If you read last months email and are confused as to why this one has the same title let me explain...
Last month I was going to write about intuition and I had started this email but ran out of time before I could really give it the full thought and attention it deserved. So I put this topic on the back burner and instead wrote about opportunity last month...
I forgot to change the title last month from "intuition" to "opportunity" and so this email is ACTUALLY about intuition.
On to the goods...
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People have often told me that I seem like a confident person.
The truth is that I am often unsure of my decisions, filled with doubt, question my intuition and generally have no clue what I am doing (half joking, but also half serious...)
Almost everything that I have done in life was something that I just made up as I went a long.
Seriously, its true...
In this email I am going to outline a few important pieces of advice I have received over the years about intuition. These are all things that have stuck with me and help me make decisions based on passion and love not fear and greed.
**As an interesting and powerful side note all of this advice came from women. In my 34 years on this earth if I am able to observe anything it is that woman, in general, are so much more intuitive than men that it's almost comical. It seems like woman have some kind of super power to tell when a man is full of shit. I truly respect and hold in high regard the women over the years who have called me out, or better wording: called me up to be a more actualized version of myself.***
So this email is about intuition.
It's about going with a gut feeling that exists inside of me, and you, and doesn't always make logical sense yet in our heart of hearts we know it is the thing that will make us the most fulfilled.
It's about dropping the doubt, aligning beliefs, thoughts and actions with purpose.
This email is ultimately about choosing love over fear.
Part 1:
"Quit your reggae band and focus on your funk band"
This advice came to me via a stranger that I met at a music festival, her named turned out to be Stephanie. I had no clue who she was and she came over, sat down next to me on the grass and essentially read my mind.
Now... up to this point in my life I was always open to the idea of psychics but I had never really had a first hand experience with one.
She sat down right next to me and said,
"Hey, how are you?"
"I'm okay, just listening to this band you know..." I said, kinda weirded out by her directness and close proximity.
"You wanna tell me what's on your mind?" she asked.
"yeah.. I don't know, just hanging out, enjoying the festival..." What the hell lady is what I am thinking.
"No...thats not it..." she said, pausing... "Why don't you tell me about how you want to quit your reggae band and focus on your funk band."
🤯
Alright so here is the crazy part...
For about a month I had been thinking about how I wanted to do exactly that thing!! Quit the reggae band and focus on the funk band. So much so that I had even written 2 or 3 different versions of a resignation letter that I was going to read to the band but ended up throwing away. I was so afraid of giving up what I thought was a good thing, so afraid of losing my friends, losing the band that I put so many hours and so much commitment into...
and yet...
I knew it was the right decision. But THE FEAR kept me from taking action.
Alright, back to the field and the conversation...
"There is absolutely no reason you should know that" I exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"Yeah, but I do!" she said.
"I saw you and could feel your energy from across the field, I had to come over and talk to you."
(I know this seems like some hippy woo woo shit, but I swear this is all true.)
She then proceeded to question me on why I was having such a hard time making a decision that was so clearly the right thing to do. She questioned why I wasn't listening to my heart, my intuition, and why I was letting my head run me in circles and try to create logical examples of why I should stay stuck in a situation that no longer serves me.
That week I quit the reggae band. As cliche as it sounds it felt as though a huge had been lifted off my shoulders. Like literally the cosmic weight of carrying around this thing that wasn't in alignment was holding me down. Weighing on my soul.
After that I started to devote my all my creative musical energy into my funk band DopplerPoppins. We were all committed to the project and committed to staying true to our sound. We made the decision to never sacrifice our sound in order to get a gig. (Which was always a juggling act playing in the State College bar scene.)
Several months later we got the gig at Zeno's and ended up playing there every Thursday for 4 years.
Moral of the story: Follow your intuition, even when it is scary and seems like it doesn't make sense.
Next...
"Being confident vs. acting confident"
Again this advice came from a hyper-intuitive and spiritually advanced woman named Rachel. When I first met Rachel I instantly fell in love! (which is something I tend to do, probably not the healthiest thing and I may talk more about this in another letter)
Anyway, she started teaching yoga at the school I was at and I was just so enamored by her beauty and her confidence. She really owned her shit, super present and seemed very in control of her life. One day I finally got up the courage to ask for her number and express my interest in hanging out. All whilst trying to be as "cool" as possible... I ended up meeting with her at a hippy song circle thing where everyone sang and drummed and it was kinda cool, but also kind weird because I was pretty nervous and really felt like I was trying to prove something the whole time I was there.
