Soul Nudge

       I stared, gawked, and marveled at The Berkshire mountains, ablaze with the hues of orange, yellow, red, auburn, burnt umber, and dozens of other gradients only found in the palette of autumn foliage. Color is like a lover to me, and I adore my very personal and intimate relationship with her. Like music, she indeed stimulates my intellect, but, far more profoundly, she reaches directly into my heart and magically touches it. Color excites and ignites me. And on this particular October afternoon at Kripalu, it felt as though the deeper I looked into the colorful hills, the deeper I was looking into my own soul.
       The grandeur and beauty of this natural spectacle created a timeless sense of awe, and an experience of intense presence. And yet, as true as that may have been, I was aware of something else going on inside of me. As involved in this deeply moving experience as I was, something else stirred in me. There was a yearning, underneath the bright, beautiful, explosive colors bursting within my heart. Something else, besides the countless burning shades of yellow, orange, and red, was calling to me.
       The deeper I felt myself sinking into the experience of foliage, the deeper I connected to this yearning. So I stayed with it until the nature of its depth revealed itself to me. What I came to was a powerful and sensual longing to know this experience deeper; to understand it more completely. And to share it. With the rest of the world.
       Over the course of the weekend, with the help of David Harshada Wagner, who lead the workshop I attended, I came to know that this deep longing is like a nudge from my soul. It reminds me of what is most important to me. It reminds me of what I need to continue to build my life around. This yearning reminds me that, as much as I may be doing that now, I need to be doing it even more. With greater commitment, fierceness, persistence, and intensity. The yearning is there to remind me that, as well as I may think I’m doing, I’m still not doing it enough. Hence the yearning.   
       The soul nudge alerts me to that which stirs deepest inside, and is as yet unfulfilled. The longing illuminates the work yet to be done, the dreams that need to be more deeply ventured into, of the gifts yet to be given, or perhaps just given more of. My soul is calling out to me that whatever I’m giving to my life, I need to be giving more. Lots more. Because this yearning I felt was like a hunger I’ve never experienced. Whatever I think I’m feeding my soul, it is not enough.  
       Experiences like these are like a spiritual GPS, directing me where my path lays, pointing to the very nature of my contributions, and showing me what I am here to do. And what I am here to do is delve ever deeper into the essence of my own life experiences and share that. Through my own exploration, through my own commitment to more fully know, more fully understand, and more fully honor the truest and deepest nature of myself and my life experience, and through all the delicious, creative ways I share that, I know that I am here to move people, to impact people, to touch people, to serve people. To paraphrase a song, “That Is How I Do It”.  
       And the more full throttle I live my own unique purpose, the greater chance I have at empowering others to do the same for themselves. I more I live my life doing what I am here to do, the more I encourage people to know the depth and power and life force of their truest selves, of their own unique experiences, and to more vibrantly and passionately express that, share that, live that.
       Anyway, that was my weekend. How was yours?

 ©2014 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart LLC, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.

Play The Way You Love. Love The Way You Play.

