I’d like to share this here – It’s a note of my thoughts that came up after a conversation with a friend about the well-being of musicians, it’s also a small window into the work I’ve been doing as an assistant teacher at Bodythought Studio in Tel Aviv.
I approach well-being in the same way that I approach my music. It’s not something that I do to tick boxes or have a bash at on a relaxing afternoon, it’s a way of living, and it’s inseparable from my creative process as a musician.
It’s all about choices, the choices that I make for myself in every living moment…
Think of it like practice, every moment of life you are practicing something, even when you’re not with your instrument and when you’re not aware of it, you’re still practicing, and most importantly, – you can choose what you practice and how to practice it.
A good starting point is becoming aware of your thoughts, challenge yourself and notice how your thoughts are at the root of every action in your life and that every thought is directly connected to your body and influences your whole self…
Things get interesting when you realise that you can choose and direct your own thoughts, if you’re not ‘doing’ your thinking then it should be effortless, and yet so many musicians are continuously driving themselves down into the ground by repeating thought patterns that aren’t serving them in any way towards positive growth. In other words, the deeper you dig into your problems the more problems you’re going to get, so instead of bringing yourself down you can think up!
The origin of that idea for me is that you can’t find a solution inside of a problem, for me to be free usually means to play outside of the boundaries of a problem, change my rules surrounding that idea, or go out of my comfort zone, and that’s where the magic happens. it’s interesting looking back now, seeing the changes and remembering times when I used to hang off doors to try and ‘fix’ my aching back after guitar sessions or getting myself stuck in endless negative thought cycles during the pain of a broken heart.
A big lesson that propelled me forward to continue creating music without burning out and crashing around every bend, was to start taking full uncompromising responsibility for my thoughts. It’s about attention and intention, freedom and direction, being clear and knowing that every choice that I make will ultimately shape my being and my interactions with my environment and other people in my life. The way that I see it is if you’re not moving forwards then you’re going backwards and staying in the same place is also going backwards.
Like in your music, to move forward you have to face your fears, sometimes things will get really tough, everything that you take for granted has suddenly changed into a whole new reality and you must adapt quickly and make smart new choices that will directly affect your life and maybe the lives of others who depend on you. To me these are key moments for your potential to grow as a person, the way that you face failure and the way that you face success, you have to want to change, and continue surfing the waves of change that make up your life.
I’m interested in the whole picture, nature works as a whole and we are part of that system so for me it doesn’t make sense to separate the music from myself or my wellbeing, it all works together. Each individual path is different but at the end of the day everyone’s in the same boat, it doesn’t matter who you are or what situation you’re in, you always have a choice, are you choosing out of fear or love?
Last modified: March 21, 2020
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