A train rumbles past the train tracks.

I‘m in a field next to it. I wait as our bean planter comes into the field.

It’s dry. Very dry. There is rain in the forecast 5 days away, but with each passing day it keeps getting moved back. We do what we can.

We adapt.

We’re farmers.

We have to work with the nature.

The nature changes too, just like me.

Change is constant. If change wasn’t constant then I couldn’t grow myself. I’m working to grow myself.

Energy is flowing. The next stage on my journey is my energy. I may let it flow. Do I sit in it? Sit with it? Feel it?

Easier said than done.  

I carry responsibility with me. In the past I have often have seen it as a burden, something that I need to shed to move forward with my life. It weighed down my shoulders. My bigger self now understands that the responsibilities I feel aren’t shackles meant to be heavy. With my growth, these chains that I dragged around now feel lighter and lighter once these responsibilities are met head on with courage.

Take accountability.

Communicate.

Take action.

The buck stops with me, so I show that.

Prove it.

For as they say, no one is going to come and save me. I save myself. I do it for myself but I do it for those who rely on me. For this is what it means to be a big man at this stage of my growth.

We take you home hand in hand,

Sisters, your home has now expanded.

The days are long but the years are short,

We are simply thankful for all of our support.

The lifelong talks you will have together,

Simply put, no matter the weather.

Beach days, rainy days, snowy days ahead,

The feelings you feel are here for me to stead.

There’s nothing more important to me,

Than for me to set you free.

And although I’m a farmer,

You’re my most important crop to grow.

I likely won’t be your last love

But your first I may be so.

Love dada

Growing up doing drum lessons I had good teachers. They taught me rhythms and rudiments. The foundation of a drummer is his order of sticking. You learn the basics by playing on one drum – the snare drum. This is the military sounding drum with the white head. It makes the distinct sound because of metal rattles on the under side of the drum. So, one example is a ‘paradiddle’ where you play right-left-right-right-left-right-left-left.

Of course, a drummer feels and keeps the rhythm for the rest of the band. It seems simple but it is in fact the hardest part of playing the drums. You think you’re keeping a steady beat, meanwhile that sometimes is just your own perspective. Listen to a recording and it often slows down or speeds up many times through the song. It’s almost like how we experience time at a different pace, a drummer will assume a steady beat even though the audience hears up and down. This is where practice with a metronome comes in.

Believe it or not, apart from simply speeding up or slowing down you can also be on the WRONG side of the beat. A millisecond ahead of the band or a millisecond behind the band and it makes a completely different feel. If you’re a split second ahead it feels like you’re ‘pulling’ the band forward. “Relax Will” they would sometimes say. “It feels like you’re pulling the band forward. Try to relax and be on the back end of the beat”.

It seemed so strange for me as a drummer to be on the ‘back’ end of the beat. Aren’t I supposed to be LEADING the band? To be on the back end seems like I’m following, when I should be the leader in charge of the beat.

Sit back.

Breath.

Don’t try to create the beat – enjoy it. 

Receive it as it comes – for it is a much more relaxing ride.