Five Golden Rings

It’s all about anticipation and pay off.

Once Five Golden Rings is introduced in the song, you look forward to it each time.  Everyone in the fam sticks out their chest, puts on their best vibrato, maybe even some type of strange accent, and belts it out.

And that final time, when you’ve finally reached the 12th day of Christmas and now you’re counting it back for the last time, everyone really gives it the gusto.

Five Golden Rings is the pay off.  But if every day of Christmas was sung like the fifth day it wouldn’t be a pay off, it would be the normal.  

And we don’t look forward to the normal.  We look forward to the payoff.

The normal serves the purpose of building anticipation.  The normal is the foundation for which the payoff is built on.

Faaaahhhhiiiiiiiive Golden Riiiiiiiiings

So Good.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

It Doesn’t Apply

We don’t learn things because the idea or lesson or advice “doesn’t apply to me”.

Or perhaps “it doesn’t COMPLETELY apply to me” and therefore the whole idea gets tossed out.

It’s a lot easier to learn and remember things that we believe completely apply to us (and that might be very few things or close to nothing at all).  It keeps us from having to do the hard work of discernment, critical thought and application.

But if we only take in and apply the things we believe completely apply to us, we’re missing out on a wealth of beneficial knowledge.

The truth is, most things apply to us.  Not completely, but most definitely.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

What Most Quickly Renews?

You don’t become known as the energetic one, the focused one, the creative one, the friendly one, etc by subscribing to that trait once or twice.

You become known as that because you’re “always” that way.  

However you know that you’re actually not always that way.  The truth is…

If you’re known as the energetic one, it’s not that you’re always energetic, it’s that your energy renews faster than is typical.  So people notice.

If you’re the focused one, it’s not that you’re always focused, it’s that your focus renews quicker than is typical.  So people notice.

If you’re the creative one, it’s not that you never get depleted (even daily), but your creativity renews faster than is typical.  So people notice.

If you’re the friendly one…

If you’re the goofy one…

If you’re the tasmanian devil one…

We aren’t always that way.  We are simply that way enough to be known for it.

We don’t need to define ourselves by that thing.  But others defining us as such is simply a nod to our distinct ability and willingness to be renewed in a certain area that is unique to the world around us.

So perhaps better than the What am I best at? or What am I known for? questions…

What most quickly renews in you?

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Ahhh...It’ll Be Fine

When you show up and the stage is a weird size or shape…a few hours earlier when the people were done setting it up, they had a back and forth conversation with each other that ultimately ended with “…it’ll be fine”.  

But now you’re the one who has to deal with the consequences of “it’ll be fine”.

When they decide to use other green room as extra beer storage and cleaning supplies…also a conversation that ended with “ahhhh, it’ll be fine”.

And now all 3 bands and crews, roughly a bazillion people, have to mash into a room designed for 8.

When the designated merch area is located far far far away from the entrance/exit of the venue…. “…the people who want merch will still find the merch table…it’ll be fine”.

But you and I both know the location of merchandise at the venue swings merch sales by a million percent.

“It’ll be fine” in so many cases usually means “This decision benefits me right now. I don’t want to work harder to figure out a better solution and I won’t have to personally deal with the consequences.”

Musicians and artists find themselves on the receiving end of “it’ll be fine” conversations and consequences all the time, especially on the road.

So when you find yourself about to utter the same words, remember how much it can put others in a pinch.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Acting As If

Doing things “as if” is a means to teach yourself the value and possibilities of NOW.  Acting “as if” is a good way to become, to believe.

Play this show as if it were to a million people. 

Write this song as if you had to be completely honest. 

Do the interview as if you’re an interesting person. 

Hire the team as if you’re the head boss.

Pay your people as if you can’t do it without them.


Acting as-if often times is, and sheds light on, an element of truth that we don’t completely believe yet.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

This Is Not An Urgent Email

And neither is any other email.

I got my first email addresses in middle school. I had a Hotmail account and I think the other one was a Lycos.  Wow, I sound like a caveman.

I’m older now and those accounts have long since expired, but I’m sitting here racking my brain with the question: From then until today, have I ever received an email so urgent that if I wouldn’t have read it within 24 hours of receiving it I would have been screwed?

And I really can’t think of any. (There miiiiiiiight have been some business stuff along the way. Nothing comes to mind, but I can’t totally rule that out.)

But I still check my email 30 times a day because I believe everything is urgent (well…the truth is, I check that many times because when there’s something new from someone or some company I like I get an emotional pop).

Email is never urgent!  Let’s start checking it less.

You know what is much more often urgent?  Phone calls.  You and I have both received many urgent ones.

But most people these days hate getting phone calls!  They say “if they really need me they’ll leave a voice mail”…and then go back to checking their email, waiting for the next “urgent” message to roll in.

If anything answer the phone calls and stop checking email a bazillion times a day.

p.s. When you send an email, even an important one, and you don’t hear back for 4 hours or 6 or 24, you don’t think the other person is a bad person.  You think they must be kinda busy and its taking them a day to respond, it’s all good.  

So when you don’t read and respond immediately to an email, they’re not thinking bad of you either!

p.p.s. Make no mistake, as I am preaching at you, I am preaching at me.

p.p.p.s. If someone doesn’t respond within 3 days I think they hate me.  It used to be 3 hours, so I’m getting better.

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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com