INTRODUCING THE RHYTHM SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

It is a beautiful day on Main Street in Nyack, New York and I am experimenting with the idea of The Rhythm Social Experiment.   I've been toying with this idea to bring a little soul and energy down on Main street for a while now and its time to stop thinking and just begin playing.

Let me explain a little bit about what The Rhythm Social Experiment is.

As a morning ritual, I play the djembe to wake up every day. I breathe, connect, play and express my groove as I start my day.  It fuels me up and charges my soul battery.  Then one morning, it hit me.  If I could help charge someone else's battery in the process, that would make my soul even happier.

For 21 days, I will be out in the community playing for 15 minutes each morning at 7:30am. Why....  Because I feel it's time to play for anyone that wants to receive good positive energy in the morning. 

So The Rhythm Social Experiment is born.  With a few percussion toys for anyone who feels inspired to play and shake along with me, my intention is to help people connect  and spread some good vibes and positive thoughts at the top of the morning.  

DAY 1........INTO THE UNKNOWN

I didn't know what to expect playing so early in the morning on Main Street in front of an unrehearsed audience.......But this is life in real time.  No more time for practice.  Just do it, feel it, express it.

The experience was amazing on many levels and I'm still processing all of it as I write this first blog post.  

There were a few folks walking to work with their headphones on.  Not paying much attention.  I started singing this mantra as I was playing watching the cars go by.  "We're all just looking for direction"  The lyric came to me because most of the people seemed to be looking straight ahead not paying any attention to me (the djembe drummer in the square at 7:30am)  But after a few moments, it didn't matter.  None of it did.  I was just part of the landscape.  Then a profound thought struck me..... We can pay attention to it or we can keep looking down and choose to not experience what might be out there.

---

Some unexpected highlights were listening to the busses, firetrucks, birds and the service man cutting the tree down the block while I played.  There was a tapestry of sound happening between all of the sounds interacting.  It was both harmony and disharmony all together.  Kinda weird.......but I loved it and it made complete sense as I stepped into it.

When I left the park with my drum I felt like i accomplished something special.  See, I've been thinking about doing this for the past 6 months and I finally got off my ass and made it happen. 

I was walking back to my car when a sign caught my attention.  It's funny because I've been living here for 6 years and the sign never caught my attention before.  The sign was dedicated to the man whom the park is named after, Hezekiah Herbert Easter, Jr.  It read "I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can." 

So here goes........The Rhythm Social Experiment.  Let's see who pays attention, let's see who walks on by, let's see how many mornings can be affected by a little groove at the start of the day.