On rising above the merely emotional...

[medblues]

OK, so what writers are 'God is in you' guys? Inquiring minds...

Spinoza, Adi Shankara, Krishnamurti, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Alan Watts...

[Bop Head]

Spinoza, Adi Shankara, Krishnamurti, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Alan Watts...

.

AFAIK Jiddu Krishnamurti wasn't a writer but an extra-ordinairy speaker able to word his spontaneous thoughts so clearly and "print-ready" out of the moment that it was easy to later transcribe what he was talking about.

[joelf]

Spinoza, Adi Shankara, Krishnamurti, Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Alan Watts...

Thanks.

I did read a bit of Watts. He wrote about Zen, about which I've had a lifetime curiosity...

[Kirk Garrett]

Thanks.

I did read a bit of Watts. He wrote about Zen, about which I've had a lifetime curiosity...

I’ve noticed that tons of his audio recordings are available on YouTube.

[AlsoRan]

I saw a guitar show recently that had Steve Vai, a modern day rock virtuoso who played with Frank Zappa. I found it interesting how during the interview, he harkened back to his fight with depression after a certain gig ended. He had depression and drug addiction and said that reading a certain book helped him make the proper changes in his mind to overcome everything. He says it continues to work for him and he has been very happy. Funny how a book can have such an impact.

Here is a link to a similar interview:
Steve Vai: The Way to Cure Your Depression Is to Realize What's Causing It | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Here is an excerpt from the TV show that I saw. Maybe it can help you with your journey.

Happy Holidays to you, Joel.

[joelf]

I saw a guitar show recently that had Steve Vai, a modern day rock virtuoso who played with Frank Zappa. I found it interesting how during the interview, he harkened back to his fight with depression after a certain gig ended. He had depression and drug addiction and said that reading a certain book helped him make the proper changes in his mind to overcome everything. He says it continues to work for him and he has been very happy. Funny how a book can have such an impact.

Here is a link to a similar interview:
Steve Vai: The Way to Cure Your Depression Is to Realize What's Causing It | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Here is an excerpt from the TV show that I saw. Maybe it can help you with your journey.

Happy Holidays to you, Joel.

Thanks.

I can give you my own take on depression, which ate up too much of my life. Certain things run in families, and I won't go beyond that here.

I may have already broached this, but it bears repeating: I once was given a book called The Brilliant Function of Pain. Depression may be chemically spurred, but it actually is a failsafe device, guarding against burnout. When you're firing those mental jets too much and too fast a protective part of the brain senses that it's time to pull back. It sort of says 'OK, buddy, time out' and somehow secretes something to lull the rest of the brain into a lower functionality. Maybe you veg out more at home and don't care to go out, practice or, worse, talk to friends.

And that's where it changes lanes and becomes a thing in itself. Instead of a 2-week calmdown it now is a year or longer period of withdrawal and sedentary self-isolation. People take antidepressants, which are a crapshoot and don't always work, or work only for a time. The only way I know to beat back that black dog is to somehow get your ass out the door---even though that Siren is calling your name and promising comfort and warmth in the cocoon. You just have to get out, and no matter how depressed you were before the endorphins will have kicked in by the time you finally get home.

Once I roused myself to do just that: I read that singer-pianist Teri Thornton would be performing that day at the amphitheater of the New Rochelle public library. I forced myself out and over there. Teri sang I've Got You Under my Skin, and reached the lyric 'makes me stop...' and took a very long pause, drank some water.

Whether it was reading that she'd survived bladder cancer, other life slides---or just the honesty and soul of her performance---I was reached and lifted, the cloud banished for the time being. I looked for Thornton after the gig to try to hug her and tell her how moved and uplifted I was, maybe mention that I was a musician. Alas, she had gone. But the impact was huge, and the power of art to heal immense.

Push yourself out the door and go somewhere you can get that healing feeling...

[AlsoRan]

That was fascinating, Joel. And I understand the analogy that you used very well.

One just never knows what another person is going through, so I am so happy my parents raised me to always give the benefit of the doubt to others. Who knows. They may be in some personal battle like with depression.

[joelf]

That was fascinating, Joel. And I understand the analogy that you used very well.

One just never knows what another person is going through, so I am so happy my parents raised me to always give the benefit of the doubt to others. Who knows. They may be in some personal battle like with depression.

Uh huh. Thanks. Too bad that I speak from experience.

Let's call it a cautionary tale then...

[joelf]

I want to also add that looked at the right way going through 'stuff', or witnessing family or friends go through it, can teach compassion. Let's learn that lesson well...

[joelf]

To me Tom Harrell is absolutely inspirational. We can't even imagine what he goes through just to get through a day, yet he makes his mind and soul supersede it all and turns it into beauty. He's also totally honest in his work, so if he wants to write and perform a dark piece or play a solo reflective of the angst he may be experiencing too he lets fly, no filter.

He's culled from a serious condition and turned it into an art of wisdom, joy, pain, a yielding of great talent brought out by bottomless work and dedication---and great humanity.

And, like I've said before, art is a great teacher (and can be a great healer)...

[RLetson]

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

--Robert Frost

Just an observation from a guy who was pretty good at descriptions of "inner weather." (Then there's the little matter of neurochemistry.)