Remember how I mentioned I got addicted to video games and it prevented my wrists from being able to play guitar?
There was something vital that I learned from that experience.
And it’s something that I don’t want you to have to learn the hard way like I did.
Here’s what I learned about reality, and about our role as artists:
Reality is broken and painful. So we seek pleasure and refuge in sensations that we like.
And great games offer us something so few things in life do; complete presence.
But since at their core, video games are mere distractions from real life, they ultimately leave us feeling hollow and unfulfilled.
As Mihaly asked,
"Is it the destiny of mankind to remain unfulfilled, each person always wanting more than he or she can have?”
We have a choice: We can be victims to the brokenness of reality, and like most; consistently and predictably indulge in diversion and distraction.
In doing so, we ensure reality remains broken, and we stay stuck in a state of exhaustion and dissatisfaction.
Or,
we can shape reality into something we like to live in; through the persistent pursuit of mastery and the music we make with that mastery.
There’s a way for you to get the best of both worlds:
Refuge from the brokenness of reality; and satisfying real-life accomplishments.All it takes is being fully present to the moment you’re in. When completely present, it’s not a matter of where you end up or what you achieve; the process is the point.
Fortunately for us, the pursuit of mastery offers this opportunity and makes it easier and more meaningful than most alternatives.
And it’s up to us to reclaim this opportunity.
For the pursuit of mastery and artistry is threatened and facing extinction.
In a fast-and-easy, instantly-gratifying, dizzyingly distracting world; the desire to struggle to attain skill is waning. And the drive to see it through and suffer all the way to the marvelous emergence of mastery is even rarer.
On top of that, increasingly, the roles that humans once played in society are being outsourced to technology and artificial intelligence. This further disincentives us to hone skills.
But the struggle, the strain, the grueling and persistent cultivation of a craft, and creating something out of that repertoire of hard-won skill… This is a beautifully human endeavor. And it’s moving to see the result of that struggle.
We are engaged in that epic, vanishing pursuit, my friend.
And with our skill, we create sound, and reawaken the awe and wonder that’s inherent in the attainment of mastery.
We make music for ourselves, of course. We create that which we want to exist, giving back to the flow of experience, interweaving our contribution.
But as sound shapers, we also create the soundtrack of other people’s existence. We punctuate the highlights of their passage through this life.
• Babies are welcomed into this world with the gentle touch of our lullabies.
• Children find and form their identity around our melodies.
• Adolescents traverse the country by car, windows down, blasting and singing along to our tunes.
• Brides walk down the aisle to our ballads. The newly-wed dance to our anthems.
• People come face-to-face with pain, cope with tough times, and climb through the darkness led by the hand of our rhythm.
• Mothers and fathers raise a glass to celebrate birthdays, smiling, surrounded by our sounds.
• The dying inhales and exhales of a life well-lived, exiting this world on a wave of our hymns.
By setting the tone, feel, and color of these events, we make them moments they’ll never forget. We are the anchor; the trigger that causes it all to come flooding back in a rush of emotion.
That’s where we come in, as Art Accelerators. That’s the bigger picture here; the metagame we are playing; we are the aspiring masters and music makers in response to a broken reality.