Remember the Dixie Chicks

I'm writing this on a friend's laptop back home in Florida. Right now, President Obama is on TV and the Internet addressing questions through a "town-hall" style meeting, answering questions via YouTube submissions as well as a live audience in the same room as him.

It is important to never act as a partisan. Democrat or Republican nor Liberal or Conservative. By nature, I'm not a partisan person, nor do I believe anyone is. By nature, in groups, we can be partisan -- take sides, be reactive, not address complex issues in a thoughtful way, in George Carlin's words "people in groups wear stupid hats." Its easier that way. However, as individuals, we think different.

Much like how someone is born into a certain society or culture, a certain religion, a family of intolerance, environment plays a huge role in what we know, what we don't know, and how we know or don't know. Worse off, one tends to shut out other viewpoints and even worse off, his or hers own logic is censored.

Partisanship isn't disagreeing or arguing, either. In fact, when partisanship gets really bad, rational arguments actually stop happening! Absurdity. And why do these arguments fail? Because the approach for partisans is to win or lose. Many people don't engage in arguments because they don't want this battle.

For truly smart people, the goal is not to win or lose. The goal is to move the conversation forward. The idea is to learn from each other through conversation, through arguing different sides, figuring out what approach or idea makes the most sense based on history and the present circumstances.

Partisanship is like watching a soap opera. It plays on our need for entertainment, negative entertainment. Instead, "pulling" - the process of pooling ideas and going through a process of dissemination as to which one(s) are the best - provides positive entertainment. Positive breeds positive and negative breeds negative.

The way I try to engage politics or any issue is based on the logic of that issue. Nonetheless, I get pulled into petty arguments at times and fall into what I call the "label trap." Once you label something, including "liberal," "conservative," "right," "left," your unconscious and your conscious begin seeing things in that prism. This falls back to yesterday's blog. It's just like any sort of training or muscle memory process. Just like eating or smoking habits, you have to make a conscious effort to change that prism which, unfortunately, is ingrained in many of us from such an early age.

Just because Peyton Manning finds ways to beat my Jacksonville Jaguars and drives me crazy for the long completions he makes doesn't deny the fact that he's a helluva football player. All it says is that the Jags need to get a better defense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Chicks -- This is intolerance of free speech, not to mention the simple fact that the major point of what they said came true. Break through to the merit of the words, not the simple fact that they may not like the guy you like. Break through the black and white and discern as much grey as you can.

Putting aside some manliness for a second:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwc5YSAc-7g "Not ready to make nice"- Dixie Chicks

Performing is Different

It is. Live performing brings out adrenaline. Because, even though you may know the act, you never know the performance. The act is what's planned. For the artist: it is the set list; for the athlete it is the practiced shots or culmination of workouts; for the skilled test taker it is the note taking and endless hours of study.

Performing keeps us alive, though. Because for all that we can control, for all of our work ethic and practice, we can't control the questions asked, the conditions of the course or the audience and stage we'll be performing at.

How cool is it to not know?

The key to being our best (and at the same time, the very counter intuitive part) is focus. It is easy to get swept up in the perceived pressure of performing. If you're a runner who races, you can't help but notice the hundreds if not thousands of other competitors. Not to mention, all the tents, the race clock, the line for the porta potty, the pre-race and post-race chatter, etc. etc. How do you stick to your act? How do you not go out too fast? Your practiced miles and trials?

Focus.

And focus on you.

And focus on the act that you have practiced.

The winner of the race, just like the doctor, just like the Broadway actress, just like the polished comedian was made a long time ago. On muddy trails. In libraries. In evening acting classes and endless summer camps. In dirty clubs with little to no sound systems and even smaller audiences.

I look at performing as a result of a culmination of work. The one who can focus back on the work the best is the one who performs the best. But sometimes we get caught up in the moment. The crowd is too much, the environment is difficult, the pressure is overwhelming.

But take away the competitive aspect. Better yet, take away all the shit you cannot control.

In the end, you're only competing against yourself. Screw others and the circumstances. The coolest thing about performing is discovering self. It's amazing, and it will trump winning a god-damn trophy any day. And when self-discovery is your big picture, you're mind automatically focuses on self and doesn't get caught up in all the hoopla of the performance. It's a bit weird, but true. When you change your end goal to self, embrace the moment for what it is, indirectly, you will become a better competitor. You'll rise above your competition without trying. Why? Because your competition is so focused on what you and the rest are doing. They get sidetracked by the same crap you wanted to but were too disciplined to fall for.

I once knew a coach who looked at a cross country team who won a major cross country meet. After the meet, he took the trophy the team won, and in front of them, threw the trophy in a river. The team beat all the other teams, but they won based on talent, not on performance. They're performance was lack-luster and if thrown into a different arena, maybe the other teams would have kicked their ass. That didn't matter -- the level of competition. It was good enough compared to the others in the same field, but not to the standard they had set for themselves.

This isn't to knock the idea of competition. It's healthy and necessary. However, competition should mostly be saved for the practice range. It's healthy for game-planning, strategy, research.

It is only when performing that one can get in "the zone." The Zone is the zone of one's self, not of me and another performer. So my thoughts: find something you enjoy and start to schedule performances. Feel the adrenaline, the nerves, and the fear that underlies it. Work your butt off to get better when you perform. But always perform. And never worry about your rank. That's all crap anyway. Let self-satisfaction and decency be your guide.

U2 Where The Streets Have No Name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVbLm4TN3g