Playing The Drums

Playing the drums. Something I've always wanted to do, but never really had the time or the patience to learn. I have however, over time, learned some basic concepts of playing the drums incase I were ever to embark on such an endeavor. Recently I've found a new desire to play the drums; except now I hope to master the drums of life instead of the real ones.

I suppose I could qualify as someone who is anal-retentive; I'm a traditional list-maker, I prefer to have a plan more often than not, and the organization of my environment is key to my functionality. The problem with being dependent on organization is that if you become too focused on the idea itself, you lose focus of the things that really matter.

I have narrowed my life tasks down to two categories; things I need to do that are time-sensitive, and things that I want to do that could be time-sensitive, but wind up not being so as an excuse to procrastinate. What kind of way is that to live? It's a terrible way to live. You are letting your tasks define you, and their time-sensitivity dictate your actions...you've essentially become a robot. I look no further than myself to find someone guilty of this crime. I mentioned my two categories that I live by, and I have recently tried to solve my problem of needs-based prioritization. I made one big list, a list with several bullets; one for each commitment in my life (i.e. work, school, club x, club y, club z, etc...). Under each bullet are sub-bullets for specific tasks within that commitment - it is a good way to make sure that nothing gets forgotten. At the bottom of the list is my "other" bullet, which is composed of the things that I want to do. As much as this list is helpful, as much as it keeps me focused, how can I get away from it and stop letting a piece of paper define and predict me?

Enter the drums.

When playing the drums you first need to establish a rhythm. A simple, noticeable, and consistent rhythm. That rhythm is your 'home' for the song, and is always your fallback. In life, your rhythm is your routine; the time you wake up, the place you go on a Tuesday night, the time you eat your meals, the time you go to bed. Now I know that there are those people who hate routines and would curse the idea of them until the end of the world, but I challenge you to bear with me because you see, your routine is just your rhythm, it's not the whole song.

So after you get the rhythm down and you can sit there and jam out with it all day, now what? Now you are free to experiment. You've got your rhythm so set that you can play it with your eyes closed and without even thinking about it; the same way you will feel about your routine once you've made it into habit. Now go ahead and mix it up - hit the cymbals three times, throw in some cowbell, or give the base and extra tap or two. Translate that into your life - rediscover and old hobby, catch up with a long lost friend, try a new activity or distraction that you've always been interested in. Maybe you like that base hit so much that you incorporate it into your rhythm, or maybe you don't so you try something different next time. If you do incorporate it, go back to just playing your rhythm until you've mastered that new part, and then start experimenting again until you've made a whole song. That complete song, the compilation of your rhythm and the experimental hits that allow you to explore the drums and their full capacity...that is your life, and what a life it is.

And so I hope to master my own song, but first I've got to find my rhythm. To do that I am going to do whatever it takes to wipe this to-do list clean. As much as the list dictates and predicts who I am, as long as it exists it remains in control. All I can do is man up, take on the list and finish it. If you don't clean the room, how are you ever going to find your way to the drum set?

Many of us need that rhythm in our lives, but are too busy dwelling in self-pity to clean up the room and get to the drum chair. So clean up that mess, create that rhythm, and then make your song. Once you've done that, then you can start inviting people over and teaching them how to play the drums. Before you know it, you'll be jammin' out like there's no tomorrow. And the fact of the matter is that you'll be so good on those drums that if there really were no tomorrow it wouldn't even matter, because you'll be goin' out playing the song of your life.

So go play your drums and get that rhythm going as soon as you can. Because the truth is that time waits for nobody and it stinks to be owned by a piece of paper; and wouldn't it just be a shame for your time to be up, and the room to still be messy. I can imagine no worse feeling than having to leave the room never knowing how good I might have been on the drums...