       When I worked at Guitar Center in the drum department, I came across a lot of drummers who had, years ago, stopped playing. Just as bad, they had sold their kits. Now, they were in the market for new equipment. From a strictly selfish standpoint, that was okay with me, because I loved helping them choose new gear, and it put money in my pocket. But from a humane perspective, it made me sad that they had stopped playing music, and even taken it so far as having gotten rid of their tools. I could feel the pain of that.
       As a musician, it’s important to keep playing, no matter what. And not just any music, but the music that stirs your soul. At least some of the time. Why? Because that’s why you started playing in the first place (I mean, after you realized that playing in a band was a way to meet girls….or boys). Something long ago got stirred in you, and you discovered that it gave you something you couldn’t get anywhere else. You brought to life an energy within. If you stop playing, or if you stop playing the music that moves you, that energy inside diminishes. It can even die.
       The good news is, you get to play Dr. Frankenstein any time you want. You get to raise the dead. You get to bring that unique energy within back to life, no matter how long it’s been dead. And you don’t have to rob any graves to do it (but if you play an electric instrument, you do get to fuck around with electricity, just like Dr. Frankenstein did). All you’ve got to do is start playing again. And start playing music that moves you.   
       I’m not sure if it’s worse to play music you don’t like, or worse to just stop playing. But I do know that going through the motions playing music is like going through the motions when you’re having sex. In the long run, it can actually make it worse.
       Think about it. If you have sex, without passion, without fire, without feeling, for long periods of time, what happens to your interest, to your desire, to your fire, for sex? It evaporates, slowly but surely. Now, what if you don’t have sex for a long period of time? That void actually creates desire. And that desire can spur you to action to seek what you want. As opposed to just being on auto pilot, which usually has the opposite effect.
       Playing music is the same way. Because it’s from deep inside. You can’t fool your heart. At least not for long. If you keep trying to kid yourself at that level, you get soul rebellion.
       Whatever you like to play, at whatever age, play it. Find a way and play it. Don’t waste time playing shit you don’t like. Don’t waste time jerking off. I don’t care how old you are. If punk or metal or disco does it for you, find people who are into it too and play it. Nobody but you and your band has to hear it (although I also strongly urge you to perform live, but that’s another blog). But you need to play it. And when you play it, you need to bring it.
       Play the music you love the way you make love. Make love the way you play music you love. Find your flame, stoke it, and let it burn. Play and fuck with passion, with fire, with reckless abandonment, with red hot love. Throw all of yourself into it. At once harness, and surrender to, its beautiful power.   

Photography courtesy of Pedro Blanco Photography

©2014 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart LLC, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.

SomeWhere SomeOne

To add a dose of reality, a splotch of immediacy, and a practical methodology to this poignant offering, I would add that this "SomeOne", and that this "SomeWhere", is often closer than we realize; If we just open ourselves up to those possibilities. I share with you some hard won wisdom that I have come to over the last few years: The Life We Envision - the one that often seems more like an out of reach Hollywood movie - is sometimes so close to us that, thanx to our own blindness, we can not, we will not, we do not, see. Sometimes, and here's the Really Good News, all we need to do is......wake the fuck up.

©2014 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart LLc, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.

She's Your Favorite Song

Tonight
She’s your favorite song
Tonight
She’s the music that sets your soul ablaze, whenever you feel it
Tonight
Feel her that way
All the way down to your bones

She’s the painting you can’t take your eyes off of
She’s the movie you can’t watch enough
She’s the car you covet
With every primal, lustful cell in your body
She’s the taste of something
You lick your lips for

She’s the feel of passion
Rubbing up against your naked heart

Make love to her
Make love with her
Make love about her

Create a fire
And let it burn
Don’t dare try to control it
Be of it
And just surrender
It’s more powerful than you are
It's more powerful than she is
It's more powerful than either of you are
Without it

©2014 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart LLC, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved

Jupiter & Moon

       This morning, at ten minutes before six, I stepped out of my foyer and instinctively gazed up at the city sky. And there she was. A lone, tiny, slightly yellowed jewel shining brilliantly against a midnight blue canvas. Jupiter. I stared at her like a lover, frozen in a familiar trance. After what felt like an hour but was in actuality just a few minutes; after it felt like every thought I have ever had in my life had somehow just floated through my mind like a series of clouds; after the eternity of this moment gave way to this moment in eternity, I shook my head in stupefied wonder and moved on.
       As I crossed the street, I felt something behind me. A presence. I turned around, and there she was. The moon. Nearly full. Radiating her magic. Another lover in the sky. Once again transfixed, I happily surrendered to her mesmerizing beauty, and gave her all of my attention. Then I suddenly remembered Jupiter. So I turned back to look at her again. And of course, she was still there.  
       The totality of my existence was just the three of us. Three crazy lovers, silently going at it, in this metaphysical bedroom of just one infinite moment.

©2104 Clint Piatelli, MuscleHeart LLC, and Red F Publishing. All rights reserved.