Namaste, Dear Music Lover,

Happy India Independence Day!! I’m feverishly tapping this post out on my phone for a quick reminder to my dear Indian extended family as a way of sharing my love of our homeland and most importantly her people—despite the ongoing drama of a viral pandemic (Covid-19) still bearing down upon us all, with no immediate relief in sight. I hope that my web team gets it up on my domain before this national holiday’s celebrating ceases for 2020.

Desh

Sabse

Pehele

At times like these, there is only so much that each of us can contribute to the greater national efforts to curb and begin to put this nightmare in our rear-view mirrors. India’s battle with the pandemic seems to be in a status similar to the challenged status of our close-ally and long-time business partner country’s (the USA’s).

Still, several months into 2020, Covid–19 wreaks havoc around the planet, and while we may be about to round that awful trendline top, we remain “in the woods” as the experts say. Even top infectious-disease scientists refrain from declaring that it’s about over. It will surely take more (very difficult) time! No one has a date certain as to when this protracted crisis will pass. So we press on. The best things we as individuals can do are to act responsibly in our own environs and to cooperate with established safety precautions following the guidelines created by medical authorities.

Some commentators on TV here in India, and there in the US and elsewhere seem to assign the bulk of blame for the outbreaks to failed national leadership. While that may indeed be part of what we may be witnessing, for me there seems to be plenty of guilt to attribute here, there and to many points and persons distant.

Until the medical research people complete their process of developing solid, repeatable effective treatments (and maybe a very-reliable preventative vaccine inoculation pill/injection), the jury will remain in deliberation (as to the correct laying of blame, and how to proceed out of this hellish miasma).

What none of us needs at this key juncture is to be about the matter of designating the blameworthy among us (although there will surely be a time in the near future when such accounting is both due and appropriate). But laying blame at best only informs us how to better avoid repeating what’s gone wrong to date. We really need to be about the medical path toward healing and prevention, so this nightmare scenario neither repeats nor remains for even an instant longer than we otherwise can readily avoid.

I seriously doubt that any sane person in China is to blame for this, but rather than go into my views on public figures laying blame, I’ll leave it at that. What I believe we must instead focus upon (for our own mental health!) is how we each cope and deal with daily and nightly tasks while most of us simply “wait it out” by carefully adhering to the widely-promulgated commonsense guidelines to which we’re all expected to conform: Social Distancing and/or Face Covering by mask or other means, staying safe and by avoiding large groups, keeping both others and ourselves in less-risky circumstances.

It seems that a few smaller countries and cities, islands or other locales have managed to remain relatively unscathed from the worst effects of the pandemic. I won’t launch into a discussion along those lines… we all know that the other statistics are frightening and tragic (and we hope, largely avoidable, eventually if we remain vigilant and purposeful) enough!

So, dear family and friends, we now have golden opportunities to look around us (as well as inside of ourselves) in order to initiate a process of achieving enough clarity and ongoing resolve to face this menace head-on… and to work on achieving the best possible outcomes—for one and all.

So how might such a thoughtful and purposeful process begin, how might it look while it’s occurring, and how can we wrap up and clean up after the pandemic runs its course (or is summarily dispatched prior to total human ruination)?

As noted in a previous post here, we have only the choice to control whom and when we are able. That means we can control ourselves: our own thoughts and actions, feelings and empathies. The rest (all of it!) is not really in our realm, hence not healthy to worry ourselves about. Mental Health is key to our survival! It’s also a favored cause of mine (ever since my footman informed me that I ‘make him crazy’ so to say).

Obviously, there are also innumerable things of which we may be aware, most likely deeply displeased with, yet wholly unable to impact (much). We could stew and grouse over such matters until the stress begins to drag us farther down into or at least toward despair. Yes, the result of agonizing over what one cannot help, and piling up the angst day after day can over time only damage one’s psyche (state of mind).

A troubled mind can do physical damage over time; this is well known. While some of us can abuse our bodies in various ways and live to know and do better, we each also have the power to destroy our lives. That is a well-known practice of cowards, also as such a rather Asian escape trick that harms others even more than the initial victim.

Don’t harm yourself because you’re unhappy. Help yourself to overcome your sadness. It’s so much easier and less-costly on the people (and higher entities) who care about us. Do the right things, not the wrong ones—especially at times when e.g., harming oneself presents irreversible damage. Life is hard enough. Don’t make it worse!

We may likewise have many chances to look away, to hide our eyes from the bad news, ignore the press coverage and investigative reporting that sheds light on countless bad acts and bad actors. Again, going “down a rabbit hole” to explore vastly unknown realms that could indeed lead us to some insights and signs of better outcomes… could surely and just as easily lead us into more confusion and a lack of understanding of both the ultimate causes and how best to deal with our present predicaments. Wearing blinders may insulate us from some visual cues that would otherwise drag our moods down. But impairing one’s visual faculties is definitely no way to improve any situation (esp. a poorly understood one)!

