February...

I did an experiment in February. I wanted to break my routines. For the last decade, I believe I have probably had at least one beer every day. It became routine. It took up time. Maybe it made me lazy when I could have been working on something. Although I do not classify myself as a lazy person, I wanted to know if there was more I could be doing instead of sitting on the couch having a brew.

There was a lot of personal growth over the last few years. I advanced in my career that moved us across the country twice, gone back to school full-time, cultivated a lifestyle of positivity, go to the gym a few times a week, launched a creative blog that I update weekly, curate and publish weekly playlists for emerging artists, and still actively perform music. Sounds like a lot, but maybe there is more.

By checking social media, scrolling through thousands of pictures for extended periods of time, sitting on the couch and enjoying an adult beverage, I wondered how that was adding anything positive to my life. I was looking for a reset and February seemed to be a perfect time. My birthday is January 31st, so figured I could go out with a bang on my birthday and start fresh on February 1st. 

Breaking routines and mental queues is not easy, but I accomplished it. I went a full month with no social media, no credit cards and (strike up the band) no alcohol of any kind. Yikes. It was not as hard as I thought or seems. I found myself on my days off and weekends adventuring around Nashville a little bit more, taking up new hobbies, finding new restaurants and cafes instead of going to the local dive. 

It was a great reset. I read more. I took up rock climbing. I took more walks and explored the neighborhood. I took my dogs out more. I engaged in more conversations and even forgot my phone twice when I went to work. My credit score went up, and I got caught up on some minor debts that I wanted to pay off. I saved a bunch of money that I would have used to grab some beer and paid off most of my Discover card. Unplugging was refreshing.

We are in March now, and I have noticed that a lot of the changes have impacted my routines. Since my February detox, I am more aware of how often I pick up my phone and check it for no reason at all. I have found myself in March just standing with my phone and wondering why I even picked it up. Going to the fridge and grabbing a beer or even buying beer isn't top of mind (for the most part - I love beer). It is interesting to see how a few minor changes can open your eyes and that is what I was looking to do in February.

I celebrated with friends on March 1st and went back to the bar. It was fun, and I do love having drinks with friends, sharing posts and photos and seeing less debt when I open up my financial apps. Now I am more conscience about how many times I am checking my phone. I feel I notice myself doing it less, reminding myself to put the phone down and look up to see the awesomeness that is going on around me.

Now, who wants to grab a beer?

-YourFriendMatt

Breaking and changing habits can be hard. If you want to see how many times you check your phone every day, download this app Checky. It may blow your mind.

Social Media Hiatus...

I spend way too much time scrolling on my iPhone. When I calculate the time I spend looking through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all the other time wasters I use too many times a day, it blows my mind. This February I will be taking a break from social media to lift my head from the screen to see whats going on around me. Who knows maybe I will write more, read more or even work on the book I swear I am going to finish. Maybe I will spend more time running, meditating, hiking, working on projects in the house, finding new restaurants or walking around the neighborhood. Maybe I will be completely lost and go through withdraw, who knows. This hiatus challenge I want to stick to and get plugged back into my surroundings instead of seeing what pop culture is up too. It’ll be interesting to hear about new music, movies, shows and other things I am interested in from my friends like I use to, rather than mindlessly scrolling through thousands of photo posts.

Let’s see what happens.

-YourFriendMatt

Not Downloading Messenger...

I am not downloading Messenger.

This week Facebook discontinued my Facebook work-around. In 2014, the Facebook team took away the ability to message your friends from within the Facebook app, forcing them to download the newly introduced Facebook Messenger. Me, being a stubborn prick, decided to delete the Facebook app from the phone because I thought it was stupid. Why should I have to download two apps to use the same Facebook?

At the same time, Facebook introduced Paper, which was a Flipboard-Type news app competitor. After doing some research, I found out it had all the benefits of the Facebook app, including the messaging aspect of it…and now I can get news updates for subjects that interested me. Perfect. Another happy Facebook user!

Well, they just discontinued Paper this week. Shit. 

It looks like I am going back to the original idea…deleting it. I am not downloading two Apps to use all the benefits of Facebook. 

C'mon, Mark. 

Dick.

-YourFriendMatt

While You Were Gone...

Holy Crap! I am so excited! Here it is! We made a 3 minute short film!

I can't believe that I still get to do creative things surrounded by the people I love who in return continue to push me to do more creative things. I am one of the luckiest and richest dudes on the planet. Please watch, share, laugh, hate it, love it and let us know what you think!

