discipline : The Art of Non-Conformity

Life

On Destiny, Influence, and the Impossibility of Being Self-Taught

Back when I played music I used to say I was self-taught, because I never went to music school or took lessons. But then someone corrected me: “Really, you taught yourself everything?” he said.

“You never listened to other people's music?" he continued. "No one ever showed you something? You never asked for help? You didn't steal your early ideas from other musicians, like all musicians do?”

I got the point: I may have lacked formal education, but I benefited from those who had gone before. One way or another, I had learned from my peers. And after that experience, I stopped saying I was self-taught.

Notes from a Cold Bathroom Floor in South Africa

Tomorrow I'll be headed to Madagascar, the final stop of my latest trip before I begin the long process of returning home. But at the moment, I've been spending the past three hours sitting on the floor of the bathroom during a brief stopover in Johannesburg. Why the bathroom? Because it's freezing here in Johannesburg—we're now in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter—and the only heater in my room is located by the sink.

Rain Running

Every Sunday morning that I'm in town, I head out for a long run. Two weekends ago at the waterfront, the weather was glorious. The whole city of Portland took up jogging or cycling. Last weekend at the waterfront, the weather was more to our usual end-of-Spring form ... rainy and gloomy. The whole city of Portland stayed indoors. On the sunny day, joggers and cyclists smiled at each other with a mutual appreciation of our good fortune. The implied message was, “It's good to be alive!”