Blog posts

• 

  Dec 15 2008, 10:40 AM

  Life Is But a Series of Naps

  

   

  
  We've been in Europe for less than 36 hours and have already performed on three major television shows in two different countries. As unforgiving as this week's schedule may be, performing last night with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, was by far the highlight of the season. Here it is in case you missed it. Thanks to a healthy application of powder and a borrowed shirt, you wouldn't know how sleepy I was. Unfortunately, I missed the rest of the show because I went to bed thanks to our 5am call for a flight to Paris where again we'd perform fresh from the plane. As much as I would sometimes love to hang out and immerse myself in the shmooze, I choose to keep my immunity boosted, committed to the snooze. After all, Life is but a dream.
  
  Here's a picture of the band only minutes before taking the stage. Yes, Toca is really sleeping. Snoring in fact. The other guys aren't my usual touring band. But they are special indeed. From left to right they are, Kristoffer Sonne – drummer from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Mags Furuholmen – Visual Artist and member of A-Ha, Toca Rivera of gnome-toting fame, Martin Terefe – International Album Producer & Man of Science, et Moi.
  
  This picture dates back to February at the Byron Bay Music festival in Australia. I've commented on it before due to the comedy in reading "Awakening to your Life's Purpose."
  
  Here I am resting on my Laurels.
  
  And here.
  
  Letting someone else drive or fly is always the best option in getting some quality shut-eye.
  
  
  
  He rests his case. I rest mine.
• 

  Nov 24 2008, 10:29 AM

  Gratitude is Good For Your Health

  Finally, some research reports coming in on the power of Saying Thank You. This is from today's pages of USA Today.
  
  Stepping up the gratitude
  Giving thanks year-round can make you healthier
  Your Health By Kim Painter
  
  Thursday, in between the cheese ball appetizers and the pumpkin pie desserts, most of us will indulge in something proven to have powerful health benefits.
  
  No, it's not that extra serving of stuffing. It's the expression of gratitude — the simple act of thanking God, thanking others or just counting your blessings. Saying thanks, it turns out, isn't just pious or polite. It's good for you.
  
  But there's a catch: You have to do it even when the calendar does not say "Thanksgiving."
  
  "It doesn't really work if you do it only once a year," says Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside.
  
  Practicing gratitude is like exercising, says Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California-Davis: Use it, and you won't lose it, even when times are tough, as they are for many folks right now.
  
  Lyubomirsky and Emmons are among researchers who have studied the power of gratitude and learned, for example, that:
  
  •People with high blood pressure not only lower their blood pressure, but they feel less hostile and are more likely to quit smoking and lose weight when they practice gratitude. This was demonstrated by calling a research hotline once a week to report on the things that make them grateful.
  
  •People who care for relatives with Alzheimer's disease feel less stress and depression when they keep daily gratitude journals, listing the positive things in their lives.
  
  •Those who maintain a thankful attitude through life appear to have lower risks of several disorders, including depression, phobias, bulimia and alcoholism.
  
  •Most people can lift their mood simply by writing a letter of thanks to someone. Hand-deliver the letter, and the boost in happiness can last weeks or months.
  
  Practicing gratitude in these systematic ways changes people by changing brains that "are wired for negativity, for noticing gaps and omissions," Emmons says. "When you express a feeling, you amplify it. When you express anger, you get angrier; when you express gratitude, you become more grateful."
  
  And grateful people, he says, don't focus so much on pain and problems. They also are quicker to realize they have friends, families and communities to assist them in times of need. They see how they can help others in distress as well, he says.
  
  After 9/11, many people reported increased feelings of gratitude, says Chris Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
  
  It's too soon for studies on the influence of the nation's financial meltdown, but Peterson says he hears a lot of people counting their blessing these days. "There are people who say 'It could be worse, and I'm glad I have my health.' "
  
  Gratitude won't get those people new jobs or replenish their retirement accounts, but it could give them the energy to tackle their challenges, Peterson says:
  
  "It can only help."
  
  Page 6D
• 

  Nov 11 2008, 03:41 PM

  Out of Range

   

  
  Everyday I wake up and my voice is gone. It's a weary thought to wear each day. My job is to cultivate new energy constantly in order to be present for your handshake or your hug or your camera's lens or your generous listening. Each day I give my all with great humility and devotion, just a servant to so many songs.
  
  Some days the energy falls short and the vocals drift out of range leaving my vacant human shape to whistle as the wind of a quiet audience passes through me. I liken it to the weight of a broken heart.
  
  I didn't choose to be this. And it is neither I who finds the words. Not even these. I'm nothing more than two hands being gazed upon by a pair of lens corrected eyes and it appears I'm just taking notes.
  
