art.of.a.rock

Category: self

  • The songs that trigger positive memory

    There a few songs that come to mind which remind me of some great (or one of a kind) experiences. The combination of an amazing song; even better if its your first time hearing it, with a good time.

    I’m writing this post because a song came on that I hadn’t heard in what seems like a decade. The memory it’s tied to happened in fall 2015. I had moved to Washington, USA and met some cool people who let me be their roommate. It was an interesting time in my life, just out of college, and simply felt the need to get out of my home state.

    My roommates friend’s parents owned a farm, and they also owned a cider press. So there were a couple cider making parties during my time there. It was a thrilling time, we drank beer and pressed thousands(?) of apples into 5o gallons of cider… in the pouring rain! All while rocking out to some good tunes.

    The song in question? S.O.B. by Nathaniel Rateliff.
    I just looked it up and I see it was released in July 2015, just a few months before I first heard it that day.

    Hearing the song come on tonight brought on some good feelings of nostalgia. It makes me want to reach out to these momentary friends in Washington.

    I think the power a song holds for us depends on what were going through or experiencing the first time we hear it. Song aren’t simply sound traveling through the airwaves… They are a whole lot more than that.

    Washington overall was a special time for me, but it was brief. Having only lived there from Late August to Early December, it was fleeting, but I had family in San Diego who invited me to live there next.

  • What We Believe, We Deserve

    There’s this idea that the universe we give you whatever you attract. And what we attract is highly related to our self-image, which stems from our upbringing, and the ideas our parents set upon us, whether actively or passively.

    It has me think about “nepo-babies”, how the children of actors and musicians themselves are able to follow in their parents footsteps. It more noticeable in the entertainment industry, yet it certainly happens in most industries. The son of a farmer will often become a farmer, etc.

    In a more broad sense, there’s the idea of the financial success we believe we deserve. If our parents were never wealth, it may be a challenge to break out of the pattern of thought that brings oneself down the same road. These types of parents may try to get rich or save money by buying lottery tickets, cheap used cars and generally having a low quality of life.

    Conversely if somebody has wealthy parents, they have assets, investments, and may be in a better position to teach their children about managing their allowance, and how to use money as a tool to lead to a prosperous life.

    This idea of what we deserve can be applied to so much in life. The love we deserve is a reflection of how we feel about ourself. So we truly may only attract someone who is on our level in that regard.

    I am one who has had to climb the ladder of self worth and image. I do so by going out of my comfort zone, meeting and talking with new people, and simply building my (mostly creative) skill sets. When we seek to master skills, we allow ourselves more leeway on other areas of our personality. And more room to work on other aspects of ourself.

    Buy putting intention into creating a more simplistic life, it gives us more energy to focus on things that truly matter to our personal development. Though we often become stuck before we are able to realize this. We succumb to a cycle consumerist tendencies for instant gratification.

    That being said, it’s not too late to begin downsizing, to look at your life from a distance, write down what you know you must do. It’s the only place to start.