SPEAKER_00 0:12

Broadcasting live from New York City brought to you by Global Wealth Office at Nest Secrets International and Placig Modern. This is Peace and Goodwealth. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are back at Peace and Goodwealth, and this is your host, Lloyd Carlos. It's been a while since our last drop, but rest assured that we've been gearing up for a great year of substantive conversations and with brilliant, talented, imaginative, and creative people from various backgrounds, various experiences, to share their insight into this thing called life. So we often talk about the idea that having peace involved in its truest sense is the ultimate harmony of how we live and who we are. It's about things that can't be measured but are deeply felt. Joining me today is Charlie Rao. Charlie is a guitarist, composer, author. His music doesn't wrestle you down, um, doesn't down your attention. It invites you into a space of quiet reflection. Um so in a world that is increasingly loud and fragmented, Charlie's work feels more like an essential return to what is simple and true. Charlie, thank you for being here. Welcome. Oh, thanks. Thanks for the kind words and for having me. So so Charlie, let's start with this um, you know, we call it the anatomy of stillness. Um, it's very difficult. We always talk about hustle culture, right? Um, which it it's it's a concept that I personally detest. I feel like, you know, hustle to me, it's like you could flail all over the place and never really get anywhere. Um and we are taught that in order for you to get anywhere these days, you have to keep hustling, hustling in every you know, sense of the word. Um but um you wrote a book and it's called Simply, Patiently, Quietly. Um, and it feels like a meditation um on how we should move through the world. So let's talk about the concept you know of the book, let the the evolution you know of it. It's it's a little bit weird because it's out of context for me. Music. Music started first, and that's it. But but let's talk about that. Let's talk about why um simply, patiently and quietly is an important concept in today's world.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Yeah, so uh one of the reasons I wanted to write the book, which consists of three essays. Each essay is themed for one of the words for simply, patiently, quietly. And the back of the book is a songbook of music I've composed that I'll talk about a little bit later. But one of the reasons I wanted to write these essays was living in New York, going back to what you said before about hustle culture, uh, there's a lot of pressure on that as a freelance musician and writer, uh, to constantly be, like you said, hustling. Uh the first thing everybody asks when you go to a party or when you're talking at an event is, oh, are you busy? You know, that's and uh you're expected to say yes. And if you say no, they're like, oh, what's wrong? Yeah, it's the busyness, the hustle is so expected. And I wanted to write these essays to address not necessarily virtues that I embody, because I honestly don't feel like I embody any of them. I just value them uh and I aspire to them. Uh so I wanted to write essays about simplicity, patience, and quietude because I I believe that they supersede hustle culture and they're more important to build a foundation on top of. Uh in my own personality, I'm a very extroverted, impatient, loud person who overcomplicates most situations. Uh, so I didn't write them from any kind of position of authority. Um, again, it's it's more uh of a position of aspiration.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Uh of discovery.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah. And uh exploring the ideas of simplicity, patience, and quietude for me uh helped me to understand what's important, what's uh, you know, what you should be building a foundation, not only for creativity, but for personal character development and growth. Um so I mean one thing in in New York, I feel like all three of those uh again, though I I'll call them virtues, but all three of those virtues are somewhat discouraged. Um things that are simple are often looked down on, or you know, there's a condescending sort of viewpoint to things that are simple. If you describe something as simple, it's uh what I talk about in the book. There's a great quote from a teacher I had, Connie Cruthers, who uh sort of specified what she believed the difference between complexity, uh something being complex and something being complicated are. And she said, if something's complicated, it's sort of a maze or a ball of knots. Uh it can't be reduced. Uh, but something that's complex can be reduced to a foundation of simplicity. Uh so I think about that a lot. And that that was a huge influence for me in uh you know this sort of conceiving of these essays that you should be able to reduce to a foundation of simplicity. And I feel like that's something that isn't discussed enough.