Originally posted on Facebook HERE
There was a time in my life when I was younger that I was certainly moving at a different pace. What’s somewhat surprising to me is that when I was young, the pace was much slower. Not nearly as many things going on. Not as many responsibilities. Most of my life I made a living playing bass in rock bands. So – weekends were almost always filled. And in the late 70s/early 80s there were a bunch of clubs in the Midwest that ran bands 6 nights a week. They’d have the same band for a week or two usually. You could travel all over and only be home every few months before heading out again. I know at one time in 1982 I think I played 32 days in a row. Drinking age was eighteen back then and drunk driving laws weren’t as strict. As those things started to change in the eighties and the new 21 year old drinking age came about, along with stricter drunk driving laws and enforcement, the landscape also changed with it if you wanted to make a living as a musician. Many of us would supplement our income by getting a day job, or working occasionally for a temp agency. But really most days I had free to do whatever I wanted to do. Before I got clean in 1988, that often meant going to bars a lot. Or working on band stuff – booking shows, putting promo packets together, practicing. Or both. I almost always slept in. No real reason not to. As time went on I kept playing, but life starts to add things in – like a house, a family, a pet, more bills, more responsibilities… and with that comes a faster pace of life. More stuff to do. Less time to do it. And it can be stressful at times depending on the work load. Days seem to fly by now. I mean, really fly by. I don’t remember feeling that way much when I was younger. I think there were times I’d even get bored when I was young – I can’t even remember the last time I ever felt “bored”. Just doesn’t happen anymore. And isn’t it true that the passage of times moves much faster when we’re enjoying ourselves? “Time flies when you’re having fun”, right? So maybe we’re meant to run at full capacity. That doesn’t necessarily mean not taking time off to relax – heck, that’s built in to all my days. But it’s all about doing something you love to do to make a living. Being with people you love to be with. And maybe having an outside interest as well, something you’re passionate about outside work. If the days are flying by, seems like you’re doing it right. If not, where is your passion? What can you do to spend more time with the things you like to do and the people you want to do them with?… life is way too short to ever be bored.
