If I can honestly believe in my ability to get those things, they will come for sure.

That's why for now, the idea of becoming a percussion player doesn't seem unachievable. The desire within me is coming from such a deep, unfathomable place that I have no choice but to surrender to it.

The bizarre thing is that before I recognized this desire, I was constantly using my hands to drum on my body, on table tops, on anything and everything! It's as though my hands were screaming to me that I have a new calling in life. My sense of rhythm is perhaps my biggest musical asset and my mind is very good at thinking mathematically (I got a higher grade in A Level Maths than I did for Music).

All the tell-tale signs were there. I just had to become conscious of it! My desires have changed. It's time to drop everything and focus on it. It's not going to be easy because many people will still consider me as only a guitar player. While I will undoubtedly continue to play the guitar, my new calling in life will unfold as I experiment with new instruments and sounds.

How do I know it is a desire that will serve me? Because it utilizes my assets and pushes me into new challenges at the same time. Because it is so outlandish and unnecessary that it still sounds exciting and rewarding. But most important, it is a desire because it comes from a deep sense of love about the existence that I experience.

 

Pick of the day: Selene - Michael Manring

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 34 | When a Goal Becomes True

Theory: It feels deeply satisfying to recognise the whole process of goal setting, from the conception until the final achievement.

Applying it: When you have been striving months or even years for a goal and it finally gets achieved, you can at last reap those wonderful rewards that you have been working for.

 

Today has been a very lazy day for me! But I have very good reason to be lazy. Several months ago, I set the goal for myself to finish my university coursework days before the final deadline. On Friday, that goal became a reality when I completed soundtracks for both of the short movies for a Sound and Moving Image module.

That might not sound like much of an achievement. And, indeed, there are far greater achievements out there. But the reason why I have taken so much pride in finishing my work early is because of that goal I set months ago.

In the previous semester, I melted down with all of the stresses of university and I had no sense of time management whatsoever. It was a turning point in my life. From that moment, I swore to myself that I would never allow myself to feel that much emotional trauma over something as simple as university work.

This year was all about rectifying them mistakes I made last semester. And thankfully, my faith and confidence in myself led me to fulfil my promise to get the work done early. Looking at some of my friends who are stressing out about their university work, I can sympathise with them because I was in that exact predicament last year.

The best feeling came to me as I was walking home from the music building having hammered my work. I remembered several months ago when I was visualising myself completely stress-free with my work completed days before the deadline. And HERE I AM! No longer is it an ideal in my mind. It has become my reality!

Of course, work is far from over. There is a small diary thing that I have to write up, which is already written as a draft, and there is the performance exam in a week or two. Aside from university, there is always some self-actualization work to be done. I've been doing all of those things on my 'lazy day' today anyway. But nevertheless, I've decided not to leave the house at all today as a little reward for myself for completing my goal.

The most important lesson that I have become even more conscious of is that you can achieve anything if you focus on it hard enough. I think I knew this truth on a subconscious level as I wouldn't have been able to reach my current level of musical mastery without having known it. However, by becoming more conscious of this ability, it fills me with even more faith that there is no goal that I cannot achieve.

So that is what I will do: aim even higher!

 

Pick of the day: Victor Borge - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 piano jokes

 

Edited January 15, 2017 by Liam Johnson

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 35 | All Beings Are One

Theory: There is no separation between us as people, unlike what our ego wants us to believe.

Applying it: Take note of the interaction of passions between yourself and other through any communicative activity, such as performing music together.

 

This topic comes from my rehearsal today with my folk fusion band at university. It was our first time playing together since before Christmas and it fills me with joy to be reunited once again.

There's something extremely special that occurs between musicians who perform together. Rather than the standard conversation which involves the discussion of different ideas between its participants, performing music with others has the unique quality that all of the musicians are receiving the same piece of music through their creative muses.

In most cases, each musician in the band tends to have a very different interpretation of the music that they are playing. This can hinder the rehearsal process slightly when there is a clash of opinions about the music. I've felt this on numerous occasions with other bands which is why I made the decision to start performing solo.

However, this folk band is one of a kind. There's only three of us in the band. Between us, we can play the guitar, tin whistle, saxophone, drums, drum kit, cajon, Indian tabla, kanjira (an Indian hand drum), bodhran (Irish drum) and vocals. Each one of us are incredibly passionate about performing music and we are completely comfortable to be as geeky and goofy as possible!

The most important aspect of the band, though, is how we interact with each other. In the practice room, we all think and behave as one. When one of us wants to just play around, we all do. When one of us wants to be ruthlessly productive, we all do. And when one of us decides to throw in a musical idea because they think it will work, we all share the same enthusiasm and love for the idea.

The experience I've had performing with these guys has been like no other. It genuinely feels like they are an extension of myself with the same musical tastes and passions. They are influenced by the same creative muses that influence me. We just have the right 'chemistry.'

