Don’t just Dream it. Be it!

We create many distractions in our world that stop us from being who we’ve always wanted to be. We create these distractions because of fear. Fear of failure. If we never pursue our dreams, does that mean that we’ve never actually failed? I think in some warped way that is true… or that is what we convince ourselves is true. (Read my blog on F.E.A.R.)

The only way for me to give an example is through my own actions, because I know and have come to terms with that warped way of thinking.

Pursuing your dreams is scary. It’s petrifying. It’s a sure-fire way of getting people to tell you that you’re wrong, that you’ve made a huge mistake. If you never pursue your dreams you’ll be part of the ‘norm’, part of the percentage of people in this world that remain anonymous. When I say ‘anonymous’ I don’t insist that your dream needs to be like mine where you are on a stage, but on a metaphorical stage… where people are looking at you… whatever that dream may be. We all have different dreams, and all of them should be pursued… at all costs.

I was very fortunate in my youth to have mentors around me that got me out of my shell… and yet, even with these mentors I would still recede back into the norm. All because of fear. When I was young I wanted to be in musical theater. I loved every bit of it. I loved the androgyny of acting. There, in the theater there were no racial or equality differences. Everybody was equal and the only thing that separated us as individuals was our expression. And the more you expressed yourself, the more your own light shined. It was an addictive role to play. I miss that. I wish that the world was like theater. Theater went to the wayside from distractions; two marriages, the Marines and my ‘career’ as a Graphic Designer. I had settled for the ‘norm’.

I’ve been pursuing music full-time since my sister passed away (It’s hard to believe that it has almost been seven years). These past seven years have been very difficult and at the same time very fulfilling. The highs have been very high and the lows have been very low, but let me clarify… the lows were few and far between and short-lived. When you are doing what you love and feel that this is your life’s purpose, there are few out there to support you. Very few.

Seven years ago you wouldn’t have known who David Reed Watson was. Even though that is my real name (it’s on my birth certificate), seven years ago I was just Dave Watson. I was Dave Watson the Graphic Designer who sang in bands here and there. During the last seven years there have been many distractions. There has been a lot of tension with family and society about what I should do as a responsible citizen, but I just put the blinders on and keep reminding myself why I’m doing this.

I’m doing this because this is what my soul requires. Even though being a musician is not the most lucrative of occupations, it is the most fulfilling to me. When I was in the design world I didn’t really think about money, other than what bicycle I wanted to buy next, or what snowboard, car, guitar, etc. But my soul was aching for something that was missing, it knew I was just biding my time until that spark turned into a flame. My sister was the catalyst, yes, but my soul was always hinting here and there to me to just say, “Fuck it. Just do it already!”

Keeping those distractions at bay is hard. Hands down, take it from me… moving forward sometimes is very difficult and more than once I’ve wanted to throw in the towel. There are days that I sit here not knowing what the fuck is going to happen next, and yet, again… I put on the blinders. I’ve trained myself to look for those ‘hints’ that are talking directly to me, gentle reminders that I’m on the right path. Tonight was one of those nights. Taylor and I sat and watched the newest version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. At the end was that gentle reminder….

Don’t just dream it. Be it!

Again, the theater bringing me back home. Telling me I’m ok. Reminding me of what I already know. I often tell people I’m a Human ‘Be’ing, not a Human ‘Do’ing. Through the many seminars, coaching’s and spiritual beings in my life that ‘do’ing something will get you nowhere unless you are actually ‘be’ing a part of what you are doing. I know that I’m good at Graphic Design, but I was always just ‘do’ing it. Like a machine on autopilot. I know the difference… and as a musician I am ‘be’ing a musician.

So what distractions do you put around you to stop that voice in your head? Do you find yourself playing mindless games or creating drama around you to avoid what you’re actually here for? Do those voices in your head tell you that you suck? That you’re just not good enough to do what it is that you want to really do? Do the people around you tell you to go to college to become really good at it but then you tell yourself that it’s an impossible dream because you can’t afford it? Do you ever listen to the voices that are pushing you to do what you love? Why not? What are you afraid of?

What if I told you that you can do whatever you want to do?