So a conventional response in such situations is usually along the lines of “don’t go there” (meaning to stop exploring without a map, and instead try to deal with situations as they are and how they arose). Yes, it’s a vague/clumsy tack to take when facing largely unknown threats. Yes, indeed we can, and many near me insist that we should be meditating, in lieu of medicating ourselves.

News reports say that in the U.S., consumption of cannabis (aka the female Indian hemp plant flower buds) is much on the rise—which could be construed as a trend toward the avoidance rather than the full-on confrontation of the present situation. Such things aren’t tracked in detail elsewhere, to my knowledge.

The actuality, it seems to us, may be rather more nuanced. The increased usage of really all such readily-available psycho-active mood-altering substances (including alcohol, tobacco and of course such old favorites as sugar, chocolate and caffeine, and for a few among us—generally younger in years—intense programs of physical training) can, to some extent, offer some respite from the constant pressures of living through a pandemic.

Whether we need to ask tough questions or to pose well-reasoned theses and proposed solutions, there are surely countless ways to distract or redirect our attention away from the worst of the outcomes that befall those people whose previously-weakened conditions made them susceptible to the virus’s sad effects on their bodies/minds. But let’s not fool ourselves: drugs have far less actual healing benefits than our own bodies can bring.

Again, we can only face that which we’re prepared to handle, while it is arguably best to simply avoid the bad influences and risky behaviors that could conspire to harm us/our loved ones.

But Dear Music Lover… I have more hope to pass your way: let’s each resolve to use at least 30-90 minutes each day to LISTEN to some really great, happy and uplifting MUSIC! Doing this gives us total control over our emotions (for a while, anyhow). Why? Because we each select the music we love, and we can also plan and execute our listening either using private listening devices like earbuds, or in our private place using loudspeakers of whatever size and quality we happen to own.

I’m sure that for many who are reading this, I just offered a reiteration of the patently obvious. In 2020, we live on a very-well-connected planet. Our technology has yet to be fully perfected, but in the meanwhile we are able to share our thoughts and emotions via the WWW as I am so doing here, now. The amazing sound technicians with whom I usually work get me a full sound without a lot of drama—some have noted that my voice produces “a good strong signal” (whatever that means—my footman claims to know).

In summary, Dear Music Lover, each of us has a soul and a mind of which to take full control and to care for our wellness, and we are answerable to ourselves and our higher powers (whether we “believe” in them or fail to fully do).

Beyond what we’re able to do for ourselves, a great number of us have some types and degrees of responsibility for others (like family and friends). My admiration continues to be extended in honor of the medical and scientific professionals (front-line/essential workers) and other key workers like sanitation maintenance and public health officials. Thanks so much for your services! India needs and appreciates you now more than ever!

I’ll close with the sort of encouragement that my wonderful parents gave me in my younger years and they offer even now: you can do it!! You can cope with this. Just keep your masks handy for the next number of months until “the coast is clear” and all the nasty little bugs and nasty little name-calling adolescent political operatives have run their courses. Remember a lesson from the Irish: people often smile with their eyes. If your face mask covers your eyes, it’s not positioned correctly! My point here is that despite the unavoidable aural muting of one’s voice by a mask, one can still send a bit of positive energy toward others via a happy glance.

Some individuals are better ignored or avoided… much like the harmful viri they so resemble. In other words, Dear Music Lover: avoid all types of toxins and toxic people. Their moments of (often, stolen) glory are purely slivers of wasted time, little else. No good comes of dignifying human criminals with our rapt attention (beyond helping them to reach their ultimately deserved tragic destinations). But sometimes even e.g., actors who play heavies can be amongst the kindest people in actuality.

So as the Brits have it: Stiff upper lip (bear up under the pressure, don’t succumb to it)! Even living through a cruel, repressive political regime can strengthen us via perseverance.

We will surely get beyond this ugly ordeal (and many others before we are finished struggling). I try to remain focused on the love 💕 ❤️ which is bestowed upon my heart & soul by loved ones and fans—-and on my earnest hope to return it in kind. I’m reaching out to you (electronically, of course, until it’s safe to do so in the conventional manner) with my encouragement, knowing that it will be returned in even greater measure, as it always is!!

God bless and keep us safe, one and all. May Ram / Allah / Jahweh / God smile in your direction and smooth your passages. Even those who reject all notions of faith and belief or deity can be fortified in their resolve and knowledge to the point of survival with minimal affectation.

Music hath power to soothe the savage beast, (even when that savage is human by species). Let’s harness its power in our own lives and reach for our best outcomes. We’ve got this—working together as a unified India, and moreover, a unified planet of loving spirits in human form… our creator has endowed us with so many terrific means to survive and to beyond that, thrive where we are, so that future generations can explore outer reaches of the known universe.

Well, I really drifted out into deep space for a bit, there, didn’t I? I can be inspired by my own mind at times, and as others have proclaimed: there’s no shame in my game. (That emotion belongs to others now and for the duration.)

Our faith will continue to serve us in the most difficult times. With deep respect and love for all whose hearts are pure and intentions are good, I bid you happy unending celebrations 🎊 and a hearty

Namaste,

AM