4 Years Today….

We lost Eddie Van Halen 4 years ago today. There is a growing list of artists near and dear to me that have passed on. That’s what happens when we grow old. But Eddie has left the biggest void and remains the strongest “shock”. I miss him and truly cherish his legacy.

Alan

Last Piece of Upcoming Release

Hello:

Having debated on releasing singles vs an album, I’ve opted for a “mini album” (EP is so 1977). It will be released on Bandcamp before the end of 2024. I have to master the last piece which I’m putting the final touches on. I have a trip planned for end of October so I’m going to target a December release date. More to come.

Cheers,

Alan

Practicing Nonviolence

From the Center for Action and Contemplation:

Franciscan peacemakers Rosemary Lynch and Alain Richard have identified ten “commandments” for those seeking to live a spiritual life of nonviolence. They call it “The Decalogue for a Spirituality of Nonviolence”:

Active nonviolence calls us:

  1. To learn to recognize and respect “the sacred” in every person, including in ourselves, and in every piece of Creation….
     
  2. To accept oneself deeply, “who I am” with all my gifts and richness, with all my limitations, errors, failings and weaknesses, and to realize that I am accepted by God….
     
  3. To recognize that what I resent, and perhaps even detest, in another, comes from my difficulty in admitting that this same reality lives also in me….
     
  4. To renounce dualism, the “we-they” mentality (Manicheism). This divides us into “good people/bad people” and allows us to demonize the adversary. It is the root of authoritarian and exclusivist behavior. It generates racism and makes possible conflicts and wars.
     
  5. To face fear and to deal with it not mainly with courage but with love.
     
  6. To understand and accept that the New Creation, the building up of the Beloved Community is always carried forward with others. It is never a “solo act.”…
     
  7. To see ourselves as a part of the whole creation to which we foster a relationship of love, not of mastery, remembering that the destruction of our planet is a profoundly spiritual problem, not simply a scientific or technological one. We are one.
     
  8. To be ready to suffer, perhaps even with joy, if we believe this will help liberate the Divine in others. This includes the acceptance of our place and moment in history with its trauma, with its ambiguities.
     
  9. To be capable of celebration, of joy, when the presence of God has been accepted, and when it has not been to help discover and recognize this fact.
     
  10. To slow down, to be patient, planting the seeds of love and forgiveness in our own hearts and in the hearts of those around us. Slowly we will grow in love, compassion and the capacity to forgive.

Travel and Upcoming Music

Soooo…I’ve been traveling lots recently. Much of July was spent in Kuwait which was interesting. Most relentless heat I’ve ever experienced. I did meet and befriend some very kind people which is always the big plus of any of my travels. But there is nothing better than coming home.

I’m finishing the mixing/mastering of a piece I started in June. Tentative title is “Melancholic”. I’m not sure if I’m going to release it as a single or compile some more pieces for an album. I’ll see as more music comes forth.

Current Reading

I’m presently reading “The Memory of Old Jack” by Wendall Berry. It has captured me in the same manner as “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck did equally because of the settings of days long past in America and the descriptive nature of the writing of deep emotions. I strongly recommend this book.

“The Contemplative Life”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968), the Trappist monk and author, has been a major influence in my life via his writings and the influence he has had on others that I admire (e.g. The Dalai Lama, Richard Rohr). For anyone curious, I strongly recommend you explore his writings.

He has referred to “The True Self” in his writing which is, as I understand, our self that is beyond ego, beyond fear, beyond even what we consider our identity. It is, as he describes it, reachable by way of a contemplative practice. His description is comparable to those of Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi figures throughout history which I find fascinating and encouraging. To use Richard Rohr’s term, it rings of “perennial truth”.

In the past few years, I’ve made it a daily routine to awaken 1 hour before I have to get ready to depart the home so as to allow a time of prayer, meditation, reading, etc. It has made a subtle but noticeable difference in my demeanor and inner peace. It has been akin to dipping my proverbial toe into the contemplative waters.

I share this as much to note to myself that, in spite of my noisy mind, fears, frustrations, and shortcomings, I have made some minor progress in this life to understand what serenity is. I know enough to know it is elusive and isn’t something to grab or obtain so much as it is something to be uncovered and rediscovered. It is, I believe (as Merton put it), to discover our true self.

May peace be with you,

Alan

Travel, Travel, and…..Travel

Since my last update, I’ve been traveling extensively for my day job. For context, from 2005 until 2017, I was on the road approximately 80% of the year for my work and accruing over 1 million miles of air travel.

In 2017, I took a position that, thankfully, got me off the road for 5 years. However, I’m now back to traveling, having been to Green Bay, Tijuana, Virginia, and Istanbul in the last two months.

I’m not a big fan of work travel, particularly as it takes me away from my loved ones. But I do what I must and without complaint.

All this is to say that my musical activity has been interrupted by this travel and I’m adjusting to the new “normal” that now includes extended periods away.

I’ve been delayed in releasing music via Bandcamp as I stated in an earlier post but I hope to have at least one new piece up before I leave again. I’m also completing a new piece that was done fairly quickly and inspired but some ethereal elements of sound and light that I experienced (I’ll explain later…perhaps).

I hope you are well and am grateful for any interest in my music and creative output.

May God bless you.

Alan

Upcoming Activities

Hello All:

Been traveling for the past month and attending to family matters. I will update via a blog post later. Some new music will be available via Bandcamp by end of July as I clean out the queue of work that has been awaiting release. I’m either going to release all I have in the queue or archive it for later as some of it doesn’t feel up to par. I’m working on a more ethereal direction that I hope will feel like a break from my previous output….we’ll see.

In any case, I thank you for your support and interest in my music. May you be blessed with every good.

Cheers,

Alan