Deadheads and new growth...

Editor's Note: This post to Blake's Blog was scheduled to be about the marvelous advances in technology that have impacted the music industry and my career. That will happen in the next post, as the topic for today has preempted that fascinating topic. It's worth waiting for, you'll see.

Gardeners are said to have a "green thumb." This is because a really good gardener routinely

uses their thumbnail to 'cut off' the dead or dying blossoms of their flowers.

This practice results in getting green chlorophyl stains on your thumb...hence, the 'Green Thumb'.

The term for this process is "dead-heading" and it is not a reference to Jerry Garcia or Phil Lesh,

or their fans. The fact is that regular and consistent dead-heading is a major factor in keeping flowers blooming with fresh flowers and beautiful color. If you don't do this, your flowers will be far less attractive, with soggy discolored petals clinging to the stem. The entire plant will also fail to flourish like it would if it were being conscientiously cleared of the dead blossoms.

I recently was impacted by a line from the movie 'Rocketman' where an R&B singer tells a young

Reginald Dwight (Elton John) that in order to get past the troubling things that have held you back:

"You have to kill the old you, and invent a new you."

After that, Reg became Elton John and he has made a gigantic musical contribution to the world and to all of our lives.

I've recently had a few people say things to me that are similar to these same concepts.

They're trying to tell me something I guess...Thanks, Captain Obvious.

My recent journey along the steep ol' mountain trail has me realizing that this concept can indeed

be helpful in our own lives, as it relates to past experiences which have not yet been dead-headed.

Even last night while I was receiving a massage, the therapist said something out of the blue,

to the effect of: "Nothing from the bad things you had happen earlier in your life needs to be held on to anymore, it's okay to let it go."

Pretty Zen from a massage therapist who hadn't ever met me before.

This is what I am moving towards, to being who I want to be, and not holding-on to what I am not.

It's a tough part of the trail, lots of tricky terrain. At my age it's kinda weird to be setting a new

intention for myself and my bass career. I am about to actually market and advertise my

bass studio within the next few weeks. Terrifying yet exciting.

The more old, soggy, discolored and ugly things that I can let go of, the better my future will look.

That's the plan anyway. It works in Nature after all!

Sugar Magnolia!