Read books, Change your mind

This is my ode to reading.

Reading is a bit of a hidden gem. It’s not hidden in the sense that no one knows about it, it’s hidden because the power of reading is far greater than commonly understood. I reckon that reading does similar things to your brain as mind altering drugs, only reading is a bit more gentle. Reading leads you to a deeper understanding of yourself and it can provide the most direct paths to altering your life.

Reading changes how your mind processes information, it enhances your ability to connect far-reaching ideas, makes you more creative, deepens your quality of thinking, opens your heart to more empathy, clarifies your understanding of reality, improves concentration, slows your heart rate, builds self-confidence, forces you to sit still, improves your speaking abilities, and it allows you to imagine the future and the past more concretely. Good books show you shortcuts through the universe, light lanterns in the mind’s mazes, hacks for the wide world. A book is another person’s mind, because writing is thinking - tamed and slow cooked. A wise book can be the missing link between solitude and understanding. Books alters your neural makeup; reading new ideas reroutes how thoughts travel in your mind, opening up new ways of thinking that were not previously available.

I feel fortunate to have discovered a love for reading, it has proven the most effective way to hack life. I feel a duty to spread the word, to sell people on reading, to tell folks how and why it can be such a game changer.

I love to hear inspiring and successful people speak on their reading habits, it makes their uncommon journeys more relatable. Reading is the distance from point A to B, from normalcy to greatness. While in prison, Malcolm X transformed himself from a street hustler to an intellectual social justice hero. Reading helped him do so:

There was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand. I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room. When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at 10pm I would be outraged with the ‘lights out.’ It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing. Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when ‘lights out’ came I would continue reading in that glow. At one hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light glow, where I read for another fifty-eight minutes - until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning.

While CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates used to take ‘Think Weeks.’ Once or twice a year, he and his wife would retreat to a remote cabin where Gates would read books of interest and project pitches from Microsoft employees, sometimes reading over 18 hours a day for a week or two. Reading was the main event of these retreats - the immersive reading and exposure to new ideas would generate ideas for months or years back in the working world.

The more books you read, the more your mind draws connections between topics and mediums, often with no conscious effort. The more (healthy) information you put in your mind, the more informed your mental model of the world will be.

So… what to read? At first it doesn’t matter, read what excites you. Wander a book store and buy 3 things that speak to you or do it at the library for free. You can read every word or you can skip pages/chapters. Don’t police yourself into finishing something that does not inspire you, just move on to the next book. You can finish what you start or you can drop any book freely. Reading should be a calming, inspiring, and invigorating activity.

If you’re looking for ways to level up or to wind down… read. May you remain open to what lies on the next page.

Intuitive Subway Miracles

Anyone who rides the New York City subway on a regular basis has seen and experienced the most extraordinary and unusual things.  The subway is host to every type of human who do all the things that humans are capable of doing.  The seasoned passenger has experienced it all:  things that are violent, touching, disgusting, hilarious, enraging, beautiful, terrifying.   The story I’d like to share is a common, everyday occurrence - I’ve seen and experienced it dozens of times. It is miraculous, simple, and beautiful.  

The story is this:  A woman with a baby carriage is standing at the top of a staircase.  A stranger asks if they may help her carry it downstairs to the train platform. The woman says yes.  Together, they bring the carriage down the stairs.  The woman says thank you (maybe) and then the stranger walks away.  

After the stranger asks, ‘Do you need help?’ the mother always hesitates before answering.  It’s never a long hesitation, usually it’s less than a second.  This silent instant is completely extraordinary.  In this frame of time, the mother does a scan of the stranger, subconsciously taking in all available information about the stranger.  The stranger is being judged by his/her body language, inflection of voice, athleticism, wardrobe, belongings, race/gender/class (if the mother judges people by this criteria), intent, sanity, social cues, and cleanliness.  In this instant, the mother decides if she may trust the stranger with the life of her child.  

This is an amazing example of the strength, quickness, and accuracy of human intuition.  Our subconscious mind does things inexplicable to our conscious minds.  Our conscious mind allows itself days, weeks, months, even years to ‘decide’ that we trust someone or that we do not.  The subconscious is perhaps more time sensitive and comes to its own conclusions much quicker.  The subconscious speaks to our conscious through the sense of intuition - and we are in tune to it or we second guess it.  Viva la intuition.  

Josh Giunta is a music producer who writes about learning, the creative process, the relation of art & science, and more.

