Overcoming Performance Anxiety
I’ve always had a crippling fear of performing in front of people, which is funny because my dream as a teen was to be a rock star. Delusional teenage Kevin even bought a cheap Les Paul knock-off guitar to fulfill this dream. Inexpensive guitars today are pretty awesome, but back in the ‘70s, cheap guitars were horrible instruments — mine was no exception. After years of lessons on a clunky guitar, my skills improved at a snail’s pace and I never felt I was good enough to play for anyone. When I started college and found I had more natural skills for writing computer software than music, I discarded my dreams of touring and playing in a band.
2017: A Good Year for Me
There was a lot to be angry and sad about during 2017, but I can't afford to start a new year focusing on the negatives. Life is just too short to waste time on the darkness. Instead, I'm going to begin 2018 by reflecting on the positives over the last 12 months.
Rise Above
Judy and I saw Hidden Figures today and it drove home just how important it is to stay vigilant to inequality and injustice. It made me cringe to see the rights of women and minorities trampled as recently as the 1960s—a decade of my youth. That movie was especially poignant on a day filled with impressive attendance at all the women’s marches around our country and the world.
Real Power
Every important change in our country has come from the people making a decision to do things differently and then pushing for the government to ratify that change. Politicians don’t act, they react. They know that they have to do what their constituents demand or they will no longer hold a seat of power.
If you have been sitting back waiting for the government to fix your problems… wake up.
Taking Risks
This article is for my children. It will probably be ignored, as is most parental advice, but I need at least to do my part to communicate the power of taking risks in life.
Moments
Life is full of little gems; those moments that you want to bask in and never leave.
Today was a sunny Saturday morning and we had just finished breakfast. Judy and I were sharing a decadent, almond milk mocha—sharing one eases the calorie guilt—when she looked at me and said, “I don't want to move.” I was confused for a second, but then it clicked that my lovely wife meant, “move from this moment.” And the moment was good.
Bowie
Growing up a middle-class, white kid in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York with parents 40 years older than me and siblings nearly half that much, the majority of the music in our house flowed from the ‘40s and ‘50s. One of the first songs I remember hearing that woke me up was Revolution. I was too young to understand why that song impacted me so very much when it first came out, but it created a hunger in me for new music.
Sacred
There are moments in life that we ignore, that we rush past, that we take for granted. So many of these are sacred.
It’s easy to complain. There are plenty of reasons to bemoan the moments that don’t seem to go according to our plan. In that moment, our minds wander and drift to the future and stir up worry. The future is a ghost that distracts our attention. It’s a thief.