He sat in my office with his arms gesticulating over his head in a foggy blur telling me “You’ve got great ideas, but it’s this, and this and that going on all over the place. What you need to do is pull it all together.”
He has a point.
One of my biggest problems is focus. 
I get into something hard core, then leave it for a shiny new object. I have several blogs and video channels and have great starts on a lot of them, but they are wasting away like an extinct culture.
But training has me by the balls. It reminds me of drumming, and just like sports, I have always had a jones for drumming.
I used to bartend at a dank little live music club in Rockford, Illinois and I would ignore customers much of the time to watch drummers. It was vaguely creepy, but I just had to learn drums.
One night after my favorite band finished the drummer stood by the bar throwing away what looked to me like perfectly good drum sticks.*
I’m like, “Dude, what are you doing?”
“Ahh, these things are fraying all over the place.”
I said I would take them and another shitty drummer was born.
I lived across the street from the club above a t-shirt company that I owned at the time and went home that night, grabbed four card board boxes, and set up a “drum set” in my living room using lamp shades as cymbals. While it might strike you as strange, I actually got bored with hitting boxes so I started lugging the entire club drum kit back to the print shop on nights when we didn’t have open stage.
I played those drums all night long. Me, locked alone in an dark storage area, lost in my beats, and pissing off my only neighbor, but he was rather demure and had several issues he didn’t want his landlord to know about.
I was obsessed and drove local drummers crazy with my questions.
What’s your favorite drill? How do you make that sound? How do I clean cymbals? Should I use a metronome or play to music? How do I hold these sticks? Who’s your favorite drummer? Do you get a lot of women?
One night, I asked a drummer, if the shoes he was wearing were good drumming shoes. He kinda gave me a look, then peered down at his loafers and said, “They are tonight.”
With that lesson in the can, I am doing my best to refrain from too many questions because it seems like people who are good at things (and do them often) don’t like to talk about them in social settings. Too bad runners! I have some fucking questions!
But, that’s for another blog.
My point is, I have the same passion for triathlon training as I did for drumming and it makes sense. I’m an athlete to the core and for years he has been buried under a quest for irony.
Recently after seeing a post-triathlon picture of me smiling like a little kid, a friend of mine told me “You seem much happier as an athlete. The lean without the mean.”
He has a point, too.
Like my co-worker said, I need to weave it all together. I have been into so many things and have so many interests that I need to design it all into a lifestyle. What fires me up more than anything is, I can see how training will be the catalyst that brings the diversity together. It is slowly stripping irrelevant thought and letting me focus on the prize.
* It’s worthy of note that this drummer has also recently gotten into running and is kicking ass. This weekend’s Chicago Marathon will be his first and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he qualifies for Boston.
“With that lesson in the can, I am doing my best to refrain from too many questions because it seems like people who are good at things (and do them often) don’t like to talk about them in social settings. Too bad runners! I have some fucking questions!”
I don’t know, all triathletes and runners I have ran into want to tell you all about their programs and gear ad infinitum. I don’t think asking questions will be too much. I believe it never hurts to ask.
That’s true, Chatter. Triathletes are definitely more forthcoming than drummers! Ha… and I think I’m asking better questions now.
I began talking to a gentleman at my gym in the hot tub and we got to discussing triathlons. I mentioned I am training to do one next year and he offered me his bike to use! Carbon fiber bike, the one he uses for the 70.3’s and full iron mans he has done and if needed a wet suit. I was floored.
Looks like I need to spend more time in the hot tub!
It really is hard to balance being an athlete with anything in the arts (my experience, anyway). They both take a lot of time and commitment. But I find playing the piano and painting a nice and relaxing counterpoint to training and sports. It’s more of a juggle than a balance, but important (to me) to practice (literally) both. Hope you’re out there right now crushing it at the marathon.
Thanks for checking out my recent post! This was a fun post for me to read as my husband teaches drums and he runs too… You sound like a perfect candidate for a couple of drum lessons from a really good teacher. Namaste!
You’re welcome. Love your posts. My drumming is beyond repair, but I’m paying close attention to your insights on yoga 🙂
🙂
Ha! Love it. I too suffer from compulsiveness. I spent my entire youth perfecting my jump shot. I had this game I would play where I had to make at least 20 out of 25 free throws or better before I could go in for the night. Some times I would be out there all night in the driveway cursing, screaming, carrying on like a crazy person. Then one day, I decided I hated basketball. I put it all away and focused on something even more arbitrary; engineering! It’s my career now, but I can’t stand it. If I could I’d quit and focused on my new obsession; writing. I guess I’m what you’d call a pure addict…a creature of habit. I’ve been addicted to all sorts of crazy things, including alcohol, which is not that crazy. It’s actually pretty common. Thankfully, I put it away. That one nearly killed me. It costs me 6 good years of my life. Of course, now I’m addicted to coffee. Damn. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by my blog, PORTRAITS OF ADDICTION.
I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts. Let’s keep in touch.
-Andrew Seaward
[email protected]
http://portraitsofaddiction.com
It reminds me of that sports saying, “You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them” … in our case, addictions or compulsions. Thanks for replying. I dig your writing man. I think you should take the plunge and see what happens. There will always be a need for engineers and they will surely let you back in at some later date. Good luck, bro!