Why Do I Feel A Need To Work All The Time?
I listened to an interview with John McLaughlin last night about what it was like to arrive in New York in January 1969 when he came from England to play with Tony Williams Lifetime and ended up in Miles Davis’s seminal fusion band. This made me think about the jazz music of the 1960’s which I hadn’t realized that I had not really listened too. I am aware of it and I have listened to a few pieces but I’ve missed out on a whole wealth of creativity. There’s a project. So when I got up this morning I put on “Filles De Kilimanjaro” by Miles Davis with his amazing 60s quartet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter. I can hear Bitches Brew, which was to come a couple of years later fomenting in the mix. The most tragic thing is that rock music was “king” by this point in the 20th Century and this amazingly creative period of Jazz was overlooked by the multitudes until much later.
Another realisation I had is that I don’t need to compulsively work every day. I seem to have what manifests like a mental disease that causes me to feel bad if I don’t do something that can be called work. I’m not saying that I don’t want to work but what is happening is that I don’t get the other things done ….. like writing, music, recording, travelling, gardening. That’s not to say that I don’t get lots done. It’s simply time in my life to shift my focus to what is important to me.
I had a medium length video call with my old friend Joe Llatse who lives in Barcelona last night. This is something that I look forward to. We touched base again a few years ago and every now and again we have a call. Something to look forward to, a bridge between my past and present.
Last thing for this morning is yesterday’s epiphany that we can travel. The East Coast of Australia has been going down my priority list for decades since I first travelled to Bali in 1983. I have really enjoyed the few road trips that Georgie and I have done but our habit had become driving out to Tullamarine and hopping on a plane to anywhere Jetstar had a special priced flight to.
So we will be going to Red Hill on Wednesday July 1 (tomorrow) this is creating to a degree because we will be preparing Blueberry Hill for our new guests who come on Thursday but still, if we call this a “trip” it will enhance the experience. We’ll stay overnight and make the most of it. Next trip to Red Hill is on Monday next week so there’s another night. Then I’ll talk to Georgie about getting g up early on Wednesday July 8 and heading off to Bendigo for the day, the other option is driving there on July 7th , which is our wedding anniversary and spending the night in an AirBnB.
