Riddle me this

What is all around us yet we have the hardest time finding it?

Time. 

It's right there. It's with us all the time.  It's entwined in our existence but yet sometimes we can't seem find it. 

I am guilty of this a lot more often than I care to be. Of course, I am talking about the time needed to do the things we need, should, could or desire.  Most often, I am guilty of failing the last two on that list.  I am good at taking care of business.  I complete the things that I need to do.  Making the $$ for rent, food, etc. I do the things that I should - shower, exercise, eat, some basic sleep and the phone calls/skypes/texts to family to let them know that I am alive and well and to verify their existence and well-being, as well. 

I know it's about priorities, but that doesn't always help.  How do you have more than one #1 priority? Exactly.  So I have been working on trying to adjust my schedule even more to get to the things that I could do or desire to do.  Forcing myself to take days off. Yes, that usually means that I have to work more intently and productively at the "need/should" categories, but I am finding that it is worth it. I have been also working on my multi-tasking skills. For example, I am working on other things while I am on the treadmill. No, I haven't reached the point of multi-tasking where I am taking the laptop to the loo with me - not that the thought hasn't occurred to me ;)

I will let you know if it becomes a good idea to never handle my laptop, though.


and, on that note...I'm out!


~  JeM

Musings of a Non-Cigarette Smoking Man

So you say it's your birthday? well it's my birthday, too...umm yeah, Ok actually it was yesterday but I had most of the notes in my head for this blog so technically I wrote it on my birthday :)

Like most musicians and people that work with an artistic side, I tend to live in my emotions and sometimes wear them on my sleeve or at least a little close to the surface. Its a job hazard, you could say. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. Even though I have had some severe heartache in life because of those emotions - I think the trade-off is that your highs are higher. It's kind of an "Even Steven" thing.

Anyway, I digress.

Birthdays tend to make me reflective. Usually its a good thing and this year was no exception. In fact, I have come to realize that I just might be living the best years of my life these days. I am quite possibly enjoying the best health I have ever been fortunate to have and I can't believe that as I complete another spin around the Sun that I feel better now than I have for a long, long time. I eat better. I exercise 3 to 6 times a week. I am making the best music of my entire life. I have my eyes on the prize and the payoffs have been astounding.

When I think of where I was 2 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago and even further - I still feel that I am living a charmed existence. To think that I came to Nashville with a simple aspiration: "hitting the reset button" after some personal trauma came to my world. My additional hope was that I would somehow be able to keep music a priority in my life. Well, within 2 years of moving to Nashville, I found myself working with great musicians, not only as a player, but as a producer, too. Then, I found myself hosting a show here in Music City, USA. Not too shabby for a guy that comes from a town of less than 20K people, with no music scene whatsoever - except for 'cover band hell'.

I never take any of this for granted. I owe the people who are in my life a debt of gratitude that I know I will never truly be able to repay other than to just be a good friend to them in return and hope that they realize how important they are in my life.

Sure - not EVERYTHING is perfect. I'm still waiting to fix that one major gap that has been there but I know, much like everything else for Even Steven, it'll all work out in the long run and patience, I have learned, is a virtue.

oh and kudos to you if you got where my blog title came from :)

and on that note..... I'm Outta Here

The Great Thing About the Internet is That It Gives Everyone a Voice and the Bad Thing is That it Gives Everyone a Voice....

Well I'm not exactly the most consistent blogger in the world....but in reality I don't always have something to say like some of the "so-called" bloggers out there. 

I have always said:

"The great thing about the internet is that it gives everyone a voice and the bad thing about the internet is that it gives everyone a voice"  ~  Jason Mapes

yeah - you can quote me on that one...I made it up all on my own...

so the reason why I haven't written a blog in a while is mainly because I have been really busy n the studio working on new music and even took the time to film a quick video for the song "Send Her My Love" that will be on an indie movie soundtrack coming out at the end of the year/beginning of 2013.

 you can watch it below or bookmark this link to watch it later

https://vimeo.com/46570431

Jason Mapes - Send Her My Love Studio Version from Jason Mapes on Vimeo.

fit to be tied.....

On my Facebook page I have been posting about fitness a lot lately because it has become a very important part of my life.  I had decided enough was enough when it came to where I was at on the grand scale of life.  I had let my weight start to get out of control and I was no longer happy with how I looked or felt.  I hated the idea of getting my picture taken because I felt that I always looked like crap in every photo.  Now some people might think that I must be a lil nutty because it's not like I was weighing in at 450lbs or something but for a guy who weighed about 150 in high school the number on the scale was not exactly what I wanted to see and I personally felt that I wasn't carrying the weight very well - the double chin, the waistline, etc...

