“My Story” = Part 2 of 2

I’m waiting for new startling evidence to turn up that the Greeks and Romans
had a crude form of television before their downfall.

Television and its programming contributes more to the dehumanization
of society than other development in history.

It seems that the successful strategy in the marketplace is to keep us
hungry, horny, and as unfocused as possible.

Mind melding with TV robs us of an inner connection
and makes living in the moment intolerable. 

TV is a drug, and we as a nation have become hooked.

It’s not hard so see why the baby boomers pursued their drugs so vigorously.
Turn on Saturday morning TV for kids and watch an ad for cereal!
Streams of light comes piercing out of the box; when consumed, the child
becomes encircled in golden honey chocolate light and then blasts off for Venus!

Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin died trying to feel that good!

When I was growing up, school was a place where we were all
supposed to be developing our minds and learning social interaction. 
Whatever personal interests you were developing at that time
dissolved in an ocean of useless information.  Since the relevant was
indistinguishable from the irrelevant, it was hard to develop a genuine affinity
for things you might have cared about.

For me, there was no joy, just homework.  Studying music in elementary school
was about as interesting as a lecture on early menopause.  The teachers in my time
were likely to subvert a child’s wonder about the nature of sound, and its formation
into music.

Music became another thing you had to pay attention to; more questions to answer,
more tests to take, more scolding to incur, more pressure.

Teachers often didn’t relay the information with any enthusiasm.  In school, you were
asked to care about tings you didn’t care about and stop caring about the things you did,
and generally behave in a manner that contradicted childhood.

We were fed to institutions who baby-sat us when it was love and compassion
we craved.  I understand that it is much better in many schools these days,
but the education I grew up with was of the conveyor-belt variety.

The society was, and is, the progenitor of prepackaged emotions,
fast-food boredom, “popping fresh” apathy, artistic oblivion, pop culture
body-snatchers, or as Robert Hughes puts it (in his book, The Culture of Complaint),
living in “the empire of Donald Duck.”

No wonder Western civilization produces so few real artists.

In American society, a child is lucky to survive with his or her artistic tendencies
intact (or unlucky, perhaps?).

What is your story?

We all have one.

For you to pursue Efforless Mastery, and be at peace
with yourself and your playing, it is beneficial to make peace
with your past.

Look at your past with compassion and understanding,
that you and and everyone in your lives did the best they could.

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

P.S. Click on this Amazon link to purchase your own copy of Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery:

Technorati Tags:
Kenny Werner, Kenny Werner Live, KennyWernerLive.com, Effortless Mastery, Effortless Mastery Tips, Jazz Blog, Dr. Andrew Colyer, ConsciousWorldMedia.com