May 19, 2012 | Zen Musings
“You stupid!” —A family member, ironically
“You’re never going to amount to anything in Music!” —A university music director
“Don’t quit your day gig.” —A sound engineer at a gig, after he asked me to do some drum solos around the drum set
These are hurtful words that a few people had laid upon me in the past.
The positive thing about negative feedback, is that they keep you from having an inflated ego and being “full of yourself”.
On the negative side, hurtful words… well, because they hurt and can give one a low self-esteem!
But I’ve learned over the years to try my best to turn negative and hurtful comments into a positive, creative thing. So, if these people were being hurtful intentionally (which I was almost certain they were), I have the last laugh because I have continued on in my musical quest and turned their negativity into the positive.
I’ve learned to look at whatever musical talents I have with humility and appreciate them at their face value, and am hard enough on myself to continue to work at maintaining my musical chops and also working to improve, regardless of the fact that I’m an aging human being.
Age is just a number.
Anyway, the proper formula for The Failure Coefficient would be:
Success = (-remarks x failure) + (low self-esteem x hardwork²)
Perhaps being handed some negative remarks and insults are a necessary part of life. It depends on how you use them which will determine your success.
I have to say, that positive reinforcement is much more desirable and much more helpful. I’ve posted this simple quote many times before, but this simple thought speaks volumes on the simple act of kindness. It all translates back to taking care of your own karma in relation to others.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. —The Dalai Lama
May 17, 2012 | Zen Musings
My parents raised me in the Catholic tradition, which means I was baptized, I had my holy communion, was confirmed, and my wife and I had our wedding in a Roman Catholic church.
As I “wandered” through my teens suddenly wondering what life was all about outside of school and the teachings of the Catholic Church, I began reading books on Hinduism, Yoga and other Indian writings like the Bhagavad Gita and The Vedas. In high school, friends started calling me Hindu Rull because I would carry around books on Hinduism. Read the rest of this entry »
May 15, 2012 | Yoga, Zen Musings
“The obstacle is the path.”
You may have figured out that my last two posts had titles similar to episode titles from The Big Bang Theory.
These days I’m obsessed with The Big Bang Theory. I have all four seasons on DVD and waiting for the fifth season to become available.
Becoming A Spiritual Warrior
Anyway, Zen and Yoga seem to be worlds apart from each other, though Zen Buddhism originated from the subcontinent of India. Yoga is the system of transforming body, mind and spirit into an enlightened state. Both Zen and Yoga have basically similar goals (let’s say, both are paths to enlighten the spiritual warrior within). Read the rest of this entry »
May 15, 2012 | Internet, Zen Musings
For the last few years, I’ve attempted to merge my online blogging persona with my real life job as a musician.
I think that, overall, I haven’t truly succeeded in doing this… reason being that my web stats have slowly declined since trying to make my music life and blogging life coexist in one space on the web.
I haven’t received any feedback other than various stats coming from my webtracker and the stats I review on Google Analytics. Read the rest of this entry »
May 15, 2012 | Culture, Health & Lifestyle
The death of fitness guru Jack LaLanne was particularly saddening for me, being that I was recently inspired by his accomplishments of strength and endurance, and his being extremely fit for his age.
I’d also recently purchased his book, “Live Young Forever”. And, though there is a certain irony in the book’s title given his recent passing, it truly reflects the positive spirit and enthusiasm of his attitude toward diet and fitness.
Jack LaLanne passed away yesterday of respiratory failure due to pneumonia. He died at his home in Morro Bay, California. He was 96. Rest in peace, Jack. You will always be remembered as the Godfather of Fitness. Read the rest of this entry »
“You stupid!” —A family member, ironically
Carlos Rull - drums and piano