“And what is ‘truth’? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?” Pontius Pilate

One of the first musicals that ever had an impact on me was Jesus Christ Superstar. The predominant reason was because Ian Gillian from Deep Purple. He played Jesus. I wanted to be Jesus. I almost got my chance. Fast Forward a few years to Cape Cod. The Orleans Playhouse was putting on their version of Jesus Christ Superstar. I wanted that roll! I could sing everything that Ian Gillian could in the London version. It was mine I was telling myself. I went in and auditioned and blew their socks off. I sang Gethsemane and hit every blood curdling scream with such conviction and power that I walked out of there high as a kite. I nailed it! Unfortunately it was already cast. I was bummed. But I did get to be the understudy for it and was cast as Simon.

We all have truths of ourselves that come out as we learn more about ourselves and learn more about others. We all have the choice to follow the in crowd or walk our own path. Sometimes its a fine line. Sometimes we feel like giving up and just becoming a follower. It seems easier. But lying to yourself only leads to heartbreak for yourself and those you’ve been following. Believe me. I know. Because at some point you’re gonna blow and the people you are following, or the relationship that you are in is going to say, “WTF? Where did that come from?” And its not their fault. It’s yours. You were the one lying to yourself. Not them.

Your truth is ever changing. It’s not set in stone. Your truth might not be my truth and vise versa. So respect somebody else’s truth as you would want your truth to be respected. And always be open to the possibility that you’ve been lying to yourself for far too long.

Namaste,
D

P.S.
What was the outcome of the play? It was brilliant. Ken, who played Jesus is a Gay Man and the person that played Judas was a Gay Female. It caused quite a stir in the community. It would have ruined it all if I had gotten the roll as Jesus. There was something bigger than I could see at the time. There was a point to be made, and it was made. And I learned something. And it was a good lesson.

Christopher Robin: “Oh, Pooh. If ever there’s a tomorrow when we’re not together, there’s something you must remember.”

Pooh: “And what might that be, Christopher Robin?”

Christopher Robin: “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Pooh: “Oh, that’s easy. We’re braver than a bee, and, uh, longer than a tree, and taller than a goose… or, uh, was that a moose?”

Christopher Robin: “No, silly, old bear! You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you.”

I frequently return back to the philosophy of Winnie the Pooh when I feel lost or scared. Pooh, in his innocence and inquisitive nature would always be taken care of. Why do you think? My thoughts on it are that he trusted those around him and he trusted that everything was going to be ok no matter what. And what a joy to be around someone like that! It makes us what to be that free, that trusting and that forgiving.

People in general just want to be loved. Bottom line. They might be mean to you or they might harm another but deep down inside they are looking for love. They are looking to be heard because nobody would listen. Some take extreme measures out on others. Some take it out on themselves. If you haven’t read the Tao of Pooh or the Te of Piglet you might want to give them a go.

Last week I was asked to Tour with Rage of Angels in September. I said Yes. I didn’t even think twice about it. I have received a lot of love and support in my journey and I am grateful. It has counterbalanced the rash of criticism I’ve received as well. Especially this past weekend. I won’t go into details but I can tell you I have a hard time being Buddha like in those instances (another lesson. Geez).

Why is it that I bought into the criticism instead of the praise? I think we, as artists, tend to do that. There is a fine line between promoting yourself and boasting. When we are promoting ourselves we sometimes look at it as boasting and pull ourselves back and say, “No. Don’t say that. People will think you’re an egomaniac.” I just take a deep breath and know that not everybody is going to like nor condone what I do. I just focus on my path and move forward.

I had a great conversation with an old friend in New Orleans yesterday. He was my drummer at one point in my career. It was a brilliant conversation that lead into promoting ourselves as artists. We don’t like to do it. We like to just use our craft to touch people. We don’t like to go out and talk about ourselves, but we have to. Especially in this day and age. I like the song from Aerosmith that says, ‘Let the music do the talking.’ That’s all great if you can get people to listen to the music. That’s the hard part.  So promotion is an essential part of this business. I would love to have a Manager, and a Publicist and all the administrative stuff so I could just concentrate on writing. But, its not that way…. and in a way I’m grateful. Why am I grateful? Because it keeps it real. I get to see directly how I influence people. I get to interact and change things around on the fly when they don’t work. Like yesterday…. Jeff, my friend in New Orleans, does a lot of promotion for charities. He took one look at my donation page and said to me… Dave. $10,000? Really? You need $10,000 to go tour Europe? I was like, well no. But I need to pay off my motorcycle, pay rent, look for another job… blah blah blah blah. Anyway he convinced me to be a bit more realistic about it and he was right. So without second guessing him I knocked it down to $5000 which will allow me to scrape by and get there and back. I love the fact that I have a friend that can lovingly tell me that I am fucking up. Ha ha. It put me right into a space of release and not control. In a space of trust that it will all work out and everything will be fine.

At the end of August I will be taking a leave of absence from my design job to follow my dream. I’m scared and excited at the same time. I don’t know what lies ahead. I’m not sure I’ll have a job when I come back to L.A. even. But dreams are more important than jobs. Dream BIG!

If you would like to make a donation to help me on my way to Europe I would appreciate it. $5, $10, $20, $50… anything will help. Thank you for allowing me to share my gift with you. Just click on the link below and it will take you to my donation page.

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Peace!!
D