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Well, I think it's it's partly because in and as um you know the only um benefits of of having a degree in writing is that is that you you have nuance, you know, you understand the nuance of words. Um and I find these days that people um refer to simple and simplistic as being one and the same, which they're not. Um right, you know, being simplistic is sort of like the the down version uh of being simple. Simple is so very difficult to do. Um and I think when done very well, whether it's in music, in poetry, in paintings, um, it's um, or in cooking, right? Um it's you know, to to to achieve simplicity is sort of like the biggest um challenge. Um because something here, here we go again. The clanging of of winter. Um that the the um achieving that is is sort of like the the the most difficult goal for for for an artist, especially. Um simplistic is different, you know, it's just like you know, being complicated versus complex. Uh you know, complicated is easier to do than having something very complex um and beautiful, because you know, as you say, like the universe is very complex, it's not complicated, right? Yeah. Um and you could take the you know, the sort of like even the the deepest theories of the universe and like squish them into a little tiny spec, and it would hold the same, you know, for you know, for the you know, whether it's an atom, you know, the universe of the atom or the universe of where you know we're you know where we live in. Um so um but uh the let's let's start with um patiently, uh because the um patience for a farmer is a virtue, right? Um you plant the seeds and you hope um that putting in the work gives you sort of like the harvest that you wanted, right? Um but patience in a world where instant gratification is the norm. Um, you know, you want your you don't wait for a whole album anymore, you know.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

I just want your song now, and each song as you release it, you know, becomes an album. Um if you're writing, we want to see the previews of the book before you even finish the book. Um you know, right? So so patience is not rewarded. Um, you know, it's it's barely rewarded in today's in today's world, especially with new technology. Um so um why is this why is this important um for you?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Uh I think patience is extremely important. Uh in reference to the book in the the essay I wrote on patience, I reference uh a really amazing opportunity I had that for me really embodied patience and taught me about patience when uh in 2023 I was invited to be composer in residence for Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine, which was a really strange request. Uh, they contacted me based on knowing about my previous work and asked if I'd be interested in spending time with the animals in the hospital and their doctors who are treating them. And from that experience, producing and composing and recording wellness-oriented music aimed at uh benefiting both animals and humans. Um so I I talk about that a lot in the patient's uh essay in the book, because those doctors taught me a lot about patients. I mean, dealing with animals. First of all, you have to be patient when dealing with animals. You can't speak to them. I mean, you can speak to them, but you can't hold a conversation with them. So I feel like uh the the level of empathy involved in that specific type of patients to be not only a doctor, but uh a veterinary doctor is very inspiring to me. And spending time with the animals and having to have patience myself with the animals, uh, and spending time with them going through their day uh as they were being treated for various illnesses, and then having the conversations with the doctors treating them, uh, I feel like patience is directly tied to empathy. That's a big takeaway. And that's where I think the importance of patience is. The importance of being a patient person. Or and again, I don't consider myself a patient person at all. I'm I'm often very restless and anxious and impatient, uh, but I aspire to patience and I love spending time with people who understand patience. And I think doctors of any sort embody this, but those specific doctors, being a veterinary doctor, you have to have this massive wealth of anatomical knowledge of several different kinds of species. So, I mean, they're brilliant medical professionals who, again, going back to what we were talking about, are often uh, you know, not considered on the same level as you would see a brain surgeon or, you know, uh any kind of human doctor. But these doctors are on another level uh with their patients and with their empathy. And I feel like the importance of empathetic patience in a world that is based on instant gratification, uh, that's very, very key. Uh, and I think that's a virtue that a lot of people lack, myself included, um, but a lot of people aren't interested in developing. And I feel like when you start noticing the lack of empathy with the direct link to the lack of patience, that's where a lot of problems uh in general and the world start.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

