Sometimes when the songs and/or words just aren’t flowing, I find the need to remind myself sometimes to just put it all down for a bit and go walk. I can’t even count the times that I’ve sat in my studio with my guitar on my knee, my notebook opened to a blank page just staring me back in the face. I can feel the tension between the pen and I growing until I’m just about ready to throw it across the room. The other day this happened to me so I just got up, put everything away and headed out the door for a walk. I didn’t bring my headphones with me as I just wanted to take in as much as I could. It’s amazing how the world looks when just take it on disconnected from technology and any other distractions. The sky looks different and I found myself looking at and seeing things that I don’t normally see. The imperfections of the old houses in my neighborhoods, the cracks in the sidewalk and the various little things littered on the ground. In one block I saw an empty bag of cheetos, an unopened beer bottle and a discarded condom. How’s that for awareness huh? As freaky as it may seem, these things were just fascinating me and just made realize how much I pass up on a day to day basis.
So much of my days are just rushing to get from A-B that I miss and ignore all the little things that lie in between. As I continued my walk I passed people walking and I was reminded just how powerful a smile and a greeting can be. I actually experimented with this on my way to the little downtown market. This lady was walking opposite me and I didn’t make eye contact with her at all and she just walked like I wasn’t even there. The next person that came my way I smiled and I said, “Good afternoon” and she smiled back and said, “Good afternoon to you to” as if she was pleasantly surprised that I greeted her. The smile on her face was not something you could fake and you could see the genuine happiness. It also made me feel good and reminded me that just one kind gesture, even for a brief moment, can not only make you feel good but offer someone a brief moment of seeing the kindness of someone else.
When I got back home I didn’t write a single lyric or come up with a single progression of music. What I did do was sit with my guitar and just play feeling inspired by nothing more than life in general. I was reminded that life is pretty damn beautiful no matter what little obstacles you approach. The fact that I am able to pick up a guitar and just play it is something that I take for granted an awful lot. So I did just that. I picked it up and for the next 30 minutes I just played and played and played enjoying every chord and loving it for what it is. I need to go walking more often.
