What I Love
The sound of children laughing.
When my writing produces an emotional reaction.
Coming out of a matinee into daylight.
The quiet in the middle of the night.
The aroma of morning air in my garden.
Omakase with fresh uni and natto.
Friends who go somewhere real in conversation.
Uncontrollable laughter.
Walking on a deserted beach while waves crash on the shore.
The sound of Coltrane’s saxophone.
What I Abhor
Lies.
Music that’s clearly AI, lacking real soul.
Phonies.
Dictators.
Bad Chinese food.
Losing fruit to squirrels.
Landing at an airport and learning my connecting flight was canceled.
Days when everything felt glacial, angled just out of reach.
Narcissists incapable of really listening to anyone but themselves.
When an umpire makes the wrong call and my team loses.
What Concerns Me
Nuclear winter.
Having a stroke and loss of control so that I can no longer communicate..
Or finding out I have dementia — a disease that lets you meet new people every day, all of them you.
Leaving valuables in my checked bag while traveling and having the airline lose the bag.
Being held at gunpoint by a raving lunatic in Texas.
Injustice ruling this planet for an eternity.
Missing what matters.
Being misunderstood.
Losing loved ones.
Unavoidable conflict.
What I Believe
Humankind is basically good.
A well-told story matters.
Music stays a healing force for me.
Life is impermanent.
Winter always turns to spring.
Some people are born stupid and never change.
Art needs soul.
Jazz means more than music. It is life, struggle, improvisation and beauty in chaos.
Time matters.
Death is not the end.
Life in Mexico feels more human.
It is never too late to start.
Every loss has taught me something I couldn't have learned any other way.
What I Value
Friends who call.
Professionalism.
Good writing.
Music that tells a story.
The courage it takes to play something beautiful and mean it.
Speaking truth at any cost.
Individuality.
Art that bleeds a little when you touch it.
People who push boundaries.
Real intimacy.
Loyalty.
What I Want
To create without ceiling or apology.
Work that cuts through the noise and lands.
To finish work aligned with my soul and share it.
To keep learning until the last possible day.
A body and mind sharp enough to carry the life I'm building.
To become, again and again, someone slightly better.
Enough hours in the day to actually use them.
To feel at home in my own skin and spirit.
To love my partner in a way that feeds us both.
And you?
How simply stated and totally true. Bret-you have inspired me to create a blog where I I will share my own writing. This made me cry and laugh and forced me into an instant meditative state. I am grateful for you. And Evans. And Coltrane.
You are a human being, with all that means. You''ve analyzed your reality to the point that you can organize your desires and aversions with wisdom. That's quite an achievement. There's probably some Buddhist term for this state. You also have Boldness; you don't shrink from the worst case. You face it down. Let me share something with you. For the past months I've been struggling to master the song "Angel Eyes". I'm in year 5 of my piano journey. It took a long time. It kept eluding me! I kept going, studying the tutorials. This week I can play a lucid version of the song. A real breakthrough!