A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD VOL. II
I posted this on Instagram this weekend and thought I’d share it here on Substack as well. Apologies for the double post but I’ve also noticed that Instagram often limits the reach of my posts because they want me to pay to “boost post.” I do intend to be posting on Substack more frequently, it’s just been a busy summer, and it looks like it’s going to get busier this fall so thanks for hanging in there and for still following me here… It is much appreciated. I look forward to finally begin sharing some of the awesome things I get to be be a part of ❤️
I haven’t felt much like posting here lately but in honor of Rosh Hashanah I’d like to share these bits of wisdom/truths I’ve learned over the past few years that have really helped me.
Some are quotes from people I admire and some of them are realizations I came to on my own. I’m hoping that they help you too. Shanah Tovah ☮️
1. The Roman philosopher Seneca said that all cruelty stems from weakness. I could not agree with this more.
2. Miserable people will go to great lengths to try to make others feel miserable in order to avoid dealing with their own pain.
3. My best creative moments happen early in the morning or very late at night. The more time I get to spend just playing my guitar, the happier I usually am. There’s something about playing music with no goal in mind other than the sheer joy of it that puts my mind in a deeper meditative state than meditation. All of my musical output that I ever thought was worth sharing with an audience outside of myself originated out of these moments where I wasn’t trying to force anything.
4. “Being alive is way more scary than being dead” – Ida No
5. Setting boundaries with people is a great way to test any relationship. Observe how people respond when you put up boundaries. It’ll reveal way more about them than their own words do.
6. I think alcohol is by far the most harmful drug. I went a month without drinking and didn’t even realize it until I started to notice how much better I was sleeping, and my body and joints stopped aching. I haven’t had a drink since then. It’s been about 10 months now and I don’t miss it at all.
7. “Talking shit is how insecure people bond with one another” – Mark Manson
8. People who hate others always hate themselves the most.
9. You can learn a lot about a person by observing how they treat service workers.
10. Olivia Laing is my favorite living contemporary author. Her observations on art, culture and the human condition are on par with Susan Sontag’s, minus the need to feel superior to people.
11. It costs you nothing to be nice - Lucille O’Neal
12. Authentic joy and pain are the qualities I’m always hoping to find when I listen to someone’s music. I crave authenticity.
13. I’ve written a lot of lyrics where at the time I didn’t understand their meaning until years later, and when I finally did it terrified me because it was so obvious to me now.
14. “Takers have no limits” – Ice T
15. I am not responsible for the versions of myself that exist in other people’s minds
16. Sometimes people stay in abusive relationships because they don’t realize what they’re experiencing is abuse
17. When people show you who they are, pay attention!
18. You can’t save someone who isn’t willing to participate in their own rescue. Quotes 15-18 are from one of my favorite IG profiles @peacefulbarb
19. Most artists I love have made way more “bad” music than music that changed my life. (The exceptions to this being Michael Rother & The Durutti Column).
20. “Toxic & narcissistic people cannot control their emotions and in part that is due to the fact that they regulate their self-esteem from the outside in. Ultimately they are deeply insecure, and when people are insecure they perceive themselves as being chronically under threat.” - Dr Ramani Durvasula
21. For every song I love by an artist, there are often multiple other songs by that artist that are similar to that song I love but not as good. I can understand how this happens, as an artist you fall in love with an idea and you want to explore as many possibilities for it.
22. Purists of any genre or application bore me. Desperately clinging to the familiar, they’re probably not very fun people to be around. Change is the only constant in this universe. As an artist you embrace the qualities of something that resonates with you and synthesize it through your own unique experience.
23. I deeply love people and want to see all humans thrive and know how it feels to be loved. Some people in my past abused me and exploited that love for their own gain in order to compensate for pain they experienced at the hands of someone else. I just feel sorry for those people and continue to love them from afar. I also understand that they’re incapable of understanding that.
24. Be wary of anybody who mythologizes events they claim to have happened to them. It’s most likely a big lie intended to influence your perception of them.
25. “You read a book one page at a time, why don’t you live life the same way… one day at a time.” -Lieutenant Theo Kojak
-I am so grateful for this life, thanks for reading this. I’d love to hear if any of these resonate with you and why they do. Yours in service, 🐸 AM