  I'm not the person you want to meet. The music is. And the music is alive in you as much as it is in me. We created it together. Therefore, you already know me. We've already hugged and kissed. We grew close for a moment and then said our goodbyes.
  
  It took my breath away.
  
  The clouds of potential thought are heavy today. It feels like rain. I fear what would happen if I identified too strongly with one of those clouds. To do so would be to let my mind stop me from having a good time. And so, I take cover under the umbrella of the Tao Te Ching.
  
  Truly:
  Being and non-being are born of each other,
  Difficulty and ease form one another,
  Long and short mutually define,
  High and Low to each other incline,
  Tone and voice as one align,
  Front and back each other bind.
  
  -Lao Tzu, translated by Patrick Byrne
  
  It takes a crane to build a crane.
  Thanks for building me.
  
  -jason
  Seattle
• 

  Nov 05 2008, 09:06 AM

  Californians: Vote NO on Prop 8

   

  
  Please don't take away our right to choose how we celebrate our love for another. Prop 8 will ban same-sex marriage, actually reversing the current state constitution. Please Vote No on proposition 8 today and show your support for Marriage Equality. THERE IS NO HARM IN IT, Not to children, Not to the elderly, and certainly not to your taxes. There is only love.
  
  And besides that, do it for me, for having to create an advertisement on Ian's underwear last week.
  
  Thank you. Go OBAMA.

   

   
• 

  Oct 27 2008, 10:41 AM

  Dear Computer,

  I'm sorry for the way I've been neglecting you. I've been a shitty parent. Not only have I NOT been feeding you my words and business, but I've been starving you of energy as well, and I know how much you love that sweet electrifying juice from the wall socket. I've been a deadbeat dad and I aim to make it up to you.
  
  I have written a similar note of apology to your brother, the cell-phone. I'm surprised he didn't suffocate, lost at the bottom of my bag, smothered under some trail-mix droppings, thirsty for air.
  
  Please don't be jealous of the camera as you can sense we've been spending more time together. I'm not playing favorites. In fact, I couldn't edit & share our images without you. Here, take a look at some of this unlikely stuff shot in Airports, where I've been spending loads of time.

  
  Yes, it's airport taxidermy.

  
  How about two words that you should never see together?

  
  
  Soul Searching and Self-Help can lead to locating your lost luggage.

  
  
  This Image inspired a poem by Smooth E, aka Eric Schwartz.
  I sit when i pee.
  I pee when i Sit.
  I sit when i pee.
  But i stand when i...

  ...Shave.
  
  And here is the reason for the annoying security level to forever be at Orange.

  
  
  So, Computer my dear, thank you for hanging in there thru all the x-ray machines and cavity searches. We'll do an update and back-up real soon. I promise.
  
  P.S. I've decided I want those sneakers that have those hidden wheels in the bottom so I can skate around the airport like a child, in case you're wondering what to get me for Christmas.
  
  Love,
  Jason
  -Denver, Colorado
• 

  Oct 08 2008, 09:41 AM

  Details in the Photo

  Having been traveling non-stop since February, all but 5 weeks outside of the US, I find culture shock hits me hardest upon returning. Of course, arriving in Scranton, PA feels like another European village, at least with it's 100-year-old buildings and broken streets, all accessible by foot.
  
  Scranton has been gracious to let us crash here for three days in one of the most beautiful theaters in the country to troubleshoot our gadgets and gizmos and hope to get our music in sync with the video screens we're bringing along to heighten the experience for those with last row tickets.
  
  With this new video gadgetry, we invite you to share images from your community, with us, and with others in your very own neighborhood. We are doing our best to select some interesting content to display onstage during certain songs, thus, creating an environment created by you. (Yes, this content will change nightly! Learn more about "Details in the Photo" at the bottom of this blog.)
  
  In other, more important news: "Amazon Tribe – Songs for Survival" is an album of new music inspired by Bruce Parry and his missions around the globe to learn how indigenous peoples are being affected by the choices we make in our western world. Proceeds go to Survival International, an organization that fights for the legal rights of these humble citizens of our scared earth. I had the enormous pleasure of working with two of my most righteous heroes on this, Bruce Parry and Brett Dennen. Check out this behind the scenes video and get the 2-disc album full of amazing songs by a multitude of world-class artists.

  
  
  
  Details in the Photo/Concert Photography Participation:
  You may submit your images and ideas here. Just upload it to the show that you or your friends will be attending. (Promise of use is not guaranteed.)
  
  Or enjoy the opportunity to upload images from inside the theater by emailing the content from your phone. Yes, even during the show. This stuff works quickly. (Standard text messaging charges will apply.)
  
