Afrosonica

Onlow

Coka

Stolio

Drive

Sangre Nueva

Firmando en Fuego

Herederos del Poder

Dembow Callejero

Andamos Con Dembow

Rompiéndola

Sail Mind

No Evil

About a year ago I lost my voice. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything, even playing my guitar. And then one day things seemed to change. It was a night where I thought to myself I don’t like who I’ve been lately, so I’m not going to be that guy anymore, with or without my voice.

I remembered who I used to be, and how good and natural it felt to be that person. I didn’t have the same body and probably bruised more easily than I used to, but I remembered who I was on that deeper level and how I saw the world. So I told myself I’d go back to being that person by staying true to it; and I knew it, and so I was. And it felt good.

It even felt simple, as I was quite suddenly able to look back on it.

I’m not out of the woods, but I likely never will be.

It’s the sort of uneasy truce that comes with honesty.

Eventually my voice started coming back. I still didn’t pick up the guitar for a while longer either, but it was alright. I had a feeling that I would play again when the time was right.

Now this is no philosophy I care to name, and I stay away from the -isms, which tend to limit critical thinking and creativity. In my experience, giving yourself a name for observing a set of principles is unnecessary as opposed to tending toward those principles in daily life, and then letting the rest speak for itself.

I do wonder whether the -isms continued popularity might suggest a deeper need among us to be a part of something other than the human race, which alone might be unsatisfying for many.

I believe in compassion as a core principle for any society.

Then I believe in a balance between intuition and empirical evidence.

What some might call common sense.

Although if we’ve decided common sense means different things to different people, then we might have to question whether common sense exists at all.

In the meantime this new album is called 12 Themes Approximately and the Funky Earth Sounds. Actually that might be reversed. But they both work.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying vigilant.

It’s a good time to start trusting each other.

Ren Michael

Jan 11 2026

Street Sonata in B Minor

Stolio

Sammitalker