Quality vs. Quantity…which wins?
Well, you may say…”it depends.” I remember a board game back in the 90’s (of course I forget the name of that game ha!) and it was a matter of “True”, “False” or it “Depends”. You had to play with friends you knew so you could call their bluff…and 9 times out of 10, I always said, “it depends”. The joy and pain of seeing both sides sometimes pissed off my friends or made them more appreciative…it “depended” on the situation. (o.k. I had to look it up…the game was called Scruples and it was out in the 80’s holy cow…gotta love Google! who needs a memory?)Quality wins broadly with me, however if you have a hundred one dollar bills it really doesn’t MATTER the quality of the pressed paper to pay for this or that…so in some circumstances…quantity wins out. However, why eat cheap ice cream? If you are going to go the distance and indulge…by God, get the good stuff! Ya know?
This is my thought of this last week. We played quality shows and not everyone was a “sell out” (meaning there were still tickets at the box office heh heh) but they were truly fun and powerful. We had a load of shows in the heat and the smoke filled air, though the air quality was terrible, we managed to breath easily, almost surprisingly so.
I give credit once again to being in the “flow” of life. I have been filled with so much gratitude for the simplest things. There has been a calmness that is indescribable. Each life is like a river. We all have our path we cut though in the earth. We all make a mark here, some how and some way. We flow around things, through things, over things, underthings. We fall into sink holes and cascade down mountains. We get caught up in the “eddies” of our processes or sucked up by the turbulence of the outer world we live in…but going deeper to the underbelly of the bed rock, getting comfortable with the rush of things going by or the current that takes you to a place “unknown” or in some cases “always known.” This river, this life, is an interesting journey that fascinates me each day. And perhaps my explanation of my grandest “ah-ha” moments are not presenting themselves clearly to you in the reflection of my waters but I have been mildly blown away with the subtle awarenesses that have come over me (or shall I say, “over come me?”)
The quantity of my mailing list subscribers my decrease due to these philosophical musings and my apologies for my inner ramblings, but I do believe the quality of our audiences have gotten better and better as time goes by. Is it me? Am I MORE appreciative? Am I just getting old! HA! Do I see the infinite in the finite time we have together? As listeners, teachers, learners and friends?
Shutting my eyes to a song I played to 10 people at the end of the night, I was transported, to another space, another time zone it seemed and they all went with me…or at least it felt that way and when I opened my eyes I was dizzy. It was FABULOUS! Perhaps I’m just starting to find my niche, or just remembering more of myself or just “rolling down the river” and not getting caught up. It sure was GREAT to SPEND QUALITY time and exchange with those lovely people who stayed aboard at Wood River Cellars Sat. Thank you for being open hearted. Thank you for such a great exchange of energy and for making my week.
The image I have been shown in my minds eye has been of a river bed rock. Sitting at the bottom of that fast moving current I have been noticing the waters rushing past me. I have deadlines on the East Coast to take care of, and students to plan for, engagements to keep, people to connect with, business to do, phone calls, bills, dogs to walk (ha…thought I’d throw that in there!) practice practice practice….and here I am…observing from the bottom looking up from my bed rock. Deciding what is important. Recognizing the eddies I find myself floating into, correcting myself, moving down stream, forgiving myself, moving down stream, stopping to check out things along the way, getting caught up, freeing myself once again, moving down stream, floating where I am now, thinking about past river bends, disconnecting from past, forgiving others, forgiving self, moving down stream, preparing for water falls, letting go, trusting my currents…moving downstream. I am the bed rock, the river, the obstacles that are in my way, the force to over come those obstacles…andSO…… ARE….. YOU….!!!
Is’nt it beautiful????
Oh…and a side note… a quality show will be happening at Smoky Mountain Pizza in Eagle Wed. 7/18 from 7-9 🙂
Would love to see you quality folks there. It’s our only show this week so we’ll make it a good one! See you down the river!
Nicc & Mo