The magic of figuring things out

The real magic lies in figuring things out.  

The magic can only unfold after we are honest about what it is we do know and what we do not know.  The things that we do know are our tools.  The things that we do not know can be reached and understood by using these tools.  Trust your toolkit… it’s different than mine, and you’re the only one who really knows how to use it.  Your toolkit is best used when you create a method of solving a problem. If you embrace the proactive mindset of solving a problem, you can make any medium an art form. Problems will intimidate us, but the artistic process flips the resistance we feel, turning it into productivity and progress. The key lies in making this problem solving your art.

The pursuit of solving problems requires boldness because every problem is a unique circumstance.  The true grit of problem solving takes place outside of prior experience, in a realm that is new.  We must innovate, improvise, and try things out that may not work.  

A problem is a wall, beyond which we cannot see. Once we decide to solve a problem, we are able to boldly approach the wall for a close look.  Once we actually look, we inevitably find that it the wall is not as we projected it to be.  The truths of an issue are its real substance, our assumptions are only mist in the air.  Once we start to absorb actual information, the toolkit of what we know becomes activated, and we may begin to apply it to what we do not know.  We are able to imagine what is on the other side of the wall, how to climb over it, or if the wall even exists in the first place.    

We need to beat back our fear to get anything useful done.  Beating back your fear is not too bad once you get used to the fact that you must do it every single day.  Fear is often more subtle than dramatic, because it influences us without our knowing.  Fear disguises itself as procrastination and avoidance.  Fear likes to gently steers us clear of the unknown, confrontations, problem solving, and new territory.  We beat fear by taking action.  Taking action is how problems are solved.  We must float above the wavelengths of thought that say we are too tired, not smart enough, not good enough, too broke, unable to learn, or not in the mood to do something that we truly know we need to do.  

Science is point A and point B.  Art is the space between the points.  Art is the action you take to get where you want to go.  When you enjoy the process of figuring things out, you are able to see more options and possibilities in everyday life.  Life is continually transformed by he/she who is well versed in asking:  What are the possible solutions to this problem?

Josh Giunta is an electro-groove music producer who writes about learning, the creative process, the relation of art & science, and more.

How can artists remain current in an accelerating world?

This post is meant to start a conversation with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs about the importance of innovation and how to adapt your gifts to keep pace with quickly changing times.  

Most artists have pondered this difficult question:  Am I doing enough for the world by creating art?

This question is absolutely relative to our culture, era, and region, yet we mistake it for being objective. If we accept the question and attempt to answer it without pondering who is asking it and why it is being asked, we may become discouraged to do our creative work that comes so innately to us creative folk.  This would be a major loss.  The reason we take this question seriously is because of money.  Creating art or anything new may not initially make us money, causing us to question its value.  But we must remember that the value of a thing determines its worth far more than the asking price.   

Let’s replace the initial harrowing question with a better one that is more in touch with our dynamic reality:  How can I best use my natural artistic skills to better the world?  This is a great question that you may honestly ask and answer for yourself.  Answering this question can put you in touch with your own definition of success, which is the only one that truly matters.  Success is not determined by external things like popularity or by earnings.  It is determined by a sense of purpose and by the fulfillment that grows from the genuine help given to our fellow people.  

All this being said, I am not delusional about the realities of making a living, or the hardships of balancing steady income alongside the pursuit of true artistic expression.  Because of these realities, and because of the immense shifts the internet has caused in nearly every industry, I advocate innovation and adaptation to all creative types.  Now more than ever, we need to learn new skills, cross mediums, and create new things.   We must do these not only to make a living for ourselves, but for the sustainable livelihood of everyone else.   

Innovation

We preserve things that are important, such as a style of music from a specific time period (ie:  Gypsy Jazz or a Viennese Waltz).  The things we preserve were innovative at the time of their creation.  They may still be amazing, but they are not still innovative.  Our energy should be devoted towards innovating things for today instead of trying to replicate past innovations.  Our innovative predecessors would be proud of further innovation stemming from their discoveries and creations, it is a passing of the baton.  They may be honored by our attempt to replicate their creations, but the fire that sparked their innovation has been passed along in the torch of their art.  If we are touched by their light we should use it as fuel to create new things for today.  The potency of their message must be repackaged for current times, the formulas must be updated and reinvented to become the potent messages of our day.  Many artists today focus on re-creating old innovations, or creating new content with the exact creative guidelines that were used decades or centuries ago.  I am not saying that we abandon the styles and valuable work contributed by those before us, I am saying that we need to consciously strive to build upon it, and stray away from previously used parameters while creating works for today’s culture.  As marketing & brand leader Gary Vaynerchuk preaches:  “Stop marketing like it’s 2008!”  And I would say the same for making art.  Stop creating art like it’s 2003!  Or 1975, or 1940 for that matter.  

