Human. I am one, apparently. Against all I’ve been taught to believe, I am but a guy, with the full gamut of weaknesses and foibles that goes along with the gender and species.
If I can courageously accept this humanity, who knows what may lie in store? If I am allowed to err, I may end up taking a risk once in a while. I may also relax my ever-present vigilance and tension and simply enjoy the act of being alive (versus the alternative – dead and buried). I have found that it is pretty sucky not to fess up to my humanness. You end up getting sucked into all the negativity of other people who also aren’t enjoying their humanness.

I did recently play one concert with this in mind, and it worked out quite well. Allowing myself to be vulnerable and trusting of my most essential self took a weight off my shoulders. It gave me a psychological calmness which radiated to my physical state. I ended up being far more tension-free than when I am only focusing on my physical state. I also ended up unintentionally removing the burden of feeling irked by those around me, being that they are just human, too. Imagine that!

originally published on 3/15/08