engage in Surfing?
One of my favorite “memes” is Captain Piccard with his head down, captioned, “Damage Report Number 1”. Every day, a new wave crashes over us. I have at least stopped consuming ‘news’ ….as there isn’t much that is, and that that is… is mostly beyond my control. Instead, I am in workshops on the NeuroScience of Change. We have weekly themes, daily reminders, and hourly check-ins’ – helping us to focus – a challenge for me, but I have embraced it. One practice really resonated… and reminded me of one of my favorite types of music and the perfect soundtrack for our times… so… Let’s Go Surfing!!!
A good friend gave me a book called “Habit.” You can retrain your mind with new activities that continue for 21 days. In my work, I have found when you make the changes, it takes 6 months for others to notice.... and then it is mostly “Have you lost weight?” No – I have reprogrammed my being.... but thanks for noticing 😉 Either way, what matters is constant support for the Habit… and catching people doing it right – more importantly, having them catch THEMSELVES doing it right. We are all so programmed to notice the negative that getting people to observe good progress is next to impossible.
What is real – really?
You would think that surf music would have started in California, definitely on a Fender guitar and by a tall guy with blonde and tall hair. I knew the first group to feature would be Link Wray and The Raymen. Any guitarist will point to him as a key influence on their playing. Pete Townshend credits him and today’s song for making him pick up a guitar. It is one of the only songs banned from radio airplay – because of the SOUND. It has no lyrics, but was “interpreted” to sound like the fights in the “new” Broadway musical, West Side Story. It was “distorted, monotonous, noisy music” the radio networks wanted to “get rid of.” Good luck – sorta like the Covid virus, no one had experienced this… and unlike that virus, our brain says – “What the heck was that???? Try that again! “… particularly teenagers…
They started at a live gig – near me on the East Coast – in Fredricksburg, Virginia. The feedback was immense – to the point that it sounded like the speakers were ripped. The crowd of teenagers LOVED it, so much they demanded they play it 4 more times! Signed to a New York labe, Link tore holes in his speaker to try and emulate the sound. That caught the ear of the daughter of the recording company who suggested the name Rumble, It was released, became banned, and a nationwide Number 1!. Here is a young Link with an even younger Dick Clark playing on a local Philadelphia program… another hit of his Rawhide. It features the first use of something else critical to music – the Power Chord. With minimal talent, almost anyone can play them, and particularly at loud volumes, they started Surf on its wave...
… and how does it engage you?
…. the critical thing with Surfing is you are using the wave’s energy to propel you… not fighting it. You have to pick up speed to get on top of the wave, and then balance subtly on it. It carries you forward and, if you are really good, allows you to have some fun along the way. The idea is to let go of control – super easy for most of us ‘-). Our country is founded (mostly) by rebels who, when challenged, respond with, “Hold my Beer.” How can we engage our current challenges and changes into opportunities to Surf along with? And start a different way of controlling your emotions? Link by the way – Native American – 100%. From the reservation in North Carolina… served in Korea where he got TB, and lost a lung – and told he would never sing…. he reframed that into the music that will launch Surf with this song, and something I will be doing with control this week… Rumble.
