Effortless (mostly) Busking in Asheville, NC
(no, that’s not me busking — just a great picture of an Asheville downtown busker)
So a few weeks ago, I was busking (playing my Yamaha MODX7+ keyboard) at Whole Foods. And not just any WF, but the bohemian/hippie one in North Asheville, where I’d roughly guess at least 75% do yoga and maybe 25% or more have practiced meditation or mindfulness. So they were a really good audience for our Effortless Living Community (which at its heart offers many ways to inspire people to take up and also enliven their mindfulness practice, and apply it to all areas of their lives)
So I’ve been so busy I haven’t been on the street for a few weeks, but this morning, I thought I’d be brave and try the #1 busking spot in Asheville.
I parked down the street from the spot, got out of my car, and took a few slow, deep breaths to calm my nervousness and walked up a hill to the spot, lugging my 40+ pound gear (keyboard, portable battery, speaker, and more). I got to the spot — where there were 5 Jehovah’s Witnesses waiting calmly to invite people to read their publication.
Tourists galore were walking by. One of Asheville’s “street people” (who was, as the fragrant evidence indicated, an alcoholic) stopped by. Turns out he must have been a pretty good keyboard player as I let him play and he did a mean blues. I gave him my business card and told him we have a $24 mindful music improv course, and he laughed, saying he hadn’t had $24 at one time in months! So, no course, but I did give him $5.
Meanwhile, much to my surprise, Bob (not his real name) — one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I got into a wonderful discussion, not only about the Bible but interfaith (world religions) and I also talked about how as a psychologist I had used neuroscience to inspire people to explore the radical shifts of consciousness at the heart of all religion — he got it, to my amazement, and we shared favorite Bible verses.
A few folks walked by dancing as I played some Latin rhythms, and finally, a nun (yep — nun, wearing the nun’s veil) walked by with a mother and two children; she was holding the little girl’s hand — the girl must have been around 3. I invited her (the little girl!) to the keyboard, and with the nun’s encouragement, she came up — I told her just to pick any black note, she started playing it, and I accompanied her in the low notes. The nun took a video of this, and I asked her if she could upload it to YouTube.
We’ll see!!
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In any case, I then told the nun I had been the music director of a Spanish Catholic church in NY City for 10 years, and taught her two lines from my favorite song;
“Siempre Siempre Hermoso Vivir
Si aprendemos a amar
(always always it is beautiful to live, if we learn to live with love)
She sang along as I sang (badly) and played accompaniment and then when she offered some money, I told her to give the money she was offering to the homeless guy who had been playing my keyboard earlier.
A wonderful time but a learning experience also.
Do you want to learn more?
Check out our Effortless Living Community, our courses on Effortless Sleep and Effortless Mindfulness, and our mini-courses on Effortless Mindful Movement, Effortless Music Improvisation, and Effortless Breathing, Relaxation and Yoga Nidra.
Our practice theme for the month of August is Basic Preparation (for a powerful effortless mindfulness practice): effortless breathing, relaxation and Yoga Nidra (also known as “non-sleep deep rest”).
Join us and develop your practice in a way that’s inspiring, and in a way that can bring positive effects to all areas of your life.
