Mitchy by Nature

Hey everyone!

I will be releasing some new music Sept 5th. It will be a four-song EP called Sugar Man. The song I play in this podcast, Everything's Fine, will be on it. Here are the lyrics:

VERSE:

I won't forget 
The time we spent 
Till it begins again
Mother nature won
In the longest run
The one that never ends

CHORUS:

Late spring snow
Blew through on my way back
Caught between seasons
I realized
Everything goes
Everything's pieces
Everything's weightless
Everything's fine
I want you to know
You're part of my soul
Let your love go
See where it flows
Late spring snow
Blew through on my way back
Caught between seasons
Everything is fine

Here is the link for the pre-save.

In this podcast episode, I try to explain the utility of allowing our thoughts to pass by. Our emotions are merely reactions to stimuli, and are not well understood. I would even say they are not to be trusted (but merely non-judgementally experienced). Only meditation and mindfulness practices can give us the perspective we need to see them for what they are. 

I then accidentally stumble on an easy strategy for all content-generators to avoid deep fakes of themselves - by making music while they do their podcast. Randomly playing an instrument will limit the AI's ability to copy your patterns. If you can't make music, just carry a rattle or something, or just try to be as unpredictable as possible. 

Hope you're well!
Sending love and light,
Mitch

Meditation is not something to do once everything else is figured out; it is what figures everything out.

 As author Ivan Antic wrote, "In meditation we should always adjust ourselves to it, not adjust meditation to us." (Meditation: First and Last Step; pg. 276)

The world's going to appear increasingly more aggressive, scary, and disorganized UNLESS you start meditating. 

So start now. 

In this episode I perform one of my unreleased songs, Gates. I talk about the creative process, and how accidents drive it (for me), as well as think out loud about the utility of meditation as a means for self-creation.

Remember: Thoughts aren't real!

Much love and light!
Mitch

In this episode, I wax philosophic (or just whine) about the creative process, identification with art, and how I started out as a guitarist. I perform all three songs from my latest EP, Holier than Water, which is available wherever you stream music.

Here is my IG link, in case you want to follow my "work".

Much love to you,
Mitch

" ...breathing is an automatic, natural process. With its awareness, we realize that it is not our process; we cannot stop it, we realize that we are not breathing, but that nature breathes in the shape of 'our' body, and that there is nothing that is ours...The insight that shows that no breath is ours is the beginning of all wisdom."

Ivan Antic, Meditation, pg. 154

In this episode I briefly touch on my experiences doing breath work, which has had a profound effect on my mental and physical health. Breathing consciously - especially while doing yoga - feels a lot like creating space within my body, making me feel lighter, more flexible, and (ironically) more grounded. Furthemore, once you realize what Ivan is speaking about in the above quote - which is not an idea or concept, but must be physically experienced in order to be understood - the world becomes a whole lot more light, flexible, and grounded as well. Coincidence? I dare you to find out. 

In this episode, I perform one of my newest songs, Holier than Water, as well as do a deep-dive into the creative process. I try to unpack what it feels like to write and share music, and explain how different the craft of songwriting is to something more real, like stone masonry (which I do as a profession). I find making music to be frustrating and confusing, which is a stark contrast to how I feel about masonry. Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two. I don't know. But in this episode I try to figure out what the f*ck I'm talking about. 

Here are the lyrics to Holier than Water:

Well spring
Within my heartbeat 
You helped my find inside what I've been looking for
Out there 
The world doesn't seem to care
If I'm afraid, lost hope, overheating, or just cold
Don't, no don't, let go
Don't, no don't, lose hope

Just hold on tight 
Your heart's in my hand
Your heart's in my soul
Your heart's in my mind
I'll never let go
But if you should fall
I'll hit the bottom first just to soften it all
You're everything that's worth it
Holier than water
All you do is help me grow

Just hold on tight 
Your heart's in my hand
Your heart's in my soul
Your heart's in my mind
I'll never let go
But if you should fall
I'll hit the bottom first just to soften it all
You're everything that's worth it
Holier than water
All you do is help me grow

The song will be available everywhere you stream music, June 17th
The pre-save link is here

In this episode I perform a new original song called Old Town. It's part of a three-song acoustic EP called Holier than Water, which will be available everywhere June 17th. You can pre-save the songs here

The song is about the power of addiction to ruin meaningful relationships. I think it is very important to talk openly and vulnerably about our struggles with addictive behaviour. Doing so often builds relationships, and even communities. 