  You will also be able to attach a text to the image because the giant pictures on-stage will appear to look like Polaroids with room for scribbles underneath.
  
  Instructions on how to do this will be posted throughout the theatre, or check here.
  
  Note: Keep the text short and from the heart, otherwise yours will not be selected. The goal is not to take away from the show, but to enhance it with the uniqueness of you and your locale. And because I will be facing you from the stage, I won't be able to turn-around and read song requests. So maybe tell us who you are or where you took the picture, or post your favorite inspirational quote and uplift everyone in the theatre via the comfort of your seat. Unused pictures will still be shared on our website designed to showcase the beauty of one's own community.
  
  Here are some pictures I took recently. Start snapping and sending!
  
  
  
  

   
• 

  Oct 02 2008, 05:12 PM

  a change IS going to come

  Last year Bob Dylan compiled a song list for Starbucks' Artist Choice Series. In addition to offering up a keen selection of country, blues, and jazz, he also supplied notes and commentary as to why he held the songs in such regard. BUT, the best part was the forward.
  
  He wrote, "When I was asked to put together this collection of songs, I wasn't sure what to do. So I just grabbed a bunch of things I was into recently. Some people have favorite songs, but I've got songs of the minute -- songs that I'm listening to right now. And if you ask me about one of those songs a year from now, I might not even remember who did it, but at the moment it's everything to me."
  
  I bring this up as today's lesson: Nothing is final. One day you're high. The next day you're low. You might have a funky, expressive, or awful haircut today, but soon it will grow into something else, something new and random. Maybe you grew up liking pop music and boy bands, but now you like a specific mash up of Electronic & Classical. You might decide you don't want to smoke cigarettes anymore; that it's just not who you are. Maybe you were a staunch republican but now have curiosities about the well-spoken and well-organized Democratic Nominee. Perhaps you were madly in love last week, but woke up today feeling comfort in solitude, without a desire to be held.
  
  Everything is fine. Not finAL.
  
  We tend to instantly identify with "things." And we believe in so much, when in fact, a belief isn't known to be true. It's a hope for the truth. We hold grudges because of what someone said when we were young. We store hurtful words and replay them in our minds until we think it to be true. And some of us believe a TV commercial and think we need a faster computer, a smarter phone, a stronger pill, a more relaxed-fit jean, etc. We think that certain things, thoughts, or actions make us who we are and sometimes we become addicted to those thoughts or behaviors and then become too afraid to let them go.
  
  I write and post a lot therefore many people assume I have every self-published word memorized or that I live these shared thoughts constantly. This is not the case. My brain doesn't reference myself very well actually, and I'm sure I contradict myself every other day in one way or another. One day I feel like I have all the wisdom of the world and the next day my soul wears thin and I stutter just ordering ice cream.
  
  And everything is fine.
  
  Because I trust in the ever-changing climate of the heart. (At least, today I feel that way.) I think it is necessary to have many experiences for the sake of feeling something; for the sake of being challenged, and for the sake of being expressive, to offer something to someone else, to learn what we are capable of. These meanderings, rants, and blogs for instance, provide a great deal of comfort just sharing it, even though i put a part of myself on the line to be criticized or considered an ass.
  Oh well, Courage is triumph of the soul is guess. and an Ass can still be of great service.
  
  So Remember, You have the right to change your mind.
  
  About anything.
  
  Anytime.
  
  This is not the ending.
  
  P.S. – No doesn't mean forever. It simply means, "Not right now."
  
  And on the topic of Not right now, whatever happened to you in the past is not happening now.
  
  You will be safe behind your honest decisions and mood swings.
  
  I promise.
  -mraz
  Berlin
• 

  Sep 30 2008, 08:59 AM

  in case of day off, break glass

   

   

  My hotel room is sealed tight like an airplane cabin. Beyond the glass a huge medieval church spires into the heavens leaving it's crumbly structure to cast a void and dreary shadow over the snaking river city of Cologne. The water current flows heavily one way while lengthy barges haul an ironic combination of new and old garbage the other. The new being needed supplies, the latter being stuff we already spent our money on.
  
  Since I checked in 5 hours ago, there has been an endless train of trains crossing the bridge. And there is always someone on a bike making the journey from one side to the other, as there are plenty of cars, almost as many as there are sea birds congregating over the passing ships.
  
  There are a fair amount of high rises and cranes indicating new heights to come, and with this bustling city portrait must come its share of noises. But I can't hear any of it. Only my thoughts and a dull hum from a fan locked somewhere in the ceiling.
  
