Back to Buddy for a minute. (See yesterday’s blog) A studio environment among several creatives can be quite complex and dynamic to say the least. I’ve not worked with Buddy before this project but let me just tell you, it was quite clear when he entered the studio that he was a carrier of joy. There’s no better petri dish to prove the culture shaping energy of joy than in a musical scenario like a room full of creatives. And maybe even more striking is the tangible influence it has over musical sound. As a carrier, Buddy, with his beaming smile, has the power to single-handedly shift the atmosphere in a room and shape sound by creating what I'll call a "joy zone." That is flat out fantastic to me and it was incredibly inspirational for me to experience in the studio.
Did I say that joy permeates all other emotions within me in yesterday’s blog? Yeah, about that… Let me clarify: I didn’t say I don’t still get madder‘n a penned bull. But, over the years, and lots of counseling and studying emotional well-being, I’m slowly learning to keep a steady inner-IV of joy flowing from my right brain to my heart of hearts - even when my face is flushing red. It’s an invaluable discovery.
So, how does all this work? Well, I’ll just be honest. I am striving to be more and more like Buddy - to be a carrier of joy and that takes some work on my part. But, I have come to believe joy is also a moral obligation so I continue to work on it. In my blog series on prosperity last week, I concluded that it is my moral obligation to pursue every form of prosperity, and a life of joy is included in that.
I will give you one well known tip: “Think on these things” (constantly). I’m never going to escape thinking about stressful things like relationship conflicts, tragic situations, reasonable concerns, and sad realities. But, I can train like an athlete, to constantly release those thoughts after I’ve processed them for a justifiable amount of time, lay them down, let go of them for now, and move back to “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” (Philippian 4:8) Moving back to these thoughts is the exercise and once I practiced this move for a while, it became more like a fluid dance. And speaking of dancing, let's all go listen to Buddy play that joyful bass line one more time and while we do, think on these things!
Joy is the very thing our world needs so much right now. So thank you again Buddy, for being a joy carrier.
Joy to the World! ♤♡◇♧
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