Dusty roads. Bicycles ringing bells. Cows lazing. Farmers and bullock carts. Children playing cricket. Wealth in reality, poverty in existence. Happiness in little things, sadness in even smaller things. Solace in the world’s biggest things. Comfort on reassurance, discomfort in oblivion. Beauty in it’s diversity, magnificence in her unity. This is my country, and Folked are my people.
I found this pretty amazing analogy in Derek Sivers’s summary of The Art of Learning.
The Hermit Crab grows inside until its shell is no longer able to accomodate it, when it leaves and goes on to find a new shell. It is at the most vulnerable state in that period of transfer, prone to predators.
Entity theorists think “I am smart at this” and attribute success or failure to ingrained and unalterable level of ability. They see it as a fixed entity that cannot evolve. Someone stuck in an entity mindset is like an anorexic hermit crab, starving itself so it doesn’t grow to have to find a new shell
I’d like to draw a parallel here. It is that state of vulnerability that one fears, when one must take up new challenges and or responsibility, or even embrace change. People forget that the end result is always growth, the crab only leaves when it has outgrown its shell.
And in the even bigger picture: In order to achieve complete excellence, you must be vulnerable at some point or the other.
Everyone has a need for expression. You do too, don’t deny it. Just yet.
I’m not a loud person verbally, and usually less is more when I try to convey things across to someone. This is only partially out of choice though, I’d love to be someone who can express himself verbally at will in any situation.
Also, while I enjoy the occasional party, I’m not much of that kind either. It’s just not me. A lot of people express themselves and get their fix from meeting strangers. Meeting new people is something I love to do, but I can always have too much of it. Also, it doesn’t help that I can’t indulge in small talk for too long before getting bored.
What does someone with a statement to make, do when subdued on those fronts?
Noodling on some riffs and some stuff off the new album. Mic’d this baby up for the first time and very impressed with results. More of a gear test than anything.
For the geeks like me, guitar chain was :Schecter C7 Blackjack (SH-1N, JB-4) — Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz — MXR Zakk Wylde ZW-44 Overdrive — EHX Soul Preacher + Korg 301DL Dynamic Echo (in FX loop) – Blackstar HT-5 – HT-110 cabinet, close mic’d with a Shure SM58 (without windscreen). I later processed it through a cabinet impulse using Voxengo Boogex. Added VST reverb during mix down.
What is Art? Art is you.
As a listener, the power you surrender and give to a piece of sonic expression is what elucidates and accents the intention behind every note.
The power you give to a palette of colors is what makes the painting come alive, and tingle intimate emotion.
The power you give to a dancer in invoking personal thought & memory, is what conditions your mind into a state of awe.
Ever wondered why art is a matter of deep personal taste?
I’ll admit it – I am not a very effective time manager. Example – I spend hours on a creative endeavour, while barely spending time on excersise, sleep, friends and all that important stuff. However, meaning is at the root of everyone’s existence and I like to take small steps – here’s something that works fabulously for me in moments of meaninglessness. Now, wait for 3 minutes from the moment you read this - go do something else and come back.
OK. You’re back? Sure it’s been 3 minutes? If yes, great! Now, in those 3 minutes, did you:
Learn something new?What did I do? I wrote this post, in the hope of helping another person plan out his/her’s 3 minutes.
PS – I’ve possibly missed out on a hundred other things that could be a meaningful 3 minute endeavour, leave a comment if you have more ideas 
- Sridhar
Taken from this nice interview of Bill, I found some nuggets worth their weight in gold.
“There would be motions and movement, and there would be notes, and things would be established, but I think without that personal background, there is no real foundation to your musical voice, or what you express through sound and music. It’s all connected whether people want to admit that or not”
To put things into perspective – let’s assume everyday, about 500,000 people pick up the guitar. About 100,000 of them go out and start bands. About 50,000 of them start writing their own music. Assuming, they all write atleast one song each – that’s 50,000 songs coming from a daily seed of new guitar players.
That’s a LOT of songs.
Yet, among those 50,000 songs – how many really mean something to you? How many songs made you feel, wow – there’s something about that song that just tells you so much, and invoked vivid imagery?
Music is a complex sensory experience, and for an artist to be able to ‘paint’ that experience to an audience, a philosophical grounding is what’s needed.
Behind every note is intent, something more important than the note itself, which is why a true virtuoso will show you how to make one note scream out in agonizing anger, or sing a most beautiful lullaby.
I wrote about a similar idea earlier, in Stuck writing a song?
So, this topic has been doing the rounds. If you’re too lazy to skim through the whole post, just skim this to understand the whole debate (Click the image to see it in full size)
As long as I’ve been able to process information, I’ve noticed people maintain either of these two standards. I was able to chalk out an unbiased definition based on these observations.
Self-esteem: A sense of worthiness, a sense of belonging and purpose. Hard to break. Often accompanied by modesty, and an eager intent to listen more than to speak.
Ego: A developed feeling of self-importance and superiority over other people, often due to external leverage and to make up for incompetence. Easily shattered by confrontations where the receiver goes overboard protecting his/her ego.
