Archives for December 19, 2011

My grandfather once told me that he didn’t understand why some bands insisted on performing in pajamas. I don’t remember the context of the conversation or whether I showed him pictures of Kiss or Motley Crue. Can’t tell you what prompted this or where it ended up but I can tell you that it is tied into why I love listening the ‘Stones.

It is because they bring power, passion and personality. It is because their live show sounds as good or better than the studio version. It is because they could play in their pajamas and I would still get caught up and lost in the music.

You can’t duplicate it. I am a big fan of U2 but I think that without Mick they would fall flat in the video below. Doesn’t matter if Fergie joins them or not, Mick makes it work.

Some might argue that Mick is the engine that makes their music move but I’ll save that discussion for a different day. Right now I am focused on other areas. Busy thinking about a discussion I had with my son about how old you have to be before you are considered a ‘real grownup.’

I told him that there wasn’t one particular age that it happened at. Said that there wasn’t one moment or time that he could look at that would transform him from child to adult and that he had plenty of time to enjoy being a kid.

But perception is a funny thing. Perception isn’t always uniform and that affects how we view and respond to the things we see. Perception influences or decisions and our choices. Watch that video above and it is hard to see the ‘Stones, but not if you close your eyes. Close your eyes and you might think that it is a clip from this show.

“Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.” Vince Lombardi

His perception is that the move to middle school will leave him a hop, skip and a jump away from college. And college, good old college will mean that he is a grownup and will have to get a job.

I told him that it doesn’t happen that quickly and that sometimes you graduate from college not knowing exactly what you want to do. I told him that things can change even when you know what you want to do.

He asked me for an example so I told him about how I wanted to play baseball for the Dodgers and how that changed. I told him about how he  helped me become a dad blogger and how blogging influenced my future goals.

We looked at Lombardi’s quote and I said that life is a journey and that success is measured in a number of ways. When I think of paying a price I think about education and life experience. I think about what I had to do to become the person I am today. I suppose that what I am trying to get across to him is that life is rarely black and white and never stagnant.

I didn’t always want to become a writer. I have told the story about how my preschool teachers told my mother that I had one of the most active imaginations they had ever encountered. It is fair to say that from the time I was three some people thought I might become a writer, but that didn’t mean that I was ready or willing.

Don’t get me wrong, I never looked at writing with contempt or disdain. It just wasn’t something that I thought of as a career. But now, well now I view it very differently.

Now it is something that I am focused upon and actively working on. That change and focus is a big part of why I told him to remember that being an adult offers responsibility and freedom.

Of course I didn’t mention that sometimes I want freedom from my responsibilities to work on my writing. 😉

“Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.”- Vince Lombardi

What do you think?