After having done quite a bit of self-actualisation work now, I know full well that all being are one. The truth is that I don't always allow myself to feel that connection on a daily basis, which is something I'm working on. For example, I'm finding that as I start growing on the inside, I'm starting to connect less and less with my current housemates. It feels like I'm almost separating from them as I do this work, which is to be expected. However, they are still a part of me as I am a part of them.

Returning back to the band, it felt amazing to play our music together. To be a part of a small community (which is what a band is, in a way) that is filled with so much of the passions that you are filled with brings out a very deep connection between us. So deep that it goes completely beyond what we are as people.

When we perform, we are all being conducted by the same Muse inside of us. We know exactly what we have to do individually and we know exactly what to listen out for in each other's parts. From the minds of three people, a whole body of music is being conceived for the universe to listen to. By removing just one person from the group, the creative Muse becomes blocked and the music becomes incomplete, just as removing the first gear from a car would render it useless.

Each person within the group is vital to channel through their creative inputs to replicate the music in its completed form. The more passionate each person becomes, the more conductive they make themselves to receive innovative musical ideas from their creative muses.

I highly recommend to every non-musician to at least try some form of musical performance so that you can feel this deep connection. You don't have to be an expert musician to do this. Even by simply clapping along to a simple rhythm can bring a whole new life to a piece of music. Be completely invested in the connection that you make as you do this.

To give you some incentive to try this out, watch my pick of the day of Bobby McFerrin singing Ave Maria. Rather, he sings the accompaniment and gets the audience to sing the song. Even by just watching this video, you can sense that deep connection filling the air of the concert hall.

Also, to add a bit of context, I will include a link to a song that our folk trio have released on Soundcloud. Feel free to check it out.

 

Pick of the day: Ave Maria - Bobby McFerrin

Folk Trio: The Banks of Loughgowna/Frieze Britches

[Zane]

Hey man I'm loving your journal!! I'm also focusing on implementing theory into action with creative writing and meditation! I have a daily meditation habit where I meditate 30 minutes every day but incrementally. I meditate twice in the morning for 5 minutes and 10 minutes to a guided meditation and twice in the evening for 5 minutes and 10 minutes. I'm also focusing everyday on creative writing and I've been making great progress with that! My goal for meditation is to go deeper with meditation and use it to achieve peak experiences and skyrocketing happiness in my life! 

[Liam Johnson]

@Zane Hi Zane, thank you for the kind words! That's interesting to see that you spread your meditation throughout your day. I find that meditation can be a wonderful place to receive creative ideas for my music as well as contemplating all other aspects of life. All the best with your creative writing!

[Liam Johnson]

Entry 36 | Innovation

Theory: Contrary to popular belief, it is actually easy to receive innovative ideas within the arts. The difficult part is implementing them.

Applying it: Let ideas come to you, without passing judgment on them, and make the effort to explore them. It is actually lots of fun when you get into it!

 

So for the past few days, I've had the bizarre urge to play some percussion using the pots and pans around the house. There's a force within me that is constantly bashing out rhythms and ideas that are just begging for attention. For the first time this year, the house was empty. I seized the moment immediately!

I grabbed a few pans and woks out of the cupboard and gathered a collection of knives to use as sticks. The moment I started to experiment with the different sounds of the pans, a surge of raw creative energy flowed through my body. It felt so right. Finally, those nagging musical ideas could be made a reality.

There was so many ideas I tried; hitting the middle of the pans, the rim, the handle, using knives with plastic handles, using all-metal knives, using heavy knives, scraping the knives over the surface of the woks, filling the woks with water, swooshing the water around whilst hitting the woks, using bodhran tippers (specialist sticks) with bobbles on them... The list goes on.

After the shenanigans with the pots and pans, apart from feeling incredibly child-like and happy, I started to experiment with the bodhran tippers on my guitar. By ricocheting them against the strings of the guitar, you can produce some beautiful sounds that would be uncharacteristic of the traditional guitar sound.

But let's stop for a minute...

Now I'm here writing this entry, and as I look back on these events, something very special happened today. Innovation.

Of course, there is every possibility that other people have tried these ideas out before. But that's where my original definition of innovation has changed. Rather than focussing on what I could be the first person to accomplish, all I focussed on was my creative ideas. That's a huge shift in my understanding of innovation. And as it turns out, it has transitioned from an egotistical version of innovation into a more divine, selfless version of innovation.

This is wonderful news for me as a musician! It means that I have stomped out any traces of ego that would otherwise prevent me from reaching my full creative potential. Today has proven to be evidence of that. I didn't go around banging a load of pans because I wanted to be different, cool, or individual. I did it because I find sound so fascinating in this existence.