So so and what's interesting, it is you know, we talk about healthcare, right? You know, patient care. Um these days, it is beginning to look like, you know, in you know, in the in the wisdom of uh American healthcare, um, you know, because obviously, you know, other nations' healthcare is completely different. But in our healthcare system, um, which is very much financially run um and financially focused, um, you know, there is, I feel almost feel like, and I've just experienced this with my parents, it's almost like a triage, you know, that you get in, you're very sick, they try to patch you up, and then you know, try to ship you out as quickly as possible. Um, there is no um, you know, no time to wait to see what the results are. There is no time to um really, you know, get a really good grip of the diagnosis. You they want to scan you, find out what's wrong with you, and then ship you out as quickly as possible, right? Um, in some ways, um, and what's interesting to me is that in vet veterinary care, you know, you have a little bit more empathy, you know, than than with actual human care. Um, because um the the the the uh veterinarians and the people who work with animals are much more understanding of your relationship with you know person's relationship with um with their pets. You know, so so um and they you know mostly if they're in that you know profession, really truly love you know taking care of of animals, and therefore the care is a little bit different. Um there is not as much of the um the pressure to perform um and to produce, which now is sort of like the the um the more the MO um of of you know our human health care. Um you know, but also patient is required in healing. Yes, right.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Um you can't just, you know, there's not it's not always the case where you could will yourself into being healed, um especially when it comes to pets. Bets don't know that they you know they can't run, you know, if they have a broken something, you know, right? It's it's uh yeah, you know, so you have to sort of like wait, you know, for that. But that's it in what's interesting is um the other part of it, which is the quiet, you know, part. How much in music I always talk about the space between the notes as being a very important part of of music, um that I think is uh it's not easily um appreciated, um, unless you really love music. And then and then the difference between a maestro of violin or a guitar um versus an amateur is actually really that, you know, sort of like it's not just technique, but it's like how long do you hold that string um to make that sound that feels a certain way versus not? Right? Right. So um quiet to that quiet part, um, how much you know can we practically have? Um and what does quiet mean? Does that mean complete you know absence of noise, or you know, does that mean calm, peaceful, sort of meditative, um quiet?

SPEAKER_01 14:16

I I think what I was trying to address in in that essay in in the book was a combination of both. Um I think silence, uh obviously silence and quietude are two different things, but also directly related. I liken music uh as a one-to-one comparison to conversation, much of the time, uh, that if you're gonna create music to share, you should look at it the same way as the having a conversation like we're having right now, where we're speaking to each other, not at each other. Uh so if you're creating music for someone, it it must be created for them. And I think a big part of conversation is silence, uh, quietude. If you're really comfortable, obviously not on an interview situation, but if you're in a comfortable conversation, you might just sit with the person and say nothing, uh, and that's okay. Um, and that's something going back to hustle culture and and sort of busyness uh as a virtue, or I'll I'll call it a false virtue. Um that's discouraged. Uh that if you're sitting in silence with someone, uh it's there's an expectation from culture to assume something's wrong, that the person is uncomfortable, that they're upset. Uh, and maybe there's just nothing to say in that moment. And that should be okay. That and that's that exhibits comfort um and and confidence. Uh so I feel like quietude, uh, as a general sense, and I'll include silence within the realm of quietude, that's a virtue that uh, you know, is a an outpouring of comfort and and confidence and well-being and healing and wellness. It's a very positive attribute to be comfortable with the quiet. And we're taught