Library of Wisdom in our Heads

The one space that modern digital media can’t access is our inner library. Our internal collections of experience and wisdom are just not accessible to any machine.

Personal photo from 2016, I’m living in Brighton and just beginning to write/record my first self-produced music, while casting an eye over The New Statesman.

Our memory continually collects and filters out any useful bits of wisdom from an array of sources. This might be books, our heroes, friends, family or colleagues. We each build our very own personal library of soundbites and advice that we live our lives by. Rock stars offer no special knowledge, though it can seem magical when they project the illusion of knowing best. Tensions were beginning to run high towards the end of The Beatles career. John and Paul were particularly bitchy to each other shortly after the band’s split, attacking each other creatively, using songwriting as a weapon. John Lennon later confessed that all the abuse and ill feeling that he expressed around that period in the early 1970s, was actually about himself. His own life was in flux and often fueled by drug abuse. Lennon was crying out (through his songs) about his own insecurities and self-loathing. The Beatles or Paul weren’t the problem, it was just time to move on and do something else.

This nugget of rock star wisdom has been filed away in my own library of wisdom for years. When we attack others or feel disgruntled with a system that’s not working for us, we are simply projecting our own fears, unfairly, onto others. We are looking for a sounding board, a place to offload our baggage. And not surprisingly modern digital forms of social interaction have exploited this tendency to look for scapegoats by exacerbating the behaviour for profit. I’ve never been a heavy user of social media, I channel my thoughts by writing things down, often not for public consumption. It’s a technique I learned from mental health therapy, when I’m anxious and need a harmless outlet. Brisk walking is another great way to relieve inner tension, or any form of physical or mental exercise for that matter, including sports and gaming. It’s amazing how you can reboot your optimism by just being active. For me, music has always been my biggest safety valve or escape route.

I’ve included a personal photo in this post from late 2016, a significant year in political events, particularly for the UK and USA. I was then living in Brighton and just starting my journey as a solo artist, recording my first imperfect, instrumental pieces. I’ve always been interested in politics as a philosophical observer, but I’m not a dedicated activist. I’ve been a member of a political party on and off. Today my biggest concern is the natural world, because I’m better informed on the sciences, including physics and psychology. There is hope for progress, but climate change won’t be fixed overnight. Climate doomism, driven by political and media interests, is the biggest hurdle to overcome. While I’m not an provocative activist, I can at least create music, because music helps, just a little, in the battle against negative discourse.

Talking of music, I’ve published an E.P. titled Blues and Greens, runtime is around 23 minutes. Add it to your library, wherever you stream music.

Listen to Blues and Greens by GUITAR PK on Spotify.

Have a happy and optimistic 2023.