Historically, there have been creative movements that have a built-in culture of innovation.  The development of jazz improvisation and composition has consciously pushed its artists to push themselves, innovate, and search for the newest sound and approach to creating music.  The result was an explosion of American art, culture, and redefined values which still serve as the root of American pop music and has since had a worldwide impact.  Similarly, the tech and start-up culture has a innovative ethos that fuel a breakneck pace of innovation, healthy competition, and invention that re-shapes our lives from top to bottom.   We are attracted to the fruits of these cultures’ innovations, because they created such amazing things.  The true model for us should be the inspired attitudes, culture, and group thinking that allowed these innovations to unfold.  

Maybe you’ll argue against a focus on innovation by asking:  Isn’t personal self expression the essence of art?  Shouldn’t art be whatever the artist wants, a manifestation of whatever he/she feels?  Yes, 100%. However, many of us view our artistic voice as something fixed, something static.   We adopt an attitude of ‘this is my given skill set,’ or ‘this is what I do.’  The tools you use to express your artistic vision can be hacked, substituted for other tools, molded, and improved upon. If we seek more than self expression (things like income, recognition, trailblazing, utility) and if we seek to be truly current, we may need to expand our view of what we do and how our creations can be used in the world today. How do we do this?  Enter adaptation.  

Adaptation

I consistently ask myself:  What are the most useful ways to spend my time?  What are the most relevant things I can create?   

I have slowly come to the conclusion that for me personally, it is bigger than just music.  I have been an NYC music producer, recording engineer, & musician for the past decade and I have slowly discovered that my truest artistic voice will pull from more than solely the music realm.  But am I less of an artist because of this?  No, I actually feel a more complete artist.  I have made moves to combine the music I create with the lifestyle ideas I learn about and want to share.  This blog is a direct result of that fusion. In the next year, I will begin fusing my passion for playing and studying soccer into this mix as well. Doing so calls upon my greatest skills and musings as an artist, I am choosing to blend together my seemingly separate interests into one path.  The world is growing more connected, so why not connect what’s in your life?   

We tend to box ourselves in by the labels we give ourselves, and this can limit the magnitude of our creations and retard the gifts we're capable of providing to the world. We say to ourselves "I'm an acoustic songwriter" or "I'm a painter" or "I'm not good with technology" and we put a lid on the broader interests, possibilities, curiosities, and creations that may be swiveling around inside of us, waiting for us to give them their proper shape. The world is shifting towards free-lance, self ascribed work and it needs people to create work that is fair, sustainable, and beneficial to people. The artist deals with the frontier of 'the new' day in and day out. To create art, you are pushed up against the cliff of what is new to you, what is indescribable, what scares you, and sometimes something entirely undiscovered. We should apply this boldness beyond our self-prescribed 'field.' 

What if the most useful version of your art is not a standalone personal expression, but a gateway to something greater and more universal?  What if the songs you create are no longer the main event, but instead they are gateway to get people interested in a bigger, more pressing issue in the world?  What if your chosen artistic expression can be used to usher in something that has a greater impact than the art could do so by itself?  What if that is exactly the direction art is headed in, or maybe it is already here?  Would you be on board with that?  Would you be willing to adapt?

Maybe artists need to do more, combine more mediums, and spread their wings further.  The arts have always been very hard.  I don’t believe that it is more difficult now than it used to be. The arts (and everything for that matter) are certainly always changing, and this has always been the case.  Some people claim that the arts have gotten more difficult, but this may only seem so when our approach is outdated.  Yes, it will seem to be more difficult if you do things today the way things were done 10 years ago.  The traction may not be same.  This would create the illusion of things having gotten harder. Things have changed, and we must change as well.  

Good art serves a spiritual role in people’s lives - it provides connection, community, honesty, inspiration, and leadership.  If we honor quality, and submit to the muse of creation, we are artists. Create….

Josh Giunta is an electro-groove music producer who writes about learning, the creative process, the relation of art & science, and more.

Image credit:  Sanchin Sandhu