Here are the lyrics to the song:

As the pain eats the old side of town
I hold relief and push the plunger down;
Red door swinging open, ecstasy
A lifetime fleeing moments I can't be in

You remind me of a girl I once loved,
She tried to fill the hole in my arm;
Chasing what she pumped through my blood
Is all that I can do with my heart
You remind me of a girl
You remind me of a girl

I wish I could forget
Just how good it feels to give in;
I wish I could recall
The taste of broken glass, blood, and where you are

You remind me of a girl I once loved,
She tried to fill the hole in my arm;
Chasing what she pumped through my blood
Is all that I can do with my heart
You remind me of a girl
You remind me of a girl
You remind me of a girl
You remind me of that girl

Thank you for listening! Feel free to connect with me over IG. I love meeting new people and having meaningful conversations about life, love, art, or whatever you're interested in. 

All the best!
Mitch

Like the dentist, boredom is painful, but only because we don't want it. 

Boredom is one of the more gruelling experiences we can have. I've been bored; I didn't enjoy it. But therein lies the issue, the 'question begged' - who am I? 

We refer to ourselves as "I" a lot. But what makes me me? Is it my likes and dislikes? So, when I am bored (and rejecting the experience), my identity is threatened? I do not want to be bored, mostly because I have better things to be doing. I'm a busy guy, after all. Needs to get the sh*t done!

Repeating something over and over doesn't make it true. 

If we don't know who we are - or, worse still, we believe we are something that we are not - we tend to feel pain. That's because the limited-scope narrative that we call our identity is under too much pressure. Like water squirting mercilessly out of a rip in the side of a hose, when we identify with limited and contrived ideas, we don't allow ourselves to flow. We look for every opportunity to assert ourselves through an escape.

I challenge you to do the opposite of what you want to do. Just try it and see what happens. If you don't like what is happening, just know you're on the right path.

Peace and love!
Mitch

Karma is a sanskrit word that means, amongst other definitions," work". It is essentially the culmination of the work we have done, are doing, and still need to do. The karmic cycle of rebirth, one of the facets of Hindu spirituality, tries to articulate why it is important to allow things to pass. Because, if we do not - if we cling to our work - we cannot get to the next stage of development, and so are reborn in a body. 

Now, is development even a thing? Is evolution real? I don't know. We ought to be mindful of the things we take for granted.

With that said, it does seem to be the case that breaking bad habits, and replacing them with good habits, improves the quality of our lives. A healthy person should (theoretically) be happier than an unhealthy person (is this true? Almost certainly not, if taken in a a general sense. But you know you feel better when you're not in ill health, so that's worth considering). Karma, then, is not about reincarnation. It's about being in this body right here right now.

As far as I can tell, the true value within spirituality and spiritual practice is in energy usage. Living a life that is deeply spiritual is the same as living off a healthy diet and exercise - you just feel more energized, more alive, happier, brighter, more patient, and, most importantly,  open to life.

It has very little to do with our concept of god or heaven or hell etc. It's more about feeling good in the moment.

Or maybe not. What do you think?

Peace and love!
Om shanti shanti shantiiiiiiii

Mitch

Meditation creates space.

Space is, in my opinion, the most misunderstood of all phenomena. Probably because it's hard to qualify. What is "space"? But perhaps that's the wrong question.

Space isn't anything in-and-of-itself. It is what - or where? - things happen. We so quickly, if not entirely unconsciously, react to our thoughts, believing them without hesitation or evaluation, that we never actually experience space. We are so eager to be something that we make little room for anything to become anything.

Spiritual wellbeing exercises, like qigong , meditation, and yoga, create space, often by merely drawing our attention to our breathing habits (which is, shockingly, enough). When we "empty our minds", we aren't literally pouring our pureed brains out of our ears. We are metaphorically resisting the relentless temptation to believe the unreal (our repeated thought-patterns), and wait, holding the empty space, to see what is really there. It's only after you've exhaled that you can take another breath.

We need to empty our lungs if we want to continue living.

You need to empty your mind if you're going to find our who you are.

- The book I mentioned is Kenneth S. Cohen's, The Way of Qigong
- Greg Holden is a singersongwriter based out of the UK
- As far as I know, my buddy Jody runs at least two open-mics in Toronto; here's his Instagram
- Here is Anto's Instagram. He's a wonderful poet, and an even better person.