"For the life of the flesh is in the blood" Leviticus 17:11 (NASB)
(This has turned into quite a lengthy bit of postulation!)
Change, even when it's for the better, is still change and therefore difficult to make some times. Even when it's a change towards things embraced in your past. I personally cannot stand to cling to, or be nailed down by, the past. This is in no way any sort of effort to recreate the past. I suppose it's more like just having fixed a flat tire, and now it's time to get back in the car and move forward on the journey. The destination before the tire went flat is still the same, but the section road we're traveling on is different.
Being aware of yourself and your surroundings is a good but not always simple thing. This awareness often begets certain realizations, and it is those that we must act on, or remain mired in our present condition.
Not only has age tempered my musical tastes, but it has made me not only appreciate, but embrace simplicity. In this age of technological changes that eclipse the speed of light, I am becoming more enchanted with having less technology around me. In some cases it has simplified my life, but I find more often than not, the very technology that's designed to free us of burden, has in fact itself become a burden and serves to only complicate life further, and unnecessarily.
In the spirit of freeing myself from technology, I have finally made the decision after thinking about it for a couple of years, and a commitment to "converting" all of my computer based guitar gear back into the simple stomp-box variety of pedals. I've realized I'm sick to death of having to make time to program a new sound or effect instead of just being able to twist a tiny knob and make the change when I need it changed. Also, the thought of lugging all of that heavy gear around for gigs again makes me cringe and so I'm going to also "convert" all of the heavy stuff back into small and lighter things. This sure does seem like recreating the past… but I suppose in this instance, time and experience have taught me the value and benefit of some of the things I used to have. Probably the most ironic thing about this decision is that I made it before Eric proposed another project. Even though I had no plans or invitations open to play, I felt it's something I needed to do. So now comes the chore of selling off and finding other gear. But I firmly believe this is what needs to happen.
So for the moment, until more details are ironed out, this is what's going on in that neck of the woods. Hello? Are you still awake?
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Hi!
Catching up on 350+ back posts in my feed reader. I may be reading for weeks at this point.
Cool that you’re wanting to play again! And I can _so_ understand the desire to convert the heavy stuff to lighter/simpler things. I don’t at all miss having to haul the heavy gear around for MG gigs.