This past week was probably the busiest of the year for me after working on an event. Something I realized from this experience is that most of us want free time more than anything else.
When it’s taken away because we agreed to let it go, we don’t often realize this until it’s gone. Then when we finally get it back we don’t know what to do with it.
Time and money are just two of the great mysteries in life, constantly appearing and disappearing as fast as you see them.
Three Ideas from My Notebooks:
Taking a break from our work and our routines can be more stressful than just powering through. Be careful to not let the mind layer get a hold of things at this time. It will tell you things that aren’t true.
The fall season is a reminder of how things are constantly changing. Just as you made peace with summer the leaves are going to turn red on you. Notice the constant shifting around of plans in your life and don’t try to hold onto things the way people try to hold on to summer.
The arrival of humans is a small blink in the history of the universe. We think everything’s about us and we take on guilt about things that are beyond our control. Don’t be like Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. Focus on the ball that you can move forward this week and nothing else.
Music Listening
This weekend I heard a jazz rendition of the classic Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen. That had me take a listen to the original again as I remember it being a great song. I was surprised to hear that the song starts with 15 seconds of cheap midi drums. The Boss doesn’t start singing until 40 seconds in. I had to look this one up and here’s what I found:
The director Jonathan Demme approached Bruce to work on a song for the film and for some reason requested that he wanted it to be played in “all the malls”. Bruce made a demo version that brought the director and his wife to tears. They continued to produce the song further but near the end of the process, there was something about how his original demo version got swapped back in. I think the final version is a hybrid of the two. Read the Wikipedia article on it.
This is a phenomenal tale of how music or any work doesn’t have to be as polished as we think it has to be. This is a songwriter who could have the best drummer on his songs, yet the cheap drums work. I’m sure any attempt to over-produce this song failed by comparison to the demo. Be scrappy and keep things lo-fi.
That’s it for me this week, I wish everyone who celebrates the Jewish New Year a happy holidays. I had some rocking horseradish this weekend that had me grasping for the challah to cool off. And of course, this is a great weekend for bagels if you’re Jewish or not.
See you next week…
Elliott