in so many ways to feel the opposite, uh, which I think is very dangerous. Uh so in terms of music, I think it's important, uh, like you said, uh to be aware of the space between notes, but also to build in spatial awareness in the same way that as you're going through your life, you should be spatially aware of your environment, of the people around you, and to be uh, you know, empathetically aware and spatially aware and care what's happening around you, even if you're not directly interacting with the environment of the person. Uh, that peripheral awareness, I believe quietude is involved in that, and comfort with quietude is involved in that, that you don't need to fill space. So the space between the notes is important, but also the general structure or phrasing of music, similar to writing, uh, when you write, you you're spatially aware of your narrative. Uh you're you're spatially and emotionally and empathetically aware of your reader, or you should be, in my opinion. Maybe not all writers are, but but you should not narcissistic ones. Yeah, yeah. Um, but it's it's that you know, it's it comes down to awareness. I think quietude is about awareness for me. Um, and I think patience relates to that uh awareness. You should be patiently aware, you should be aware of the quiet, comfortable with the quiet, and simplicity tying into that. You should be okay with being reduced. Distillation should be uh a part of your regular practice that you don't need to be excessive. Um so that's I think all three of them sort of tie together. And quietude of the three might be my favorite. Um again, I'm a I'm a very extroverted and loud person. So it's not something I'm known, I'm not known as a quiet person, but but I do love the the attribute, I love the virtue of the quiet. Uh and it's something that I I really enjoy exploring in art. Uh, because within the realm of art, I feel uh for whatever reason, I have more of an aptitude for it than I do.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Well, I so it it it's interesting that you say that because I um when I'm doing something you know that requires being creative, um, whether it's writing or or whatever, painting or photography, et cetera, um I feel it's it's that in order to tap into that sort of like ether of of creativity, which you don't know where it's coming from. It just, you know, you know when you're tapping into it, you know when you're not. Um and you my best work is that I don't even know, I didn't even know who that person is who wrote who did something. It just sort of like happened. But in order for me to get to that point, most of the time, um, if not all of the time, I require that sort of harmony. Um, that it's not exactly just quiet and you know, it's the patience and the quiet and the simplicity all coming together um to create that flow versus um when everything is coming at you um and everything seems to be almost a chaotic, you know, uh ensemble of things, um, it's very hard to create something really nice and beautiful and um it feels you know the and and coherent you know cohesive. Um and um I think that's part of what you know artists you know are really known for is to be able to sort of like get that focus and block it all out and have that quiet, you know, and it's it's getting more and more difficult, I think, to get to that place these days. It is, you know, because we're overstimulated. Um uh the discovery of of of sort of like you know, patience and quiet is now uh you know, even that now is becoming an industry, right? Yeah. So um you have to be away to some other place that has you know dedicated for wellness in order for you to get you know this luxury of quietude, yeah, which is kind of interesting. Now um there, you know, storyteller, the idea of a storyteller um is bandied about um rather easily these days. Um when when I read your writings and I hear your music, um it's almost as if a storyteller was not what was coming up in my mind. It's more of painting a picture where you don't say, you know, you don't lead us to here's the conclusion you have to go here. Um you paint a picture of something, uh, of of a concept, and let the listener or the reader draw their own conclusions and bring them where they are. Yes. So um I almost was thinking of um uh like a uh a lyrical artist, where um my vision of it is like if there's a dried leaf that's floating in the air and it's just jumping from one thing to another, it's going somewhere and you're looking at it, it's so beautiful, but you don't know where it's going to end, but you create your own sort of thing. So um with your music and also in writing, I think you feel like I feel like you have this cadence of thoughts. Um, and within them sort of is like what you're trying, you know, um what you're conveying. Um what is your process in writing or in in uh in in writing music or in um in writing literary a literary work?

