I went to see Robert Plant last night at the Greek. It was such an extraordinary show on many levels. The combined strength and subtlety of his voice as an instrument is just mind boggling! He’s also a living example of integrity as an artist, making the music he feels compelled to make. The musicians he surrounds himself with are, themselves, artists with integrity, creating a complete package. The music takes you on a journey… spontaneous, alive, beautiful. So how do you listen to Robert Plant with Pop Go Zen? How do you give yourself fully to the journey? Sometimes it’s easy. There’s nothing to do. You just go on the ride the band is taking you on and completely lose yourself to the experience. When it’s over you feel satisfied and fulfilled because you surrendered your pre-occupations and let your self be taken away. No problem.
Sometimes it’s challenging. No matter how much you would like to, you cannot let go of distractions in the mind or body. The temperature isn’t right or that person won’t shut up or you have to go to the bathroom but you don’t want to miss anything or you forgot to do that thing you were supposed to do today. Usually when you watch a live show you experience a combination of ease and distraction. If you feel a strong connection to the performer and music, that tips the scale and makes it easier to focus but there is always room to go deeper and sustain focus for longer stretches of time. On this site I’ll be offering tips and strategies to do that, so you can get more and more fulfillment out of the listening experience and that can carry over into more and more of your life.
