Vinceland

I think the line, “Look Out, Look Around” is from a Fugazi song, or maybe it’s just my horrible translation of a misinterpreted lyric. I think it was Guy that sang it, I’ll have to go through my songs and see if I can find the reference.

Someone should make an Itunes plugin to view and search lyrics. I found one that searches your Itunes music library and maps out all of the local live shows for the bands in your Itunes: IConcertCal. It even lets you set the zip code so if you’re in a different place, you can still find out where bands are playing.

Sweetness. Live, loud music always gives me the jitters in my stomach, that’s when I know it’s good. Got tickets to see old SHP/ Jersey alumni Ted Leo and his boys at the Hawthorne Theater in a few weeks. Guaranteed to be great.

First time I seen Fugazi was in the cafeteria at UVM with Rik and Letterman. I had no idea what to expect nor had I had much experience with their music at the time. It was around 1992 and Rik had been listening to “Repeater” a ton in the dorm and got Lett and I hooked. Kids who could not get in to the show were clamoring on the windows and banging and dancing outside the place. I’ve never seen Letterman let go of himself like that, not even while bass fishing. He was throwing himself around within the crowd and had a crazy look in his eyes. Good times.

The point of all this may be that I bet I spend more time staring into space than I do staring at things I am supposed to. Sometimes I am staring at something and sometimes I am staring at nothing. It does not matter. But during all of those times, things are happening in my head. Somehow, I’ve noticed a new element, realized a new insight, understood a foreign concept. I might be aware of something new, previously unknown, totally worthwhile.

Awareness is only possible if you look harder, or at least look at all. These days, it’s getting harder to find the time to just look at things. And when you do, you’ll probably take some shit for wasting time or not doing something more important. Don’t worry about those comments, make sure you take time to just look out and look around. Otherwise, how will you know where you really are?

Through fishing, I realized that just sitting and looking is most of the battle. How will you know what the fish are feeding on? How will you know if fish are swimming anywhere near you? You need the time to look, watch and become aware of what’s happening around you. It’s the most valuable time on the water and good fisherman spend time just doing that, without rods and reels and lures. Great fisherman spend as much time looking, watching and realizing new things as they do casting lines. It’s what separates the floggers from the fishers.

I never believed all this crap either. I went out to the rivers, brand new rod in hand, fully Orvis-taught in the ways of casting. I had read the books, checked the maps, gotten the inside info on the rivers. I jumped in the water, plodded around and started casting. Can’t catch fish without your line in the water, right? Consequently, my line spent more time caught up in branches above me than in the water, but it was fun time and everyone goes through the same thing.

Not until I returned to those spots and stood back and watched, just waited and looked for fish, did I realize that YES, the fish were truly there and feeding. My appreciation for looking at a river for at least a half-hour before casting grew, and sometimes I never cast a line, until I noticed a fish, a bubble, some flies hatching. Who would have known what was going on without spending the time to look, to watch, to become aware? How would I have known there were fish swimming right around my legs?

The principle works for everything, most notably, the ability to continue learning as a working adult. The worst thing about finishing up college was the feeling that my brain was no longer absorbing new, worthwhile, intellectual information. I had a hard time reading books after work, I still do. Not until I started my own business did I feel naturally intellectually stimulated again, and that took almost 10 years after graduation. Most of my learning took place on the water, which really became the ONLY place where everything else disappeared and just one thing mattered. It was amazing to be able to focus purely on one enjoyable task that employed years of learned skills, good equipment, and the ability to just watch and learn.

Sometimes, I wish people would take the time to look, watch, learn and become aware. Imagine the sights you could see, the daily dramas unfolding in front of your eyes, if your job was just to walk around and look at stuff and realize new things. There’s a lot going on along a sidewalk under your feet, don’t waste it. Looking around is not a waste of time.