How? Surround yourself with like-minded people. Let the ones that tell you that you can’t… let them go. They are only telling you that you can’t because they have failed themselves. People who fail and give up don’t want to see you succeed because that makes them feel bad about themselves. Gently let them go… but if you don’t feel you can let them go, encourage them to succeed. But by no means buy into their negativity otherwise you too will quit. Then you’ll end up like them, saying that you can’t do it. It’s impossible. So again, surround yourself with like-minded people. Find them if they aren’t already around you. Do the scary thing that I once did and change your label. You need to ‘be’ that person that you want to be… no amount of ‘do’ing will ever change your thought pattern.

When I decided that I was going to ‘be’ a musician I introduced myself as just that…

“Hi… I’m David Reed Watson.” “Hi David… what do you do David?” “I’m a Vocalist and a Reiki Master. How about yourself?”

Start doing this every time you introduce yourself to someone and eventually it will get easier and easier.

If you would like help, let me help guide you. We all need people to guide us. I have people who help me along my path as well and I’m always doing what I can to surround myself with like-minded people… the journey never ends. Let the power of Reiki heal those old thought patterns. Let me help you change the mantra from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’.

*This blog post and other blog’s by The Reiki Rocker can be read every month in Sin City Presents Magazine.

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I’ve been writing a lot lately for the next Kill Ritual album. Writing, absorbing, reflecting… there is a lot going on and a lot to write about.

The political climate at the moment is volatile. People are pissed off on all sides. The middle class is becoming extinct, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and we’ve got politicians who lie to our faces while they smile with their corporate endorsements. And yet, we, the progressively poor and unheard, living paycheck to paycheck, fight amongst ourselves. We’re playing right into their hands, just as they have planned. Do you really think they give a damn about any of us? All of you people who are standing for Trump, why? Those of you supporting Hillary, why? Ask yourself what they are really going to do for you.

I just finished watching a documentary called ‘13th‘. Watch it. Absorb it. Realize that the system we live in plays us all as fools. I am ashamed right now. I’m ashamed of the hate. I’m ashamed of the segregation, not just between races, but between the populous of the United States of America. So many fingers being pointed at each other instead of looking at our commonalities.

This Election is not about Trump and Clinton. This election is about how we’ve become so disillusioned with the real problem. The problem is us. We’ve created these leaders, they just didn’t pop up out of nowhere. We’ve let them rise from the dust as a reminder of who we are and unless we finally decide that enough is enough, then it will grow to the next level which I can’t even imagine in my wildest dreams of what that could be. I’ve watched friends turn away from each other, family disassociate themselves from one another, people blocking each other on facebook, friends deleted.

I’m all for diversity, and I love that we live in a Democracy, but I’ve been watching our rights get stripped from us left and right and still there are those out there that think we have too much freedom. Tell that to our ancestors who fled from England to have freedom and ‘the pursuit of happiness’. We human beings are complex creatures. We’ve suppressed, been suppressed, committed genocide, been victims… and the list goes on. At what point to do we say, enough is enough?

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel wrote, ‘History teaches that history teaches us nothing. What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.‘

History will repeat itself over and over again unless the people make sure that it doesn’t repeat itself. People forget that our Constitution begins with these words… We the People. It doesn’t start with, We the Corporations, or We the Elected Officials, or we the Congress, etc. It is, We the People. We are the people. You and I. Black, White, Yellow, Brown, Gay, Straight, Male, Female or Transgender.

So… why did I call this blog post ‘Diesel & Dust’?

In 1987, a year after I got out of the Marines I started College. I joined Amnesty International there and was turned onto Peter Garrett from the band Midnight Oil. This is what sparked my political awareness. This was the spark that made me who I am today. It was a culmination of the military experience, the places around the world that I have seen, the unfairness, the poor, the forgotten. Midnight Oil’s ‘Diesel & Dust’ resonated with me and eventually had me working for Greenpeace. Many years have passed since then but I’ve always tried to keep that spark alive in one way or another. This election has turned that spark into a flame and if I could just get everyone to realize that we have a voice and that our lives do matter. We are only here for a short amount of time, and I’d rather be here not having to fight.