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Uh the process is actually uh very similar for both. So I've been a musician much longer than I've been writing. Um I I started writing only a couple of years ago uh for music publications for Acoustic Guitar Magazine and Premier Guitar magazine, uh to write mu articles about approaching composition, which sort of led into writing Simply, Patiently, Quietly. And now I'm working on a new book that's more of prose vignettes, uh, that are more what you just said, image based uh and themed around awareness from it's all Nonfiction based on experiences I've had, people I've met who have inspired me to increase awareness in various ways. Um, but the process of creating music and writing for me is similar in the way that I approach it from a point of distillation and communication. So I'm not particularly interested in giving my idea to somebody as much as I am starting a conversation and allowing them to come in with me. Um so I I really appreciate the insight you just shared that you had the experience of with my writing and music, uh you had the experience of uh almost something is started but not finished. Uh that's very much what I I want. Um, I I want to invite, uh I want it to be an invitation to wonder. So I want to start something and be very authentic about it, but I want to leave room similar to the one-to-one conversation comparison. I want to leave room for the other person to bring themselves into it with me. Um, and I want it to be uh experiential in that way. Um, because it's not complete really with my music or my writing. I don't have a complete thing to share. I have a concept that I believe is valid and worth sharing that I want to bring people in on. So I like the idea of leaving a certain level of ambiguity for people to finish or continue however they like.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

And it's that's um, and again, that goes against um our world where everything has to be obvious. Um, you know, it has to be spelled out, otherwise, you know, people who are left, you know, I remember, you know, people who who get very um dissatisfied with movies that don't have endings, you know, you know, or the endings that they like, you know, it's it's you know, for some reason they forget the sort of like the art of of of creating um you know of creating film, right? Um and artists, when they do paintings or sculptures, etc., um they're aware that it's never complete, that it's the other, it's the um reader or it's the um viewer um that completes it with their own thoughts, with their own lives, with their own experiences. Um now there we also talked um let's talk briefly about uh intention um because this is this is a a very important um concept. Um you believe in intention. Um so let's let's talk a little bit. What's what's the difference between um music with intention and music um with uh intention as a consequence versus as a source?

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Oh that's that's uh I actually really like uh the way you put that. Uh intention is a consequence as opposed to as a source. Um I believe creating music or any kind of art with intention means that you're creating it uh to be bigger than yourself, that there's a reason for the art beyond your own expression. Uh that that's how I approach it in any way. That um there's ideas I have. Uh it's uh I'll put it this way, uh the difference in writing uh between journaling or writing something that you plan on sharing. I I believe that's the difference. When I journal, um I I just write what I'm thinking for me. Uh and it's it's written for that reason. It's it's written for me to just sort of braindump what's in my head. And yeah, sometimes that will lead to an idea that I want to flesh out uh for that's intended, that has intention for sharing. But much of the time when I'm having coffee in the morning and I'm journaling, I'm just talking about myself to myself. It's a way to sort of reflect on ideas, but it's not meant to be shared. I feel like intention, intentional art is meant to be given to it, meant to be received, um, which means there's something intrinsic about that offering uh that's meant to be beneficial, uh, or you believe there's something in it that's beneficial. And if it's beneficial, it has to be beyond only yourself, uh, because it has to uh, you know, uh apply or appeal to other people in their lives. So I feel like art with intention, music with intention, or writing with intention, uh the difference between that and art with intention as consequence would be that if you write it or make music from intention, you're trying to tap into something beyond yourself, which will access something beyond the self of the receiver. That's the way I think of it.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

I see. So um so it's it's you know it's a little bit more than just you know having substance to what you know what you're doing. Um and it's um, I guess, uh, in a lot of ways, it it's not empty calories. Um so you're just giving for the sake of giving, but there's really nothing, you know, underneath there. Um so um but but how do we differentiate between um or can you differentiate between a music that was built with intention um or on intention, I should, you know, uh you know, should I say, and music, you know, or or any art, any form of art that was, you know, just sort of like created for the sake of creating or producing something.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

I I feel like uh for me personally, um I don't I don't really spend energy on trying to differentiate what other people why other people do what they do creatively. Um I don't claim to be able to uh you know pick out oh well this was intentional and this wasn't. Uh I I don't I don't believe that's fair for me to say of somebody else. Um, because maybe it is intentional and I don't understand it, because that is possible. Um it's definitely possible that people might not feel that my work is intentional, even though it it is I create it from intention. Um but maybe that doesn't land. I mean, that can happen too. So I feel like uh the only differentiating that anyone can do is of their own output, really. Uh, you know, I I genuinely and authentically create from a point of intention. My music is built on and of intention, my writing is the same. Um, but I can only differentiate if I'm doing that or not. Um, I can absolutely differentiate that and I can call myself out on that. Um, there is art that I don't connect with, uh, which would mean either I don't connect with the intention it was built on, or that maybe the creator wasn't concerned. Um, but I don't believe that I can really differentiate that. I don't think it's fair for me to say that I can differentiate it. I can only say what connects with me and what doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Um well there's there's um uh there there are there are certain things that are completely alien to us because we're it's just not part of our our our life experience. Yeah. Right. So um, you know, if we being warm in the middle of a very, very cold winter, ice fishing is not something that I'm aware of. And therefore, any type of work that has to do with that, I may not be able to relate to or relate to as well as somebody who has had sort of like that experience. Yeah. Um, you know, so um, but the part of the thing that that also we you you base uh you know your work on, um especially your music, um, are literary pieces. And literary pieces, um you know the way I understood you know lit literature as art versus literature for the sake of literature is that literature literature for art uh you know is um timeless, timely, and you know, generally universal, right? Um looking at liter lit uh literary pieces and um basing your music on that, um and I'm gonna pivot a little bit, um is there something within that sort of like conversation of you know what you're basing it on and and your music that was um for more of the classic literary pieces um prevalent and it's sort of like missing in modern conversation?