  I don't feel the vibrating roar of the trains. I don't hear the splash of the Rhine against the boat traffic. I don't hear the patrons of the beer gardens singing thru their laughter. There's no buzz of city lights, white noise, or even a distant radio playing. I may as well be fading into a painting.
  
  I could go out and become a part of this living portrait. But it looks so cold. In here I am able to stretch and stand up straight, something the tour bus doesn't offer. Inside it is warm and I am prepared for rest already. My day clothes could easily be classified pajamas and I haven't the motivation to find something else to do. This is something to do, this practice in staring, wanting nothing to do. In solitude I find that being alone is to be with God.
  
  The tour often gets overtaken with repetition. As fascinating as Europe is, short conversations begin sound the same and only the delightful accent differs. And with repeat workdays it's easy to get into a habit of form and think less about the creativity at the root of every decision we make. Sometimes, rather than try to make a home in a new community for a few short hours, I just keep busy cultivating new words and energies, satisfied by the big fat ambitious picture. One that is fueled by passion, is sacred and abundant, and doesn't deny any of the truths, like the weight of common sadness.
  
  The big picture is alive and well and it relaxes where it has for more than seven hundred years.
• 

  Sep 30 2008, 08:58 AM

  A Royal Morning After

   

  
  09.24.08
  
  Something happened during the final bow of the performance last night. The lengthy pose toward my floating feet sent a clean rush of blood to my face, stimulating the nerve endings in the scalp and flushed cheeks, thus activating the tear glands. By the time I stood upright there were wells of water about to breach the levees of my eyelids. I had good reason to be emotional. I had owned the silence in the illustrious Royal Albert Hall in London, a feat any lifer behind a microphone would consider a proud occasion, even if only for a few seconds.
  
  Did this really happen? I asked my Self this question while doubled over in repose, calmly dodging the rounds of applause. It does happen. It did. And then came the realization standing up, "It is happening."
  
  In that moment the brain fought to figure out what next; sort of a fear mechanism designed by, "how am I gonna top this?" Ultimately gratitude seized the experience and won the battle inside and that moment became exactly what it was. A proud moment shared with the 3500 in attendance. The result of a day lived wholy and a song sung truthfully.
  
  mraz-
  posted in Stockholm, a few days later...
• 

  Sep 19 2008, 02:50 PM

  Purple Blue & Black

  
  Is it possible for a child to dream an entire life's worth of experiences and then wake up educated, knowing songs, history, math rule, delicious recipes, etc? Perhaps that's how child prodigies acquire their skills, though it's nice to believe they brought those gifts over from their former lives.
  
  Some believe birthmarks are scars from previous lives. I have a gnarly purple, blue and black mark on my left leg just above the heel. I always referred to it as my Achilles heel, as if all of me but from where I was hung were dipped in protective divine syrup and my life blessed because of it. The purple marking, being the exact shade of my birth color, is there to remind me of the impermanence of life.
  
  Funny, I tried to have the birthmark removed last year. It required 41 stitches in three different layers of skin to banish the quarter sized blemish. It wasn't vanity. I was told by a doctor how Muppet creator Jim Henson had a similar skin discoloration and that one day it had become infected allowing viruses to poison his bloodstream resulting in his sudden and untimely death. I stopped worrying about this condition after my birthmark came back a few months later. I figure it's meant to be there. I now tell doctors and massage therapist who shriek at their findings, "It's the source of my power."
  
  
  Last night I dreamed an entire 9 hours of rest in only 3 hours. I dreamed the alarm went off and the tour manager was there looming over my bunk telling me I had 15 minutes until we had to go do another TV show. I twisted and turned in my coffin-like sleep chamber anticipating the rise while trying to crack my back. I was impressed with my ability to soundly sleep the lengthy drive from Switzerland to Italy. But then I peeked out of the window of the cocoon and was surprised to see it was still dark out; odd for what should be 10am. I checked my timepiece and found it to be just shy of 5am. Oh yea. It's Jetlag Friday! How foolish of me to forget.
  
  I took the rare AM opportunity by the nut-sack and got up regardless of the light. Two nights prior my Production manager, E.T. (like the alien, but actually looks more like Rod Stewart, who is also an alien) got me hooked on Smack. Kellogg's Honey Smacks that is. The box with the slap-happy frog on it. I felt like a mischievous kid on a Saturday morning in front of his cartoons, refilling the bowl until I had soaked up every last drop of the sugary fix. (Please don't tell my Raw Food Guru. Since then I have detoxified and spent hours on the treadmill kneading my love handles. Honest.)
  
  Ciao for now. Italia beckons.
  
  -mraz
  Milan