Friends and Our Lives

Every 10 years or so we go through a refreshment of our friends and it seems many of the friends we were close to 10 years ago, we are not as close to now. While we will always love them and cherish the great moments we had, it’s just the way of the world and people drift apart. It’s ok, life happens. In fact in this process we end up finding new friends and trying new groups that stimulate our current being. In many cases when we move away or start a new path in life this is part of the reality that we are forced to make new friends. No matter what, we'll always have these friends with us in our hearts and it’s a reminder of a period of time in our lives. As a musician I’ve played with hundreds of other musicians and developed some great friendships along the way. I am proud of the memories and the music and art that we created together and we’re connected in that moment of time in life. Also notice how many friends from elementary and middle school we stay in contact with. Very few, but Facebook has allowed us the ability to research and even find some of these former colleagues and classmates. It’s interesting to see the paths we all took in life and recognize that when we were kids we felt like we were going to be together forever. We had no clue the challenges and fight that our lives would take as we pursue our dreams and it’s nice to have these tools today to stay connected. Lately I’ve been trying to make the effort to reach out to old friends and text them or even call them out of the blue. In fact when I have called people out of the blue it was a fun conversation and catch up and remembrance of the fundamentals of human connection. Try it sometime, you might be pleasantly surprised! Your Friend, Andre

Being 44

Today I turn 44, and every year when it’s my birthday I kind of reflect and take a pulse check on my life and where I want to be. I remember when I turned like 26 and felt I was needing to do more to put myself out there in my music career, so I started leading my own band, playing gigs in local clubs, recording, and pursuing a music career. Then again when I was 34, and felt like I was getting old (LOL!), so I went back to graduate school and found a whole new world of learning, possibilities, and experiences. Now I’m 44 and this year have recognized that I am exactly where I need to be. With all that has happened in the last year I think it’s also changed my perspective some. Sure it’s nice to strive to be a successful career person at the top of their game in an organization but I’ve realized that's not everything in life. I look around and recognize I am a lucky man in so so many ways and I have much to be thankful for. I have a wonderful wife and family, have a good job, have a roof over our heads, have food on our table, have shared some great experiences and adventures with friends and in life and I don’t think there's much more one can ask for. Sure we all have desires and things we aim to accomplish and I know in many ways it's been a good road and I have been able to succeed at goals I've set or projects I wanted to pursue. Now my goal is to attain balance between work, family, extra curricular activities, health, diet, emotional, mental, and creative passions. For me having peace and simplicity can be more valuable than climbing the corporate ladder and I’ve realized in order for me to be happy I need to be authentic as to who I am for no matter what capacity. 44 is still relatively young in today's day and age but I can’t help but recognize I have a lot more responsibility now then when I was 26. Shoot it’ll be my 30th HS reunion in 4 years!! 4 years??? OMG, where did the time go and what did I learn from the various experiences I’ve had? I’ll say this, in all instances be true to yourself and listen to your heart. You are all you’ve got and have to figure it out for your own path and you will never be happy if you follow someone else's vision for your life, but you can always accept the choices you make for yourself. Also, if you want something bad enough, never give up, adapt and keep on trying until you find a route. In many cases where I’ve had success it never happened in a straight arrow, but went around and around until I found my path through. Reflection is good and helps keep things in perspective, so I’ll say cheers to another 44 and whatever life's adventures may bring and I appreciate you being in my life!

Peace

We Have the Power

Along one of the many streets in my town there is an older gentleman of the Sikh faith that sits on the side of the road and waves at cars passing by. At first it was curious to see this older man sitting there and waving at cars but then without thinking I rolled down my window, honked the horn and waved in excitement. We both smiled and then it hit me. We were connected on the same wavelength in a moment of joy and happiness. This is the power of us humans in that we can create emotion and change our view in a moment. Being happy and choosing our emotional state can be attained by how we perceive and what we accept as our reality. This one older gentleman recognized this same fact and that he can bring happiness to others simply by being present and waving to others and brightening their day. Sometimes it's the small things that can make a difference and something as simple as sharing a wave with a stranger reflects on our connection as humans. We have the power and can spread happiness at any time.