I finally decided that I was going to make a full-blown commitment to getting back into shape.   I'm an old school kinda guy when it comes to music and when it comes to fitness.  I will always believe that the best & most long lasting results come from exercise and a proper natural diet.  I don't believe in miracle fixes.  I don't believe in magic pills or any of that jazz.  If you want to - that's fine by me. It's your choice.  Not me.  I was a student of Psychology back in college and I believe that the absolute core of fitness is commitment.  If you want to lose weight and get healthy - it takes a change of habits and in lifestyle.  I knew that the key to success for me was going to be in changing my habits and lifestyle.  I had become quite immobile over the last couple of years and was spending WAY too much time in front of computer screens, TV screens, movie screens, etc.  I also knew that it was going to take about 2 or 3 months to really implement a serious change in that lifestyle  Since my goal was to be fit not to audition for Wolverine in some future X-Men movie I believed that my goals were obtainable but would still need a serious commitment.  I signed on for a 6 month program, bought a new iPod specifically for my workouts, bought some new aerobic fashion wear and was ready to start my journey.

In addition to commitment and the diet/exercise plan; I believe you need inspiration/motivation.  Find something or someone that will inspire you.  My biggest inspiration is someone in my life that just puts me in awe of the human spirit.  A cancer survivor that is beautiful on the inside as well as out. Always positive.  Always committed to fitness and always handling whatever life deals with grace, dignity and a heart-melting smile.  It's an immeasurable inspiration for me on days when I might be easily coerced out of my workout or maybe I'm on the 4th mile of the run and need to get that extra mental push to finish those next couple of miles. When someone makes you want to be a better person - this is a good person to keep in your life!

The last thing that I recommend is to track your exercise & diet.  This has been a big part of success for me.  It helps to see how the journey is going and you can actually see progress or perhaps see reason why you are not seeing the progress you desire.

Now - maybe this whole "health thing" isn't for you.  A lot of people are content with who they are and where they are located on their own fitness scale.  If you are content then great!  This was about my personal happiness not what anyone else thought of me or how I looked and felt.  Change was needed and change is what I am working on...

......and on that note - I'm outta here (and off to the gym)

Happy Landings!

There is an old quote that says:  "To love is to risk not being loved in return."

I was having a discussion with a friend recently about the concept of rejection.  Someone was pursuing their romantic interest which just wasn't there.  They were feeling a bit guilty about rejecting this person but since the feelings were not there; the only other solution would be to give in and start a relationship with someone with for whom you have no interest.  Kind of between a rock & a hard place when you don't want to hurt someone's feelings nor do you want to grow old and die with someone that you didn't really want to be with in the first place.

I think most of us have been on both sides of this coin at one time or another in our lives.  Granted, on the surface, it probably seems easier to be the rejector than the rejectee but I am not sure that is always true.  This person was really taking to heart the pain they would be inflicting on that other person's psyche.  But as the old saying goes - 'the heart wants what the heart wants' (or vice versa).  I've been the rejector and I've been the rejected.  It sucks to have to be one or the other.  We can guide, maneuver or influence many things in our lives: our careers, our interests, our hobbies, our friends and our families but I don't believe that we can make our hearts want something, or someone, that it doesn't.  We're quite powerless, actually.  Maybe that's why love can be so very sweet or, worse yet, so very bitter.

But then again....maybe that's the reward for the daredevil act of putting one's heart on the line.  If you're a stunt cyclist you probably crashed all the time while learning your craft  Probably far more crashes than successful landings.  Although, I'll bet they would tell you that one successful landing makes all the pain of the previous crashes go away.

Here's to those that are kicking their tires, revving their engines and getting ready to once again take that mighty leap of faith!   Happy Landings, Everyone!


.....and on that note - I'm outta here!

Karmic Realignment

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the concept of Karma.  When people mention Karma I think most people tend to think about it from the negative side, i.e. "do bad - get bad".  I think that there is some merit to both sides of the karma koin though.  I don't think I've ever been "a bad person" but I certainly believe that there has been a lot of room for improvement.   The last couple of years, I have been trying to realign the Karma in my life, i.e. "do good - get good".  I think it's more of an effort to be on the good side of karma whereas it's pretty darn easy to fall prey to the dark side (and, YES, they do have cookies).

