Why The Medium Matters

Some have scratched their heads at the recent vinyl record resurgence. Why would all these “kids” want to spend $20-30 for a record when they can just get it free or cheap online? Isn’t it the same music? Add to this a rediscovery of cassette tapes as a cheap, effective way to release music. Yes, people are buying cassettes again. Even VHS has some diehard fans. Millions of DVDs and CDs are still being made and purchased. Essentially taking digital files and putting them in a box and upping the price. Why not just download the files? There isn’t a real difference in terms of the viewing experience. Why bother with buying the “thing”? Aren’t we trying to de-clutter and get rid of all our stuff?

Here’s the thing, the medium matters. The medium can change the experience, it can make something more “real”. Sure, sometimes the medium is a nostalgic one, it can take you back–listening to cassettes on your Walkman while lying in bed as a teenager. But it isn’t just a nostalgic experience. It is a visceral one. It deepens and expands the experience. I know from years of experience that listening to a vinyl record is altogether a different experience from streaming digital files. Sure, if you blindfolded me I might not be able to tell the difference half the time but that misses the point. My eyes aren’t closed when I listen to a record, I am looking at the jacket or browsing other records to find what’s next. Listening to a record is a tactile, sensory experience. There is no separating the two.

Physical objects can act as bridges, companions and bookmarks. They can bridge our past and present, they can connect our senses, they can bring together people, they travel with us. An effective object demands presence and focus. It whispers in our ears “take care of me and I’ll take care of you.” It is a constant companion as we navigate all the changes in our lives. The object externalizes and bookmarks our journey. Our brains are wired for recognition and struggle with recall. Every object we own has the power to trigger memories that might disappear otherwise. 

Humans have always been fascinated by the flickering of a fire or the song of a bird. We spent millennium finding ways to capture and reproduce those experiences. It wasn’t just to play the experience on repeat but to own it, to touch and feel it. The power of a vinyl record is as much the visual of seeing the sound in those grooves and marveling at how the tiniest diamond in the world could so wonderfully bring a sound back to life! The magic of  “motion pictures” wasn’t just on the screen, it was the film we could hold in our hand, looking at the individual frames, marveling at how they could somehow turn back into motion. We weren’t just looking to capture sound and vision to reproduce it. We had to hold and touch it. We needed to feel it. The medium matters, almost as much as the content it holds. 

Obama Gets Vulnerable

"It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency -- that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. I have no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office."

- President Obama, State Of The Union January 12th 2016
 

In his last State Of The Union speech President Obama did two remarkable things. First, he owned up to failure and secondly he lead with questions not answers. It’s hard to remember the last time a politician, much less a president, owned failure. It speaks to a level of vulnerability that our modern politics doesn’t seem to tolerate. Of course, it helps that Obama isn’t running for office again. 

The image of someone who is “presidential” isn’t far off from the image of a super hero. Someone strong and confident. Completely trustworthy and consistent. If you look at the rise of Donald Trump you see this prototype at work. He never questions himself, he is always right and no-one is as smart as him. His house of cards is built on a foundation of ego and hubris. You can almost see the cape drifting in the wind, connecting magically with his gravity defying hair. 

This model of the “uber” president may have been what we needed in times past. And you can see a nostalgia for “real” America in many who recall, and idealize, leaders like Ronald Reagan. A president that shows strength in the face of the enemy (USSR). Of course Reagan was not that idealized man, he was much more complex.

So if you dig even slightly under the covers you begin to see a different story. Our greatest leaders are remembered as being great mostly because of one or two major accomplishments that outshine their many failures. Ending slavery, winning a war, bringing people out of poverty. They failed constantly and approached their role as leader of our country with great humility. Humility is not in fashion these days. Humility and vulnerability are seen as weaknesses. To be exploited by others. 

But there is great strength in vulnerability. When a leader gets vulnerable those they lead start to feel safe, to be human and vulnerable themselves. It lays the foundation for real human interaction- which is a powerful change agent. So when Obama owned his failure to improve relations between the two parties he immediately made it safe for others to start talking again. Also, when he framed his address around 4 questions the nation must answer in the coming years he distributed ownership of the solutions. It was an implicit admission that he needs our help, that he didn't have the answers. It creates space to explore.

Obama’s State Of The Union was one of his finest moments. Of course, in the heat of presidential politics we've only heard discussion around his veiled critiques of Donald Trump- a bait too tasty for him to resist. I hope in time we will come back to those 4 questions, below, and begin to work together on their answers. I think they are the right questions to ask. I’m proud to have a president that was vulnerable enough to embrace his failures and humble enough to frame a future beyond his term. 

I wish he’d gotten to this place sooner, it feels like Obama is finally getting his sea legs as a president. When you look at the cast of candidates on both sides of the aisle you don’t see anyone yet suited to fill his shoes. Not even Bernie Sanders. 
 

Here are Obama’s 4 Questions:

1. How do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?

2. How do we make technology work for us, and not against us, particularly for urgent challenges such as climate change?

3. How do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policemen?

4. How can we make our politics reflect the best of us, not the worst?

My Constant Companion: Tinnitus #thinkkit

in response to today's ThinkKit.org prompt: Do you hear what I hear? Tell us about a sound. What do you hear in your house or at work?

