SXSW...

It's that time of year again in Austin where every venue in town has been overflowing with the population of a worldwide musical community. This year was the 4th year I've worked the festival in some shape or form and it was a wonderful opportunity to practice mindfulness of thought as I sorted, allocated and delivered DJ back line to electronic artist at the festival.

As my ego kept voicing feeling's of being left out and internalizing thoughts like,
"your missing the boat!" and "why aren't you playing a show instead of making spreadsheets?!"
I had many chances to observe my fears and frustrations under pressure.

When someone would appear at the 11th hour saying they needed something that involoved a mad scramble on my part to obtain...
I'd thank them for the opportunity to be loving under the gun, take a deep breath and then do the best I could to take care of them with all that I had available.
One of the things that helped me the most was frequently
standing in front of a mirror,
smiling at myself lovingly,
looking into my eyes as I would a lover, and saying,
"You're amazing and I love you"
(often this involved going to the men's room which was anything but empty and supplied more incentive to smile and laugh at myself for ever taking life seriously in the first place)

So after a long week of playing the role of "Parker, The DJ Gear Guy"
I'm reminded again how very grateful I am for all the people and their effort that goes into making a festival, or any show for that matter, happen as smoothly as possible.
I also got to spend time with some really wonderful people whom I'm grateful to know as well.

Next year I will be playing though... :)

Blessings and LOVE!
p