SPEAKER_01 30:07

I feel like uh a lot of the classic literature that I work with, uh specifically with the Bronte sisters, who I'm a massive fan of, particularly Ann and Emily Bronte's poems, um though that work connects with me because I feel like it's it's what you said, it is timeless and it does relate to modern society uh in a way that I feel like sort of going back to what you were just saying, I think a lot of people might not connect with it now because of the use of the the you know sort of archaic language or but but thematically it's it's it is so simple. A lot of those because they they spent most of their lives in a very you know confined area. So they were just taking these very simple observations, but blowing them up, magnifying them. Um and uh everyone can relate to that if they're willing you know to be reduced. Um and I feel like that's sort of the through line with the literature that inspires me in my writing and in my music. I I enjoy being reduced by the grandiose thinking of you know a writer like Emily Bronte who can describe you know going for a walk and just blow my mind with it because of how she's experiencing going for a walk. Um, so there's one uh a really quick antidote in um one of the essays in the book, in the Simply essay, uh I was trying to write music inspired by one of uh Ann Bronte's poems, um, The Doubter's Prayer, which is a poem where she's basically expressing that she feels that she's not measuring up to the person she's supposed to be. And I really wanted to write something about that. So uh I in the airport, I got my guitar out and found a corner because I I didn't want anyone to hear it. I just wanted to get the idea down. And I I, you know, got my phone out and tried to make a voice memo recording of it. And um, I was disappointed when I listened back. It was like, oh, you know, this sucks. This this isn't measuring up to her intention of writing about not measuring up to who she's supposed to be. I was like, this isn't good enough. This is garbage. You know, I was really angry and depressed uh that that I really thought I had something and that it wasn't measuring up. And as I'm putting my guitar away, I look up and there's this this little girl standing in front of me that I didn't, you know, she was pretty light on her feet. I didn't hear anyone walk up. Um, but she was just standing there and it kind of surprised me. And she just said, I really like your song, and then ran away. Um, so that I I mean that that was so sweet and you know, a really impactful situation for me because going back to your original question, it's that reduction in in the literature. Uh I I feel like good literature has that ability to reduce and distill your cognitive function, you know, to take away a little bit of that that hustle mentality and reduce you back to the way you're you should think.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Uh well, I I think the um going back to simple and and you know, simplicity and and um and being reduced, I think what what's what's a struggle for a lot of people is that um of being is that we are so um we are now being told how special we are. Um that um being reduced means that we are just like everybody else. Um and one of the one of the things that I like about the 12-step programs is that how it makes people who go there feel so unspecial. Coming in, you know, coming in with the idea like nobody's like me, nobody has the problems that I do, nobody, you know, have all of these things. And then as you listen to more and more and more people, you realize I'm really not that special. Um and in fact, that's that that the that very quality of not being so special is is is what's special about us. It's what connects all of us in the world. And it doesn't matter where you're from, right? Is that sort of like the experience of walking you know through the woods um and hearing, you know, all sorts of things and and you know how how the you know the the the the earth feels um you know uh if you're walking barefoot and or on the beach, etc. They're all sort of like these um connected experiences that we have, um, that although you know sometimes even as artists we kind of want to make it so special and different, um it, you know, when it fails, it fails because it is not connected, it's not reduced, it's not um you're trying to be something that it's you know, that that we're just not, you know. And I think that's sort of like the um the the struggle. Now, um we you also talk about um microscopes versus telescopes. Um and this is what I was thinking when when when when I thought about this, you know, microscopes sort of like measures how far we are from what's literally in front of us, and then a telescope you know is how near we are from what's above, right? Um very strange, basically the same instrument, but our perception of that is sort of like very, very different. Yeah, yeah, right. So um talk it talk to us about that. What what you know what about music is sort of like macroscopic and um telescopic, microscopic and telescopic. Um, or any, you know, any of this um, you know, you talked about the details of of of um of music, especially with guitar. Guitar is very difficult, you know. They say easy to learn, very difficult to master.