Peace,
D

John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) wrote that headline above. It’s from the song ‘Rise‘ (Not to be confused with our song ‘Rise‘) and his band Public Image Limited. He wrote the song about apartheid in South Africa and the torture method’s used by the Northern Irish RUC. In the song he sings, “Anger is an Energy”. Although, I’m not here to talk about anger… I’m here to talk about Energy.

Energy is everywhere and everything. It’s an invisible force that is all around us all the time and wherever you focus your ‘energy’ it escalates.

I wrote a couple days ago a quote by John Lennon that he made during the Vietnam War. He said, “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” Someone on my Facebook page made a comment, “Pro-Peace? What does that even mean?”. I’m pretty sure this person didn’t understand what Lennon was actually saying. I believe that Lennon understood ‘The Law of Attraction’ before it was ever named ‘The Law of Attraction’. He understood that energy is energy. That wherever you focus your energy it becomes more centralized, more part of your reality. He understood that having a protest against war was still focusing the energy on war. You can’t not state something and not focus on it. It’s impossible.

Here is an example; Ice Cream. I hate Ice Cream. I love Ice Cream. Ice Cream is awful. Ice Cream is beautiful. Ice Cream should be banned from the Universe. I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream.

What are you thinking about right now? Yep. You’re thinking about Ice Cream.

Good or bad, you’re thinking about it. You can’t not stop thinking about what you are focused on, as the example with Ice Cream. So having a Pro-Peace rally would actually be focusing on… You guessed it — Peace.

That’s why all of these Wars against things never work. Look at the War on Drugs… what’s going on with that? Are we winning this War? Nope. Drug use is up higher than it’s ever been. War on terror? Way worse. We now live in a world where we are afraid to even go outside because something might happen to us. The War on Terror has changed our whole lives completely. TSA, ISIS, NRA, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, FOX, etc… all fear based organizations, and they are in the news every day. I don’t watch the news. I quit watching the news in the late 80’s. There is nothing on there that somebody won’t eventually say to me, “Did you hear about (fill in the blank)?”. And I’ll let you in on a little secret. I was in Advertising for many years and one thing that Advertisers know is this: The more it’s in your face, the more you’ll think about it. The more that you think about it, the more you’ll want it. It’s the old ‘Carrot in front of the Horse’ trick.

It’s no coincidence to me that we have Presidential candidates that exude fear. They are only reflections of what we are, and we are predominantly a fear based society now, because that is all we focus on. We focus on what we don’t have. We focus on the rich who have more than we have. We focus on crime. We focus on race. We want to build a fucking wall and make it all go away. I’m afraid that is not the answer but until the pendulum swings a different way it is going to get worse.

Another little secret: It will only get better when we all start taking the blame for everything that has happened. Yes, each and every one of us taking responsibility. Each and every one of us stopping the finger pointing. Each and everyone of us looking in the mirror and repeating what Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the World.”

I am an Energy Worker. That is what Reiki is. Reiki is channelled energy from the Universe, God, Gaia, etc.. As a Reiki Master I know that energy is everywhere because I feel it flowing through me. I feel it burning through my hands when I’m working on a client. It’s not magic. It’s no more magic than the invisible electricity that you plug your phone in to charge, or your WIFI that you connect to. It blows my mind that people think all of this stuff is Mumbo Jumbo Hippie crap and yet they still believe in God. God, a source that can’t be seen, but can be felt. A source that can be felt when people congregate together. Yes, God is real. God is real because when we believe in something we are tapping into that energy, that force. That is why placebo’s work.

The definition of a placebo is, “A substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine.” A patient who ‘supposes’ it to be medicine! It works because we say it works. We are happy because we say we are happy. We are angry because we say we are angry. It’s really simple. It might take you baby steps to believe it. It might taking you ‘faking it ’til you make it’, but what is the alternative?

I am also a Musician. I know, just as I know with Reiki, that music heals. And if I can help heal your pain through my music then I’ve done something good in this world. But you have to want to be healed. And once you decide that you can be healed then you will be healed.

Namaste!
David