25 things I learned this year (in no particular order).
1. I had a whole thing written here about politics and how much it all drives me crazy but my wife told me that it wasn’t worth posting because it was too cynical. She’s probably right. So here is a simple statement: I am not a republican and I am not a democrat. I am not an independent. I am now a proud libertarian. Not a librarian…a libertarian. (insert laugh to lame joke here)
2. CCM is dead. A friend told me that at a christmas party last year. He also stated that the people making records in Nashville these days are the ones who really mean it. Great observation. I just wonder where we all go from here…probably down from the mountain.
3. If you hear a piece of music in your head, you can pull it out and get it down on tape for people to enjoy. It just takes work, diligence, time and money. But you can do it. No matter how many songs I write or however many records I work on… I always seem to forget how the process goes…how it feels. Fear chokes out all kinds of things and needs to be put in its place. Faith, hope…a melody with no words.
4. I am no longer named or validated by my music or my income or anything else for that matter. And as a result my music is truer and better than ever because I know who I am. The old lies are still everywhere though. Mostly inside my head and heart. But their days are numbered and the Solas are my oxygen.
5. Being a father has changed everything. I now want to leave the world a better place than how I found it. I want to guard and guide my son through the muck & mire of the culture and his own heart straight into the arms of his Creator.
6. Running is a great way to get rid of stress.
7. Caffeine isn’t good to me anymore. My body can’t take it like it used to but I can’t bring myself to do decaf. I’ll try to cut back this year. Baby steps…
8. Mediocrity is the order of the day. Shoot for excellence and you’ll surprise yourself and everyone else. Don’t settle for anything less than the best you can do. Push hard and have faith — you’ll get results.
9. Radiohead is still amazing. It’s encouraging to me that there are people making records right now that I know I will still love in ten years. Kiss the future.
10. There is a beauty and a harmony to the whole of scripture that regularly brought me to tears this year. I am sure it is the softening of my heart that has led to this. I’m thinking mostly of Genesis 15 and the overall sermon series we’ve been going through this summer/fall at City Church. Jesus is all over the Old Testament. It’s our story God is telling us.
11. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and others have steadily been replaced in my personal hall of heroes by people like Kevin Twit, David Filson, Tim Keller, Dan Allender, Francis Schaeffer, Martin Luther and Johnny Cash. Bono is still way up there though.
12. I still miss Rich Mullins. Participating in the “Remembering Rich” concert this year with Andrew Peterson, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn and Ben Shive was a highlight of the fall touring season for me. We got together at Andy & Jill’s house the night before to rehearse. We sat around their dining room table and played dozens of Mullins songs all singing through the lyrics together. It was a powerful reminder how much his music meant to all of us. A poignant moment I will not soon forget.
13. I love playing piano. And writing songs on the piano. I love it a lot. It felt great to branch out and write on a new instrument this year. Can’t wait to write the next record on my new baby grand!
14. Diet Coke actually tastes pretty good once you get used to it.
15. Beer still tastes great. Especially a good Hefeweizen.
16. Pipe tobacco tastes the best in the fall. The perfect time of year.
17. Driving through central Pennsylvania and the Laurel Highland Mountains in late September is like being inside a real live painting. Lots of exploding color. Another favorite memory from this fall.
18. I love indian food.
19. Hot dogs aren’t all that bad.
20. The cost of health insurance is a mess and needed to be addressed yesterday.
21. The price of gasoline is insane and needs to be addressed. If Steve Jobs can get 60,000 songs onto an iPod then we should be able to figure out how to get 60 miles out of a gallon of gas.
22. I bought my 1999 Subaru Forester in the year 2000. I got it used with 30,000 miles on it. Seven years later it has 218,000 miles on it and still runs great. I would buy another one without any hesitation.
23. I still work and do all my email & web stuff on my 2003 Powerbook G4 and I think that is awesome.
24. Pro Tools, Reason and Ableton Live — this is an exciting time to be making music.
25. The Lord provides. He gave me my wife & son, our family & friends and even a 107 year old farm house on a quiet piece of land in Middle Tennessee. We’re headed for the country which around here is just outside the city. Goodbye tall buildings and bus traffic, hello trees and tobacco fields…
December 21st, 2007 at 2:32 pm
thanks for sharing, jeremy. have a merry christmas with the ones you love!
December 21st, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Great post, Jeremy. I might try to steal this idea for my blog. I’m not sure I can pull it off as well as you did, but I might try.
December 21st, 2007 at 9:52 pm
thanks for those words… I can relate… I have two beautiful daughters, each one has changed my life for the better… On a different note is that a Taylor guitar in that picture?
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:46 am
If you hadn’t put it #1, I’d probably drop it … but I just can’t reconcile Libertarian ideals with a care and compassion for our fellow man. And if everyone becomes a libertarian, the social fabric of society falls apart as everyone fails to recognize that his or her place in the social order has value to others other than himself, and that self-reliance isn’t the end-game.
But that may just be me.
Merry Christmas to the Casellas, and may the Yazoo Hefeweizen flow like milk and honey in Canaan.
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Geof– I think you’ve misunderstood libertarianism. The internet isn’t really the place to discuss it, but at least be encouraged that the friends I’ve seen become libertarians in the past two years have had a renewal of their care and compassion for our fellow man. In a nutshell– it’s not so much about self-reliance as it is about reliance on each other rather than the government. Some libertarians are objectivists though, and your criticism applies well to them.
Jerry– does K love Indian food too? Also, put that Diet Coke down, my friend. Brain and tastebud rot.
December 29th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
What a great list; full of wisdom. I see Kierstin passed on her love of Indian food to another (she did to me) - good woman.
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Great post Jeremy. To add to the lame joke… I wonder how many librarians are libertarians?
February 28th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
“We’re headed for the country which around here is just outside the city. Goodbye tall buildings and bus traffic, hello trees and tobacco fields…”
Try some music by Hem (all discs can be sampled at Amazon.com), particularly No Word From Tom…