Cautionary Tales

While alive, Townes Van Zandt was labeled as a cult musician; though he had a small and devoted fan base, he never had a successful album or single. He spent his life playing dive bars and drinking himself into oblivion, traveling from town to town playing for pennies to anyone who would listen, a manic depressive with an addiction to heroin.....he considered himself a failure.

Years after his death, he is now viewed as a song writer’s song writer and his songs have been recorded by everyone from Willie Nelson to the Cowboy Junkies.

He did not live long enough to see his success and his impact on the World. He will serve as an inspiration and a cautionary tale.

Live in the moment. Fill each day because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

To Live is to Fly By Townes Van Zant

Won't say I love you, babe. Won't say I need you, babe,

But I'm gonna get you babe

and I will not do you wrong.

Living's mostly wasting time and I waste my share of mine

but it never feels too good, so let's don't take too long.

You're soft as glass and I'm a gentle man, we got the sky to talk about
 and the
earth to lie upon.


Days, up and down they come, like rain on a conga drum.

Forget most, remember some
but don't turn none away.

Everything is not enough

and

nothin' is too much to bear.

Where you been is good and gone

all you keep is the getting there.


To live is to fly, all low and high,

 so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes.


Goodbye to all my friends,
 it's time to go again.

Think of all the poetry and the pickin' down the line.

I'll miss the system here, the bottom's low and the trebles clear.

But it don't pay to think too much on things you leave behind.

I will be gone….but it won't be long and

I will be a'bringin' back the melodies
and rhythm that I find.


We all got holes to fill, them holes are all that's real.
Some fall upon you like a stone;

sometimes you dig your own.

The choice is yours to make, time is yours to take;
some sail upon/dive into the sea, some toil upon the stone.


To live is to fly,
all low and high,
so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes;


shake the dust off of your wings
and the tears out of your eyes.

Reflection

Day 3-  

“Am I the son I think I am? Am I the friend I think I am? Am I the man I think I wanna be?” - Train

After creating my Bucket list and hearing the comments from many friends, I have come to a few conclusions. I am a man with two souls; a Gordon Gecko with a hippie bent, equal parts mogul and minstrel.

At times feeling like a one man band playing just as fast as I can, albeit just a bit off time.

So it begs the question, how does one man serve two masters? Maybe more importantly, can he?

And I wonder why I have been confused. Maybe I’m on to something here.

So, to create a business that fuels my passions and allows me the opportunity to serve others.

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”- Luke 12:48

I have heard this quote in various forms for many years. Not being a religious man, I had no idea its origin was a bible verse. But I trust in its meaning and believe in its premise. I hope to use this as one of my daily mantras.

Bliss

The Bucket List (Pt.1)

Day two I start to think about the “goals” that I have always had. I say goals in quotations because I really have not really pursued them. These are the things that I always hoped would happen by osmosis, things that if I waited long enough would fall into my lap. Well, I’m 45 years old and my laps empty. It’s time to start going after these goals or forget them.

Many of these things have never been talked about in public, some have. Part of the deal is that “First you have to say it, and then you have to do it’’.

Well here they are…. in no particular order, my Bucket List. Well, at least the first 70.

1.       Work in the sports industry in public relations, sponsor services or community services.

2.      Travel internationally for business.

3.      Find a job that makes me excited for tomorrow.

4.      Start my own company.

5.      Be known as a philanthropist.

6.      Be debt free.

7.      Make a million dollars….and give it all away.

8.      Write an article for Rolling Stone.

9.      Own a classic Mustang.

10.   Build a baseball field for a poor community.

11.    Pay for a college education for a stranger who deserves it.

12.   Have friends that are famous.

13.   Create a place where art, music and food warm people’s souls.

14.   Attend a festival in Sicily.

15.   Inspire others to do great things.

16.   Spend a day at the Djemaa el Fna in Morocco.

17.   Feed a child that otherwise would not eat that day.

18.   Start a Foundation.

19.   Play First Base for the Dodger’s.

20.  Become the Charles Kuralt of my generation.

21.   Pay someone’s medical bill.

22.  Drink tea with the Dalai Lama.

23.  Own a Ferrari.

24.  Be asked to be a member of Augusta… and turn it down.

25.  Write a book.

26.  Go to Lemans.

27.  Swim with a Manta Ray.

28.  Befriend a wild animal.

29.  Manage a band.

30.  Eat Pho in Viet Nam.

31.   Take a balloon ride over the Alps.

32.  Learn how to make beer, bread and cheese.

33.  Discover the next Springsteen.

34.  Buy a beautiful Irish girl a Guinness.

35.  Scuba Dive at the Great Barrier Reef.

36.  Have Beignets at Café du Monde.

37.  Own a race car.

38.  See Thailand by boat.

39.  Sky Dive (I think).

40. Buy someone a home….anonymously.

41.   Play onstage with a great band.

42.  Host a “Dinner for Five”

43.  Live by the ocean….again.

44. Go to a baseball fantasy camp.

45.  Own a gourmet market.

46. Spend a winter in Key West.

47.  Sail off of Martha’s Vineyard.

48. Be Richard Branson.

49. Sleep at Mt. Everest’s base camp.

50.  Drink a beer while watching a volcano overflow.

51.   Sit on the board for a major philanthropy.

52.  Swim in the rain in Fiji.

53.  Own a music club like Eddie’s Attic.

54.  Sail on a Catamaran.

55.  Sleep in a castle.

56.  Create a place that kids with special needs can flourish.

57.  Learn how to shuck an oyster.

58.  Eat at The French Laundry.

59.  Have someone ask for my autograph.

60. Hold a concert for charity.

61.   Go to a Super Bowl.

62.  Give an older person their dream.

63.  Build a school.

64. See the great battlefields of WW II.

65.  Live for a year in another country.

66. Learn to play the mandolin.

67.  See Paris at night.

68. Wake up in a tent in Africa.

69. Ride a train through Europe.

70.   Visit every major league baseball stadium.

Get busy livin' or get busy dyin"

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.” Well I am tired of being insane. Today is the day that I start being the person that I have always wanted to be.

I’m going to look inside myself and figure out my whys. Why do I sell myself short? Why do I not pursue my passions? Why am I never content…and dozens of other big “life” questions.

It sounds ominous, and maybe it is. But it is also liberating to strip your soul bare and start fresh like a Marine in boot camp, broken down to only be built back up stronger.

I’m not sure where to start or where to stop, but I know there are steps that will need to be taken including time alone, time to seek the council of the people I respect, time to research, and time to break myself down and build myself up again.

It will be a long trip but a fun one, care to join me?