Just the Idea of It
I find a sense of therapy in taking Teddy to the park to play with the ball. He doesn’t necessarily return it to me and get tired out like other dogs but he taught me something that I try to integrate into my day whenever possible.
And what he taught me is that sometimes the idea of things is just enough. He doesn’t need to run around that much to be happy, but just the idea that I took him to the park is enough for him. I know it’s enough for him because every time I come home he gets excited that we might get to play today.
Sometimes just the idea that I sat down to play music for a bit is enough to signal to me that I’m back on track. The outcome of a playing session doesn’t have to be prolific but just the mere fact that I did this instead of other activities that I don’t value as much is enough for me in that moment.
How about the idea that you showed up for your loved ones and you did the best you could for them even though we can’t fix everyone or everything around us? The idea of working with what we have and making the most of it.
When you tap into this way of living you start to get a bit closer to what it means to be happy. Just the idea of being here on this planet, getting to look at it for a brief snapshot in time, should in theory be enough.
Three Ideas from My Notebooks
Unexpectation is not a proper word, but I would like to make a case that we should be open to unexpectation when we sit down to work or go to an event that makes us nervous. This really refers to being open to surprises and serendipity. We can get rigid about how we live our lives and plan our days, but being open to unexpectation means we will accept whatever comes our way and work with it.
Stay focused on what lights you up. We have a tendency to spend so much of our days doing things that do the opposite to us because are afraid of doing things that make us happy. Be selfish and know that the world needs us to stay close to what lights us up inside.
To learn a piece of music, we have to put in the work to make it play easier. When we don’t know a piece, it plays really hard and chunky. To make it play easier we pay for the ability up front through hard work. Get disciplined, do things that scare you, and have difficult conversations now in order to make the rest of your life easier.
Music Recommendation
I was lucky to be in the car to hear some live renditions of this new album by Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke. There’s something about music that is made by a small ensemble with not many overdubs (if any), that really gets me going. It’s that minimalism that really lets you hear how amazing these musicians are. This album is a fusion of acapella and guitar, mixing up jazz and afrobeat going in and out of different time signatures.
Listen on Bandcamp.
That’s it from me this week. I was lucky enough to snag some bagels from the legendary Bagel World this weekend. They’re a bit thicker than most, but the seeds stay on there real nice which is one of the most important things to look for in a bagel. They also make the Twister which is a jumbo bagel, perfect for the growing teenager that I once was.
Have a great rest of your weekend and week ahead,
Elliott
Enjoy this newsletter? Become a Paid Subscriber to support its ongoing, weekly production on a mission to help bring some refreshing ideas and sounds to everyone’s week ahead.
Elliott, you're a genius. This is so good.