Joy and Angst

No, I'm not bi-polar, but I think that as you mature, you've absorbed so much over time - both good and bad - that your peaks become higher and your lows can get pretty low.

I mean, think about it…with practice we (should) become better at most anything, right?  Fill in the blank with whatever you like________(photography, cooking, angling, playing an instrument, making love).  Our perception in any particular area becomes more discerning.  We can more easily judge if something tastes better (or worse), if something sounds better (or worse) or if something makes sense or is just f*g ridiculous.

In other words, on one hand, we have opinion and on the other a more informed opinion.

All the things we've absorbed over the years (can) give us more points on the graph of Life and help us more clearly define pictures and issues.

They say with age comes wisdom.  Perhaps not all the time, but mostly, yes.  And of course, the way we think about things, the way we process Life's input can be distorted by a variety of prejudices.

But back to joy and angst.  Over 50 years of musical experience has given me the ability to find great joy and beauty in creating, performing, and recording sounds.  It's why artists are artists.  Creativity is a very pleasurable thing, but we also enjoy sharing it with others.  Like cooking.  And I try to spend as much time as I can in that state of mind, not just because it's fun and gratifying, but because it's also a counteragent to the dark side.

There's just so much dark out there; the stupidity, the selfishness, the greed, the hatred, the lack of empathy, the extremism.  At times, it almost seems as though the dark will steamroll or consume all that is good in the world.  It makes one wonder how - with all the love and wonderful things there are - that some people are apparently helpless or even intent upon their negative agendas.

As I've said many times, there may or may not be such a thing as ultimate evil, but there sure as hell are some evil MFs out there.

And with that said, I think I'll go play my guitar for a while...