Purple Haze and Deep Thoughts

Wait...you thought this was a post about weed?  

Purple Haze man, Jimmy Hendrix. I was learning that song last night and it's just completely weird how he used open strings on the main riff and these blues chords for the verse. 

Learning to play the guitar was one of the best decisions I ever made. By no means am I an amazing guitarist, I still really don't know how the dang thing works. But the only reason my skills haven't advanced is simply due to practice - I don't play every day and even weeks go by where I don't touch it. 

Do you play an instrument? If so, why? If not. . .why not?

For me, listening to music and playing are completely different as theres uncompromising focus when playing, especially since I'm not good enough to let thoughts wander while I strum. 

To answer the question above, I play because it's fun. It's as simple as that. 

I have a habit of looking for deeper meaning in everything where I become pulled into an ungrounded world of existential thoughts, feelings, and then I'm swept off my feet with curiosity, wonder and a yearning for more.

"The most courageous thing is to stop at the surface" - some well respected, deceased philosopher or psychologist. 

If you have the habit of going in too deep that pulls you from the moment, here's a few ideas for you:

1. Watch the music video "In Too Deep" by Sum 41. All I remember is diving boards and a fat person. Let me know if some nostalgia hits you. 

2. Stop at the surface, be courageous. The best way to take care of yourself is to stop. 

3. Come on back, mindfully, to what's in front of you and keep at it. Have an anchor in you body like your breath, sit bones on a chair, feet on the ground etc) My anchor is the sensation in my hands. 

I caught myself as I was playing Purple Haze to look into Jimmy Hendrix history, his previous albums, life lived etc...Then I'm like "wooooowww wtf am I doing"

Looking behind the curtain for history, meaning and more substance took me away from the most important thing I was doing...playing. 

Thinking and curiosity can get in the way of what's right here, right now. Having the skills and awareness to pull ourselves back is a beautiful thing. 

I'll be creating a webpage for the anxiety program I put together in 2020 in case you're looking to develop some of these skills and practice. You can sign up below for the newsletter to be the first to know when it's available. 

Thanks for reading!

Scott