Day 4. Ryan: The Song Comes Through You
Today, guitarist Ryan takes over the blog . . .
Being in the studio, for me, is the epitome of embarking on a spiritual pilgrimage with the added freedom of creating art through means of musical expression. The minutes and the hours dissolve into fleetingly large, unbroken moments of living in the present as new songs spring to life. As one might go to church to speak to the God of their heart, I come to the studio to truly listen and communicate with the ineffable ethers of musical realms; the omnipotent vibrations that touch hearts and move souls. The way I see it, each song’s got a spirit; it already exists outside the perception of time in its most pure and perfected form; you’ve just got to get out of your own way to let it come through you and your instrument of choice.
Sounds fuckin great, right? Easier said than done.
Such is life . . . You oftentimes get the lessons you need, and it appears that a bit of what some looney tune Jungian astro-whatevers call “Ego Death” was ordered up with a side of non-attachment for good ol’ Ry-guy this week! Ahhhh, Ego. The gift that keeps on giving. Of course, it’s the mind-body experience we all incarnated for; without it, we wouldn’t experience all the good stuff (like duality, the latest string theory, puppies, rocky road ice cream, or nature, to name a few). But sometimes an overdeveloped sense of “I” can get in the way of being that antenna to transmit the music. All those things like struggle, comparison, inferiority, superiority, right, wrong, illusions of control—them shadowy underbellies of ego—are difficult yet crucial lessons in letting go and acknowledging the parts of you that so desperately want to heal.
It’s challenging, yeah. But it ain’t good nor bad. These moments are opportunities for growth; opportunities to look irrational fear and attachments in the eyes and say, “I hear you. Thank you for looking out for me. But the Universe has got this.” And just maybe, after some minor redirection, you can trust Mother Earth and Father Sky and finally let go of that shit.
Sometimes the best songs (re)write you.
