I’ve regurgitated this piece of philosophical knowledge so much at this point that I don’t really know where I heard it anymore. However; I’m not so sure I’ve written about it here despite how frequently it comes up in conversation… so I feel compelled to share it with you now.
You don’t get what you want in this life.
You get what you are.
If that doesn’t immediately make sense to you, I assure you it will, and I hope you hang onto it the way I have.
I spent a good number of years longing for things like… artistic encouragement, and opportunity… things like respect and appreciation… to be surrounded by people who understand me and work as hard on their art as I do… people who are even keeled and professional.
A bunch of years ago, I said fuck it, and went for it – I played with the best players I could find, I played with prolific songwriters and I recorded in pro-level studios… it got better and better. Eventually I decided to stop playing with everyone (as hard as that was) and put all my eggs in one basket – The Confusionaires basket. Since then, things have been going progressively better. The Confusionaires are equally yoked. Jayson & Adam work just as hard at their craft and the extra stuff they bring with them into this band as I do, and the hard work has shown over the course of 3 full length albums, 3 EPs, and the recording we’ve started to do that will come out next year.
We work with an incredible mixing engineer.
We work with an incredible booking agent.
Similarly in my non-musical life, as I delve more into philosophy and fitness I find myself aligning more with well-read, healthy individuals. They find me and I find them… some of them are old friends, and some of them are newer folks who’ve come out of the woodwork. Some are family who have always been there, but we’ve grown closer.
The other side of this coin is that people who are not good for me and my psyche, people who are not good for my art-life, people who are volatile or unsafe… they’ve stopped running with me and are standing in the dust, making their way to the sidelines.
In the end, we find our people.
It takes time… like sedimentary rock makes layers over thousands of years.
Musicians find musicians.
Artists find artists.
Vegans find vegans.
Athletes find athletes.
… and… drunks find drunks.
Abusers find abusers.
I believe this is the natural order of things but it gets so much more granular then that.
People who are moving the culture forward find each other, too.
And the naysayers… get left behind.
Similarly, and possibly even by default… the lowlifes and negative forces find each other too, likely as the positive people in their lives move on ahead.
So it’s good to look in the mirror every so often and take inventory of who you are and where you are. If you don’t like where you’re at, then it’s time to move… because; again…
You don’t get what you want.
You get what you are.
The Conscious Pilgrim 