Also, if you have not already done so please check out some of the other shorts we have done under the "I Write and Act" tab on YourFriendMatt.com or at our YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/BrokenSoundRecording.

Thank you all for anything and everything you do!

Stay positive. Smile. Have fun and screw 'em.

-YourFriendMatt

Ol' Trusty...Part Two...

“Oh man. No way. This can’t be happening.” we softly uttered as the engine seized… 

Our band had been invited to play an event for a rock radio station in Philadelphia. We hadn’t played together in almost a year, we had no new material to showcase, some of us moved to other states and we would only be able to get one rehearsal in…we went for it. We missed each other and needed a excuse to play music together again. Besides, we are professionals right? We would all remember the lyrics, harmonies and parts after a hour of rehearsing right? Sure - it's like riding a bike - 'we got this' repeats over and over again in my head.

I landed back in Philadelphia to rehearse, caught up over some beers, packed up and we were on our way. Chris and I drove our ramshackle van full of equipment while the other guys went separately due to prior obligations. When we get together we think we are invincible and even at our age, which is closer to 30 that 20, we find ourselves reverting to our adolescent mindsets. Even the worst ideas seem probable after we all convince one another it's possible. Case in point - driving our band van, which is literally falling apart, 20+ miles to Philadelphia. 

Our final destination...if we make it there...

We got this...

Right before we departed there was a (very) quick conversation about the  possibility of the van not making it. Back up plan? Nope. “She is going to make it! There is no other option!” We decided as we all raised a toast to the van that has gotten us around the world and back. “Here goes nothing.” Chris whispered in a moment of clarity “Okay Ol’ Trusty…all you have to do is get us there. We will take it from there.” caressing the steering wheel. I turn and place my hand on the dusty dashboard. "We got this."

There was traffic so we decided to make our into New Jersey and then cut back over into Philadelphia from there. This made sense if you were driving a vehicle that was well maintained and knew it was going to get your to your final destination. In our case though this was a tricky maneuver. If the van died in New Jersey we were screwed. We crossed the bridge from Delaware in to New Jersey and all was going well. As we had reached the crest of the bridge there was a loud, unnerving bang. Where did it come from? Chris and I side-glanced at each other. “Did you feel that?” I asked. “It’s nothing! Ol’ Trusty will get us there!” Chris responded and then it happened - the van shut off. Died. We were motionless at the crest of the bridge like a roller coaster at the top of its track. “No way!” We both barked “Start rocking forward and hopefully we can coast down the rest of the bridge!” We rocked and pushed and then she went. The centrifugal force and gravity started to pull us into New Jersey as we coasted with a dead van full of equipment. “Oh man! Do the brakes still work?” as I turn to Chris who is throwing an open container out the window. He responds “Man! This is probably an awful time to tell you that the van is uninsured!” We both scream held each other and pray for the best as we careened towards the garden state.

Frantically, Chris pumps the brakes as we whiz by a colorful "New Jersey Welcomes You" sign. We were running out of road fast as we see our lane was coming to an end. "Woo! The shit hit the fan quick on this one, baby!" Chris yells and he jerks the wheel steering us into another lane. I could see there was a fork in the road at the end of the bridge. "Aim for that shoulder man! If we can land there we'll be fine!" I point as I pull out my phone to document with a quick social media post...and to send to the rest of our band to keep them up to date with our current whereabouts. What? If we are going down like this I want social media to know we went out in glory. "Already ahead of you!" Chris responds as our ship starts to course correct towards the fork 's shoulder. 

With a screech of the tires, a cloud of black road dust and a touch of luck we land on the shoulder of the road. We wipe the sweat from our brows and slowly turn to look at each other in awe. After a wide-eyed, jaw dropped pause of amazement we slowly crack smiles. "Holy shit! We did it!" Double checking my phone for the video playback. "Damn straight we did. Now, lets fix this beast." Chris motions to me exiting the drivers seat to pop the hood. In a few moments, along with a a lot of cursing, hitting the engine with hammers and readjusting battery connections we were back on the road.

"I don't know? Should we hit it with a hammer?" - Matt & Chris

The rest of the ride was steady besides a few pops and sputters. We made it to the venue in time to load in, sound check and grab a brew together. The show went on and we had a blast seeing all our family, friends and creating memories. See…like I said…we got this.

-YourFriendMatt