Friday Night

I’ve had quite a bit of time to myself the last couple of days and it has been nice. Plenty of time to think and get lost in my own thoughts.
The last couple of days I’ve spent focusing on organizing my things, in particular my office space. I was in dire need of getting things in order to start the month of May, primarily because there is a lot to get done from now until October and I know that fulfilling my goals depends on how well my plan of execution goes down. I’m conscious about biting off quite a bit this time around, and my hope is that I’ll find peace and balance throughout the coming months to stay both sane and creative to the best of my ability.

Last night I took to the streets of Downtown SLC, with my good friend Andrew, to open up the guitar case again and play some tunes. It was a good couple of hours of singing and playing. I had the first hour to myself and met some really cool people that were kind enough to stop and take a listen. I always enjoy when people take a second to say hello and especially when I have the opportunity to see where they are from. One guy in particular was really cool. He stopped and listened when I was playing one of my songs in Portuguese, and he ended up himself being from Bosnia. I think he was intrigued by the fact that I was singing in another language. At any rate, he asked if he could play a few songs w/ my guitar, and we proceeded to play a few together. I didn’t know the words to his cover songs, so I would pick a few of the repetitive chorus lines out and harmonize w/ him in addition to clapping and snapping to add some percussive beats behind his strumming. It is an amazing feeling when two strangers can meet up like that and somehow find common ground through creativity. If only we could do this on a larger scale around the world to bridge gaps in culture, religion, and politics. I hope I have more of these experiences in the future as I venture out to share my songs.

Tonight I kept it relatively mellow. I made my way down to Sugarhouse to meet up with the Alta Youth Telemark Program. This great girl, Anna, has put tons of energy and love into creating this group for local kids to Telemark ski @ Alta. I’m super impressed with everything she has done and hope that more people around the world take her lead in creating their own projects, groups, and clinics. I wasn’t able to ski with this particular group this winter, so it was great to meet some of them and their parents and talk shop a bit. If nothing else it just feels good to feel like I’m getting to know more of the local telemark population. There are always more people to meet!

On my way home from the little shin dig I decided to drop by Blockbuster to see if they had a copy of The Wrestler in stock. I’ve heard various interviews with the director as well as great reviews from friends about this film, so I have been itching to find the opportunity to watch it. The film was great and really shed light on subject matter that I’ve been contemplating myself a lot lately. I’m always intrigued by people’s stories that are so full of passion and drive for what they are doing, and I especially enjoy when this is portrayed with the contrasting element of sacrifice. So many people around us live 2 different lives, the life that pays the bills and the life that pays their souls. If you can find a way to do both at the same time, you are one of the fortunate ones.

It is getting late… and I need to get some rest before I head into the weekend. Thank you for taking the time to read some of my thoughts.
-jm