Meditation Apps Shouldn’t Keep Score
You know, these days, even a meditation app will try to stress you out—like when it asks you (or tries to tell you) how many days in a row you’ve meditated. Seems kind of counter to the whole process.
As I’ve outlined here maybe 20 times in the blog, I’m pretty protective of my morning routine—the quiet—and committed to sitting there and doing nothing. The idea is to clear my brain for at least as long as it takes me to drink one cup of coffee, and that lasts me throughout the day. It’s a practice I heartily recommend, although I’d never want to tell anyone what to do. Here, it’s just about sharing experiences.
So this morning, I set out to do a January track. It’s right [here[(https://soundcloud.com/jdtorian/20260114-op1f-demo-1).
It was an OP-1 track, which means it starts with drums, then guitar, then bass, then whatever synth seems to work. That’s the method that’s really kind of perfected itself through practice over these 14 days. Two weeks, I might add—I haven’t missed a day. Not that missing a day matters. (See first paragraph.)
The general point is: when I’m making this music—and I assume it’s the same for a lot of people—if I’ve practiced enough to get myself in the place where music can be made, I’m all in and not thinking about anything else. I don’t think about how cold it is, whether my coffee’s warm or cold, or about work or anything else. I’m just trying to get that piece of music fleshed out and done to a point where I can hit the mixdown button.
This, in itself, is incredibly meditative because I’m solely doing one thing.
If I could point to anything over the last two weeks that’s been great about the mornings and doing this, it’s been this focused time.
Think here: when you’re practicing, you’re thinking about so many different things, and you’re not there—you’re at the gig or whatever you’re practicing for. But when you’re creating new music, the true gift of it is: if you do it enough, and if you have enough reps (and it’s absolutely possible to get to this state), you’re only doing it.
I’m not sure in my life that I have a more pure state right now. What more could you really ask for within the context of this modern, noisy life?