We ended up hanging out a few more times and it seemed like it might turn in to a relationship some of the time and then some of the time it didn't. (You know how these things go...)
After a month or so it became clear that this wasn't going in the direction that I had hoped and we ended up becoming friends. One day we were hanging out after school and talking about the initial meetings we had and the way I was coming across to her. She basically expressed a feeling that I was trying to hard to "get her" another way to say it is that I was coming across as though I needed her approval in order to feel complete.
Damn. How true it was.
She said when she first met me and saw me doing my thing: drumming, leading a drum circle, teaching, being a goofy dork, I was BEING confident. In other words: not trying to impress. And then when I was pursuing her romantically I was ACTING confident, as in not BEING myself. Not being natural.
What the hell? IDK what I am doing...
This one took me awhile to fully understand (and I am still working on it) and I think ultimately it means actually being authentic and recognizing my own imperfections and embracing them.
So what does this have to do with intuition?
Well, I think that for me and maybe a lot of other people (particularly men) we think there is some perfect way of acting that is going to get us what we want. If we say the right things and do the right things that everything will be good. This is LOGIC!! This is logic trying to figure things out. Trying to create a map and compartmentalize all the little nuance and creative energy of life. Life is chaotic and flowing. There is no safe path. There is no perfect thing to say or do. The only thing to do is BE. Listening to our intuition will ultimately guide us in the direction of meeting the people that are in alignment with us. AND it seems to me that it listening to intuition will also bring the people into our lives who need to be there and teach us the lessons we need to experience.
"When there is doubt, there is no doubt."
This last piece of advice came to me recently from my dear friend Kristen and it came at a time when I really needed to hear it.
Doubt, I think, is really just a weak part of the psyche that is designed to keep us in our comfort zone. Its an ego protection mechanism that tries to keep us safe from feeling uncomfortable feelings.
Often I find myself getting wrapped up in doubt when there is something that I really want to do. I will often end up convincing myself of all the reasons I can't do something rather then just beginning the process and figuring it out.
Many of us seem to think that there needs to be some kind of great inspirational moment that will spark us into action. So the common belief looks like this:
Inspiration --> Motivation --> Action
When in fact anyone who has achieved greatness will tell you it looks more like this:
Action --> Motivation --> Inspiration
(BTW I stole this little idea from Mark Manson and his book "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713) )
The simple action of starting a project, an email, a conversation, that is the thing that will get you in motion and get you thinking.
"Begin, the rest is easy"
I got this message in a fortune cookie once. I think its the same idea. The last idea i'll share on this is the reversal of a common misconception in American consumer culture:
Do --> Have --> Be
Do the the thing, get the result, THEN you can relax.
But this is all backwards to. Its really more like this:
Be --> Have --> Do
Be the person you desire to be, have the courage, do the thing.
The moral here: Doubt is just a form of perfectionism and procrastination. If you never begin the thing then it will never grow. Plant the seed and reap the fruits. You ay have to plant many seeds, because not all plants grow. But nature is abundant and so are all of us...
Thanks for reading everyone... I am trying to be authentic and vulnerable in these emails while also (hopefully) providing inspiration for you. I think that knowing we are not alone in this journey is helpful. Usually I get one or two responses a month from these emails of someone saying the message helped them.
For that I am thankful and that gives me the inspiration to continue these monthly newsletters...
...and now its time for some shameless self promotion!!!!
Upcoming Workshop Announcements
For those of you that are interested I have three upcoming drum circle workshops for this fall. Click the links for more information about each one.
Experience The Drummer In You (https://crpr.recdesk.com/Community/Program/Detail?programId=379) Sept 26th 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Live workshop at Millbrook Marsh in State College, PA.
Outside. Physical Distancing. Drums provided. Limit to 15 people.
Drum Up Some Fun (https://crpr.recdesk.com/Community/Program/Detail?programId=375) Sept 27th 3:00 - 3:30 PM
30 minute online drumming workshop for the whole family.
Mindfulness In Rhythm (https://crpr.recdesk.com/Community/Program/Detail?programId=377) Thursdays in October 8:00 - 8:45 PM
5 week online course for those of you who are ready to dig deep!
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Thats all for now everyone. Stay tuned for a recap and min-documentary from the recently finished Immersive Musicians Endeavor.
Be Well.
Matt 🥁
Newsletter Back Catalog (https://www.mattpricedrumming.com/newsletter)