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah. Um uh there's uh a a good way to get into this is another quote uh from my previous teacher from Connie Cruthers. She used to always tell me in our lessons, and she was a pianist, uh, so I would study with her and we would play together um and and sort of explore improvisation specifically. And one thing she would always tell me to remember and to think about was that every note has its own universe. Um so to look at it in this way that you know, every every note, if you play a note, you should be reverent to a myriad of details, uh, that there's a lot going on. Uh, and I feel like that's what the literature I'm really inspired by, and the the music that I love and the music in the literature that I try and aspire to create is is looking into the overlooked, the nuanced details. And and I think music has the ability to, again, uh I I think reduction also relates to this. It has the ability to reduce the busyness of your mind to make small things more apparent and and make the the value of smaller things more apparent. And good literature and and good music has the ability to do that um by giving you the space to do it when you don't have the space in day-to-day life, when you are bombarded with sort of, you know, uh all these sounds, all these images, all this instant gratification. It maybe it's most apparent in literature when uh a book, a good book, a good poem can use words to describe something that'll take you a few minutes, you know, to visualize. But in reality, if you look at it, it's over in a second. So it makes you slow down. It reduces your sensations and it makes you savor them instead of instead of just swallowing them, it makes you slowly taste them. Uh, and I think music and literature has the unique ability to do that, to reduce you, slow you down, and make you focus on nuanced and small things and realize how valuable they are when we're so used to mowing them over. And we're being told to mow them over that that if if we're to be successful, if we're to be productive, we have to move fast. Uh, we have to move fast. We don't have time to savor, we have to consume uh as quickly as possible and as much as possible. Um, so it's it's kind of an impatient, gluttonous approach to you know, taking in the world that we're in instead of slowing down and being reduced. And music and literature are excellent sources of reduction to make you look closer at those smaller details to magnify them, to blow them up so they're huge, uh, when they might just be non existent otherwise.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

In your mind, um, does it matter or is there a difference um specifically with guitar versus other you know instruments um in how people you know relate or react? Um you know, or or or or does it even m matter? Um in in sort of like your your approach. You know, there are people who like, for instance, electric guitars versus acoustic guitars versus you know all of these things, and they sort of, you know, they have different personalities, etc. Um But in in in sort of like a general sense, right? Is there something very specific to guitar you feel um that um you know the experience might be you know an interesting exploration because guitars these days, it's you know, maybe maybe it's just me, maybe it's because I live in the city and I never really listen to anything. But you know, it used to be like you know, in some sort of field somebody's playing a guitar or some sort of street, somebody's playing a guitar. In Europe, you'll see this a lot. Yeah, yeah. You know, um, and and you could just enjoy sort of like the you know how the guitar sings, right? Um but a guitar sings differently to me anyway, um, you know, from a violin or or a saxophone. Um how will how you know how what is your sort of you know, how would you characterize what guitar, what guitar, you know, how guitar stares people um you know in a sort of like intimate way.