Law of Attraction

Do You Have New Years Resolutions? Consider This…

We all make New Year’s plans and resolutions – plans on how to “work hard” to “get what’s out there.” I’m offering you a different angle on that idea….

I recently picked up a copy of Deepak Chopra’s book “The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire” and just finished it on a plane ride to Europe. What’s not to like about a title like that?

“The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire” is an excellent book. Deepak is a dedicated meditator and I felt that the book pulled me into the peaceful, mystical, “boundless” place that he writes from. I am thankful to feel very chilled out right now. I needed that!

I admit, I sometimes fall prey to the state of “wanting more”, and I work every day at finding peace and gratitude for what I’ve got. I always come back to finding that my joy, peace and creativity comes from being spiritually centered.

“Wanting more” is in fact the cause of pain and restlessness itself. There is a cure though. Once we are thankful for what we have and enjoy a feeling of peace within, more comes rushing into our lives. That’s the irony!

I read something in the book that resonated with me, a message I much needed to hear as I gathered ideas about “achieving goals in 2012”, and I’d like to share it with you.

“Suppose a hunter in the Amazon rain forest is having difficulty finding game. If he goes to a Shaman, neither the hunter nor Shaman looks anywhere but within the hunter himself to solve the problem.”

“It never occurs to them to say something like ‘There’s no game out there’. ”

Happy New Year, and may all your good find you in 2012!

Passing Inspiration Forward

By Adam Rafferty 1 Comment

For a few years I have practiced outside my NYC apartment in the building hallway. I do this to get away from my laptop and also enjoy natural reverb!

Moments ago, I heard little guitar strings getting plucked outside my door by someone else.

I sensed that I was being summoned, so I opened my door to see who it was.

A little boy named Matthew (age 7) got a mini guitar for Christmas.

His family lives 2 apartments down the hall…he’d been inspired by hearing me play out there.

I asked him if he liked Michael Jackson, and his face lit up. “I love Michael Jackson!”

I asked them to wait one moment at my door. I came back out with a gift in hand. I handed him & his mom an “I REMEMBER MICHAEL” CD.

“WOW!!!”

As I gave inspiration to this little guy, I was reminded that this is what it’s REALLY all about – passing inspiration forward.

Gear Outside, Tone Inside

By Adam Rafferty 38 Comments

I get a lot of questions about my guitar “tone” in my videos.

Ok, yes it has improved since I first started posting videos. But, this brings to mind a very valuable music lesson I once had from my mentor which I’d like share with you.

Nerd speak for one sentence: For this video I use a Maton guitar, a fresh set of uncoated phosphor bronze strings, 2 RODE mics and a DI, into Garage band. (For more detailed CD type recording my setup varies slightly.)

I recorded this song about 25 times in my home studio the day prior as practice.

I searched, listened, and allowed magic to pop up, I discarded ideas that did not work, and I voiced the same chords “umpteen” ways until I found just the “right” way.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR-2Q175y2M]

This was not an analytical process….it was intuitive, creative and gut level. Right and left brain had to work together to realize the overall sound I wanted.

During the practice session I had a myriad of tones, dynamics, grooves, tempos…

Each practice recording sounded totally different from the next in color and timbre. Of course there were technical things that I worked on, but it was all in the service of the sound.

When one practices a performance or crafts an arrangement it requires searching for “just the right sound.” The small changes made over time are like the low flame that turns a pot of chopped vegetables and water into a “savory soup”.

This “savory soup” does not come only from a Maton guitar, a fresh set of uncoated phosphor bronze strings, 2 RODE mics and a DI, into Garage band. It comes from listening and undergoing the process I have described.

Looking back, I can remember 20 years ago asking my mentor about the sound of my guitar. At the time I was trying to decide whether “flat wound” or “round wound” guitar strings had a better tone.

He told me “the tone you seek is inside.” 20 years later I see what he meant!

Until next time….Enjoy!

Silence

By Adam Rafferty 6 Comments

Good Morning Gang! It’s 5:24 am here in New York. I’ve been up since 3am….I turned in early last night. 2 cups of coffee later…and the sky is still black.

I’d like to share something very special to me with you today. I will tell you about one of my greatest loves in my life.

This is how I find my peace. Without this, my music would have no ground. It’s the secret of my success. It’s one of the most important things in my life.

Silence.

Like most people (maybe you), I experience ups and downs, moments of confusion. The noisy mind does this.

Often I want “more” – more love, money, control, attention, certainty in life – but with that comes stress. It’s all just mental noise. It’s “grabbing” instead of “having”.

So after thinking, stressing, losing myself in trying to figure it all out, trying to squeeze this poor little brain (inside the bobbing bald head) for “the answer” which never comes…I have to give up, because there is no answer.

But wait…something beautiful happens when I give up and sit still.

When I sit silently 30 minutes once (or twice) a day…

Answers come on their own, magically.

I feel my own “noise” for 20 minutes and then a “merging” with it all happens.

Past, present and future turn into one beautiful, cohesive “glow”.

I become “nothing” but it’s the most beautiful “nothing” there is.

I’m not “happy”, I just “am”.

Like a pond, the ripples on the water eventually slow down until the water looks like glass.

It’s natural.

It’s simple.

It’s amazing and beautiful.

[shhh….]

Little Changes – Big Difference

By Adam Rafferty Leave a Comment

A lot of the time, we want to improve something in our lives – be it our musical ability, career, body weight, financial life, etc. I was reminded of a very valuable lesson just the other day.

My buddy’s wife is a physical therapist and she kindly showed me a few easy exercises to improve my posture. After years of hunching over a guitar and a computer, I need chest opening / stand up straight type routines more than “iron pumping” exercises.

She showed me some very easy exercises simply offering a little bit of resistance. I noticed that her posture was great. I asked her if she worked out and if so, what she did.

“I’ve just been doing these exercises with my patients for 25 years. That’s all.”

Wow. That inspired me to do the simple things she told me to do….but of course the key is to do it every day!

This reminded me of something Jack Canfield mentioned in one of his programs. Sometimes little changes in life can feel like nothing, but over time they really amount to a big change.

If you were driving straight and just did a one degree turn, eventually that would totally change your direction and bring you somewhere else, right?

Making big changes too suddenly can cause upset; for example in the musical realm if you completely change your technique, you can really hurt yourself! If you make huge changes in your personal affairs, you often experience upset…it’s good to go slow!

Hopefully this will offer you encouragement to not look for immediate results, yet have the courage to make small changes to achieve your dreams. See the benefit of doing something slightly new – over time – to achieve a new result.

It may be a new piece you are learning, a scale on your instrument, a new language, a new workout routine, meditation, reading, better eating habit.

Don’t look for results right away…that’s like planting a seed and digging it up the next day to see if it sprouted.

Be happy with an itty bitty small change in a habit, and watch where that takes you over time!