I remember the first time my ears rang. I was 15 or 16 and had just finished my first band practice. I lay in bed and listened to my ears ring that night. It was something of a novelty and I didn’t think much of it. As I got older, and played more live music at high volume, I got to know that ring even better. It usually showed up around bedtime and was gone in the morning. Or at least I didn’t notice it in the morning. But in the last few years the ring hasn’t gone away in the morning. It’s always there, sometimes quiet in the background and sometimes impossible to ignore. Although I do still play live music and go to concerts I almost always wear hearing protection. Even a loud voice can set it off now. Sudden noises are the worst. I can be easily startled by a sharp, loud noise. It definitely has an impact on my nerves and stress. It can make it hard to be in public sometimes, especially at night, since crowded, loud places can be very hard on my ears. 

This condition is called tinnitus. I assumed it was caused by years of playing and listening to music. Which probably has something to do with it. But the weird thing about tinnitus is that no-one really understands how it works. Recent studies have even suggested that the sound doesn’t originate in the ear but in the brain. I’ve done a ton of research on it and experimented with different supplements and diets. Some days the ringing dims, so I know this is fixable. I need to get to the source and begin controlling my diet and environment towards a future where I don’t live with that constant ring in my ears. The most I could move the needle was when I quit caffeine/coffee for a week. I’m back to a cup in the morning and when I cheat and have some in the afternoon I can generally expect increased ringing that night. 

Pretty much all of us live with some constant companion in our lives. It might not be in our ears, it could be a knee that hurts, or emotional or physical abuse that lingers. There really isn’t any human being walking this earth that doesn’t carry with them some kind of companion like my ringing ears. Although these companions can be burdens they can also be teachers. Teaching us to listen to our bodies, know our minds and begin owning our existence. My ringing ears keep me in check. They let me know when I get too out of whack and veer towards unhealthy activities. So I try to be grateful for the ringing, it is a reminder that I must actively care for myself. ut I still plan to show tinnitus the door as soon as possible. 

Sweat and Sound #thinkkit

This post is part of the SmallBox Think Kit project. An annual month long (January) blogging event where people from all over the world reflect on the past year and the one to come. Get a prompt every day and blog as much or little as you want. Learn more and sign up at thinkkit.org

In response to the 1/3/15 prompt: "No screens, no technology – what did you do with your hands this year?"

This past summer I took off the month of July to see what would happen. I wanted to rediscover my natural state of being. What would I do with my time when I didn't have a calendar or business to answer to? It turns out I tend to gravitate towards mechanical, manual, analog activities. 

I spent a week working on my house. The hard work, and sweat, felt cleansing. I ended long days feeling tired and ready for sleep but not drained. While my body did the "work" my mind was free to wander. Ideas appeared, connections were made. Sometimes clarity arrived. I felt strong, mentally and physically. 

I also spent a week alone in a cabin in northern Michigan. Well, actually two cabins. My intention was to use this time to work on a book. But I kept being drawn to my guitar. By the end of the first day I'd written and recorded three songs. Another three came the next day. I felt guilty for not getting much done on the book. But I couldn't stop the songs.

Songwriting and recording used to be a huge part of my life. But between family and business, the last 10 years haven't had much space for it. And it needs space. Wide open solitary space. At least for me. I need to be alone and know that I won't be disturbed. It's a pretty vulnerable experience to write and record music. Especially if you are using your voice. I don't have a great singing voice so it's particularly challenging for me to get into that safe space. I love my life but it doesn't have many solitary spaces. People are always around. 

Back in the cabin, around day 3, I gave up and accepted that the project I was there to complete was an album not a book. Over the course of that week I wrote and recorded 16 songs. They formed something of a song cycle. I was processing new ideas from Alan Watts lectures I was listening to during that week- Alan was my only companion, so to speak. I was working through my relationship with my dad, my wife, my kids and, most of all, my "self". I shared the recordings with a few friends when I returned. They are pretty primitive since I didn't have much more than a guitar with me. I plan to re-record them this year. I decided to post them online despite my hesitancy in sharing something as personal as this. Maybe other people might find meaning or beauty in them. I certainly have. It was like having a much needed conversation with my self. One that continues. 

I end this year knowing a little more about what brings me joy and happiness. It's working with my hands and creating things. It's long conversations with fascinating people. I find great joy in seeing others do what they love, to stand on the side of the stage and see them shine. To know I had a hand in helping them do what they love. But I also enjoy building the stage, setting up the sound system and getting everything just right. I love manual, mechanical work. Work that I can see with my eyes and touch with my hands. Laying a physical foundation for something new is what I love the most. The more virtual something is, the harder it is for me to care. I need to feel to feel. 

Belief Blinders and Gap Fillers

Our brains excel at filling gaps. When we look at something our brains make meaning of the inputs. Sorting them into categories (sizes, shapes, colors, names), searching for movement. 

Belief does the same thing with knowledge. It fills the gaps. Finding connections to fill in the gaps. We use beliefs to make sense of the world. 

We all operate every day on a core set of beliefs. For instance: I believe that when I cross the street that cars will not run me over. Of course there are plenty of examples of people getting run over by cars. But my belief is based on my knowledge and experience. And it lets me navigate the world. 

So beliefs build frameworks for understanding the world. But they also blind us. We struggle to truly “see” as our belief frameworks take over. Confirmation bias can literally change what we see, feel and experience. What was needed for our evolution and survival has become one of our biggest obstacles to growth. We can't see beyond our beliefs. 

Have you ever had that moment when you opened your eyes and couldn’t categorize something you saw. Where, just for a second, you saw color and shapes not objects and meaning? It is very hard to see the world that way, even briefly. At a time in our history when belief is posing an existential threat, from ISIS to Trump, we need to find ways to remove our belief blinders. To see life for what it is and not for what we want it to be.