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Well, yeah, I think uh one thing about guitar, uh I particularly favor the acoustic guitar because it's an extremely unforgiving instrument. Um so if you think of a polyphonic instrument like a piano, pianos and guitars get associated a lot because of the percussive nature of you know hitting a string to make sound and and being able to play single notes or chords um unlike a horn. Um but a piano, uh, first of all, uh you can play with both hands at the same time and you have a sustained pedal. Um so with guitar, you're also using both hands, but only one hand is covering the harmony and one hand is covering uh the attack. And there's no sustain pedal. You have to figure out how you sustain with your hands. Um how you use things like open strings, how you use fingerings. There's a lot of momentary problem solving involved. It's a workout. Um, and playing solo acoustic guitar is you're very exposed, it's it's very vulnerable. And I love that. Um, I think it's very uh in its lack of accommodation, it's very accommodating to produce music that will stir the listener because you're making music on an exposed instrument that brings out all of your flaws as a musician and you're choosing to do that. And whether people know it or not, I feel like it makes the music that's produced that way hit harder. Um, so I feel like that's something very special about the acoustic guitar. And I don't I don't think it's better or worse than any other instrument. It's my instrument, so I know it intimately in ways that I don't know other instruments. But what I like about it is the choice to be vulnerable, the choice to be reduced. If you choose to play a solo acoustic guitar, you're choosing to be reduced and not accommodated. Uh, and I feel like in that decision, the music will reflect a certain emotion and a certain intention that I know I wouldn't have if I tried to compose on a piano or other instruments I know how to play. Um it's it's that reduction in vulnerability that I think defines the acoustic guitar.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Right. And and and I think, you know, in some ways the instrument also chooses you, right? You know, there's certain things where you know you could play all multiple instruments, but you're really good at one of them. You know? Yeah. You can really make one of them sing, but not all of them sing. So last but not the least, what is, you know, for for for you, um, moving forward, or maybe not moving forward, maybe just you know, at is, what is what is the big intention now? Okay, what is the you know, what what's the what's the uh what's what's the goal um in in your mind in terms of just not just literature but also music? Um but but how do you keep aligned with that sort of idea of intentionality um in in what you do? Um, just to sort of like help other people um, you know, focus on that intentionality as well.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Yeah, I th I think moving forward, uh I'm I'm working on a new book right now that's that's a collection of essays and sort of miniature prose vignettes that I mentioned earlier. Um that that's my main focus project-wise. Uh, but it also sort of epitomizes my sort of thought on moving forward, where I feel like the type of work I create, uh, it can't be that I'm trying to create the work itself. The work has to be the result of what I believe I'm supposed to be uh embodying in my life. And if I'm living the way that I truly believe I should be, the work will come from that. So I feel like I need to focus more on living the way that I should live and believing what I should believe. And the product of that is the work. The work itself isn't the focus, the work is the product of the life. Um, so that's that's moving forward what my goal is. And I feel like that's the way, the only way I can produce the work uh in the way that it needs to be created with the intention it needs to have, is if it's the product of living a certain way and believing a certain way and being aware, uh, and and choosing to be aware and choosing uh similar to what you you had mentioned before uh choosing to acknowledge when you do need to go against what the rest of the world is is telling you to do that you do need to be reduced, you need to pay attention, you need to learn to be patient and empathetic. You need to embrace the quiet. You need to learn how to reduce yourself to a simple foundation and let the work follow from that.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

So it's not just like working with intention or living with intention, but also recognizing um what the intention is, you know, to begin with. Yeah. Right. And not just sort of like reacting to the to everything that's going around. Yeah. Well thank you so much Charlie Rao for for this wonderful, very insightful conversation. Thank you for having me. We we look forward to hearing more of your music. We look forward to um your upcoming book you know as well um and um for everybody who I think um Perry probably would would take a few clips of the of the book also so that we could have the lyrics I mean I'm sorry the um the text from the from the from the books as well um but you know for now um we say um till next time um this is loy carlos on behalf of classic modern and global wealth wishing you peace and good wealth