I have a friend, we'll call him "Stan".   Stan is one of the good guys.  Stan is on everybody's list of the proverbial "nice guy".  Stan is someone that has been in my circle for about 10 years now and was very instrumental with my move to Nashville and also to me reevaluating whether or not I was truly "one of the good guys".   When I looked at my life - I realized to my own dismay that perhaps I wasn't that much of  "a good guy" or at the very least I could certainly stand to be more like "Stan".  Stan has this affect on a lot of people.  It was an eye-opener.

This awakening has been a big part of my Karmic Realignment.  This has become more than just a philosophy - it has become something that I strive to achieve.  No, it's not my religion and no, I don't believe in the concept of good works buying anyone's ticket to a heavenly hereafter.  However, I do believe that you get what you give.  Why shouldn't we?  If you're mean to people then why should people be nice to you?  If you take from other people then why shouldn't it happen to you?   Sure bad things happen to good people but at least then it's a tragedy or unfortunate.  When Karma bites someone in the ass that has it coming - then Karma is doing its job.  When good things happen to people that deserve them there is a sense of order and that maybe, just maybe, Karma is keeping it's part of the bargain and bringing balance to the world.

I've been making a conscious effort to focus on the good side and believe me it takes A LOT of effort.   It's so easy to be negative and to feed that negative side of our soul.  I'm not perfect and I am certainly not trying to say that I am above the bad thoughts that invade our minds.  There have been people that have hurt me over the years and I am certainly not wishing for them to win the lottery or anything like that.  I am, however, just trying to keep that out of my circle.  Indifference is often the best weapon for me and I try to remain indifferent to the point of non-existent.  Again , it's not easy and I don't always succeed - but I try.  Hopefully, Karma recognizes effort as a positive.

Oh and Karma is also one of my favorite CDs by Winger but I think that is more of a coincidence than anything to do with this blog


.......and on that note - I'm outta here! 



~ JM

lyrics...shmyrics.....

Sympathy for the Devil is one of those songs that I sometimes get into and it and listen to the whole darn thing but then at other times as soon as I hear the opening drums - I'm hitting the skip button on my iPod.   Definitely a primo example of a mood song for me.  As songwriters - I think we have a hard time separating ourselves from our creations.  I never think of songs that I have written and question: "I wonder if people with consider this a mood song".  Creating music is a very personal thing for me and I think you take criticism as personally as if someone was criticizing your own child.  Yes - it can be that close to your heart.  Lately - I have been more of 'The Lone Songwriter'.  I haven't co-written a tune since my days in my previous band.  In that band - it wasn't like we sat down together and hammered out a tune.  Sometimes my co-writer would present me with a song and sometimes I was the one presenting the song.  We then did "our thing" to each others' composition.  It worked well for us and we didn't have very many throw-away tracks.  I think we both felt personally connected to each tune whether the contribution was something minimal or something that changed the scope of the song on a grand level.  In that band I was not the singer.  I always felt that the singer should be singing something that they "felt" so I stayed away from lyrics but now that I am doing my own thing - I am really enjoying the whole art form once again.  The lyrics are still second on my list though.  Although I don't think that it means that they suffer because of that.  What I mean is that since I am a guitar boy - I tend to start with the music.  I compose usually out of a jam session.  I will just be playing, not really practicing, just jamming.  It might be simple strumming on an acoustic or it might be giving the fingers a workout on the electric but either way it stems from that process.  If I play something that stands out to me then that is when the song starts for me.  Something sets the mood.  It might be the key of the jam or maybe it is something that puts me into a mood due to how the chords make me feel.  Sound strange?  I don't know how to explain it any better than that. Lyrics for me come from listening to the completed instrumental afterward.  Sometimes they flow quickly and sometimes it might take days, weeks, months or even in one case - years.   I had a song that was originally composed instrumentally 10 years ago and I never felt the right lyrics till one day the inspiration hit and the song was finished in a matter of minutes.  It's a strange process at times but it is what works for me.   Whenever I meet songwriters - I want to know what their processes include.  I am curious about their creative process especially when they have that different sound.  I am fortunate to host a Singer/Songwriter night here in Nashville and this has been giving me the opportunity to experience that craft from so many different artists, genres, styles and methods.  It's been a great inspirational tool for me to reconsider how I approach the craft of songwriting.


and on that note.....

I'm outta here!