February 2022 Guitar Newsletter Childlike Mindsets and Un-Imagining Ice
Over the years, I have learned many lessons from my children and would like to share some of them in this month’s newsletter. One of the most striking differences between children and adults is that children simply look at the situation, quickly make an assessment of what is doable and then proceed. They are 100% in the moment not wasting thoughts or energy on what the ideal conditions could be.
Musicians at work are just like children at play, many times finding themselves in less than perfect surroundings, lacking the ideal tools, fighting off competing siblings or disagreeable band mates and quarrelling about who will lead the pack. Nonetheless, despite all these common obstacles, children and musicians have the inner urge to participate in something creative and are driven to keep the game going.
Children, like artists, are explorers at heart and constantly churning out creativity. A child’s ability to imagine is crucial in all their play and so is their desire to share their art with friends and parents. They are constantly building things with all kinds of materials, drawing with various art supplies, scribbling words, sentences or stories, and then send it all off with an autograph. The child artist is not self-conscious about the product they are creating. Instead, they are in a blissful prolific flow and eager to put it out there!
I witness my children’s continual natural habit of playing joyfully regardless of the situation. It really makes me ponder why it is that they spend so little time wondering about the “what ifs,” the “should I do this or should I do that,” and instead just go for it with little sense of risk. My daughter, for example, can’t wait for the weekly family dance party to show off her new moves, which are, of course, made up on the spot. How bold and worth emulating! Of course, it is me that is likely to put on the brakes of their play especially if it involves backflips in the living room or venturing along an only somewhat frozen over creek.
My family is fortunate to live close by a creek and a sledding hill. This winter we have had enough snow, but January’s arctic temperatures have turned the hill into a solid sheet of ice. The other day, I was pulling the sled up the icy slope and kept losing my hold. Much to my astonishment, I watched how, by my side, my daughter was having no issues at all and never slipped once during the climb. “How is it that you never fall down? All of this is one solid sheet of ice!” I asked with curiosity. Her response amazed me!
“Papa, the secret is you just have to imagine that there is no ice and walk as if it wasn’t there.” I stood in silence for a moment and then followed her advice. To my surprise it worked! I quickly realized my problem was that I was so tense from being afraid of slipping that my legs were inflexible and my balance was way off. It wasn’t so much the ice itself causing me to slip. My stumbling was triggered by anticipating danger and fear. My daughter’s success was visualizing the hill with no ice upon it, and thus melting away the fear of falling.
This process is similar to adults navigating life. At some point or another, we find ourselves in rough terrain, sinking under a tsunami of fears, drowning out any creative spark. Artists of all sorts talk about how fear and doubt are the main opponents of their creative endeavors. Remaining in touch with the joyous sensation of the doing can be very challenging. Projecting into the future and speculating how an audience might respond instead of simply being authentic and creating after your own heart’s desires is a real issue that stunts creative output. Perhaps the solution is as simple as my daughter’s advice. “Papa just pretend the ice isn’t there.” Maybe all we need to do is be more childlike by authentically being in the moment, ignoring the fears and doubts.
One of my guitar heroes, Steve Vai, whose innovative guitar sounds have brought me much joy since my early teenage years, summed it up best in a recent interview for Premier Guitar, when he said, “My secret weapon is the same as everybody else’s and that’s your ability to visualize. That’s your most powerful tool…Visualizing is raw, and it’s free. There’s no limitations. The only thing that gets in the way of your ability to visualize those things that you want to accomplish is your own fear.” Listen to the interview here. Minute 8:12-13:15 is about “expressing your uniquely inspired ideas” and 15:20 to the end of the interview is about the power of visualization. I experienced that power first hand on the sledding hill with my daughter.
I’m sending you off with the genuine wish that you reconnect with that courageous inner child and walk as if the ice was not there,
Chris