The many sounds that I explored today were the result of my deepest passions, which come from a deep place of love for existence. The sounds I created today were intended for no audience: just myself. There need be no audience. Because the sounds that I created today were universally unique in that moment. And I feel so grateful to not only appreciate that my experience of that sound is just as unique, but I take great joy in being the creator of that sound. Of course when I say I am the creator, what I really mean is that I am the conductor of the creative ideas that appear to me.

The truth is, it really isn't difficult to receive innovation. The difficult part is to follow up on that innovation. For example, I have never played pots or pans in my life! But if I want to serve my creative ideas properly, I have to spend time doing the practice to be able to replicate those ideas. I have to constantly be wanting to improve myself. It's almost like my body is the instrument and I have to tune it correctly so that the creative ideas can be conceived as they were meant to be.

If innovation hits you, great! Hang onto it with everything you've got. All you have to do is to 'tune yourself' correctly and improve your skills so that you can deliver that innovation. It will take time and patience, but it will be completely worth the effort.

 

Pick of the day: Into The Dream - Pat Metheny

[Zane]

22 minutes ago, Liam Johnson said:

Entry 36 | Innovation

Theory: Contrary to popular belief, it is actually easy to receive innovative ideas within the arts. The difficult part is implementing them.

Applying it: Let ideas come to you, without passing judgment on them, and make the effort to explore them. It is actually lots of fun when you get into it!

 

So for the past few days, I've had the bizarre urge to play some percussion using the pots and pans around the house. There's a force within me that is constantly bashing out rhythms and ideas that are just begging for attention. For the first time this year, the house was empty. I seized the moment immediately!

I grabbed a few pans and woks out of the cupboard and gathered a collection of knives to use as sticks. The moment I started to experiment with the different sounds of the pans, a surge of raw creative energy flowed through my body. It felt so right. Finally, those nagging musical ideas could be made a reality.

There was so many ideas I tried; hitting the middle of the pans, the rim, the handle, using knives with plastic handles, using all-metal knives, using heavy knives, scraping the knives over the surface of the woks, filling the woks with water, swooshing the water around whilst hitting the woks, using bodhran tippers (specialist sticks) with bobbles on them... The list goes on.

After the shenanigans with the pots and pans, apart from feeling incredibly child-like and happy, I started to experiment with the bodhran tippers on my guitar. By ricocheting them against the strings of the guitar, you can produce some beautiful sounds that would be uncharacteristic of the traditional guitar sound.

But let's stop for a minute...

Now I'm here writing this entry, and as I look back on these events, something very special happened today. Innovation.

Of course, there is every possibility that other people have tried these ideas out before. But that's where my original definition of innovation has changed. Rather than focussing on what I could be the first person to accomplish, all I focussed on was my creative ideas. That's a huge shift in my understanding of innovation. And as it turns out, it has transitioned from an egotistical version of innovation into a more divine, selfless version of innovation.

This is wonderful news for me as a musician! It means that I have stomped out any traces of ego that would otherwise prevent me from reaching my full creative potential. Today has proven to be evidence of that. I didn't go around banging a load of pans because I wanted to be different, cool, or individual. I did it because I find sound so fascinating in this existence.

The many sounds that I explored today were the result of my deepest passions, which come from a deep place of love for existence. The sounds I created today were intended for no audience: just myself. There need be no audience. Because the sounds that I created today were universally unique in that moment. And I feel so grateful to not only appreciate that my experience of that sound is just as unique, but I take great joy in being the creator of that sound. Of course when I say I am the creator, what I really mean is that I am the conductor of the creative ideas that appear to me.

The truth is, it really isn't difficult to receive innovation. The difficult part is to follow up on that innovation. For example, I have never played pots or pans in my life! But if I want to serve my creative ideas properly, I have to spend time doing the practice to be able to replicate those ideas. I have to constantly be wanting to improve myself. It's almost like my body is the instrument and I have to tune it correctly so that the creative ideas can be conceived as they were meant to be.

If innovation hits you, great! Hang onto it with everything you've got. All you have to do is to 'tune yourself' correctly and improve your skills so that you can deliver that innovation. It will take time and patience, but it will be completely worth the effort.

 

Pick of the day: Into The Dream - Pat Metheny

It's AMAZING how you're able to use simple household objects to create music! Last week, i was coming back from a comedy show and i was watching a street jazz brass band just performing and they were so immersed in the street music! I have strong respect for street performers and I always make sure to compliment them or give them a dollar or two. For innovation, my creative writing portfolio is entirely focused on it. I've been writing a lot of poems lately and they just flow to me! I dedicated myself to writing a couple poems every day and the more it write, it's like interest compounding on money you saved or invested and the more money you add, the faster it grows. I've also been going to improv and comedy shows and there's a bare simplicity with it! For example, improv comedians are given just a couple ideas and they effortlessly create a play or skit out of these basic directions. For my creativity, i focus on channeling the inner child as my muse!! 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Zane