WHY SOME PUNK SINGERS ONLY WHISPER: TIME, PLACE, & CONTEXT

Context, Time, and Place are rarely considered when we learn stuff. For example, when I suggest more pulling exercises to the yoga teachers I train. We often forget the time, place, and context when yoga was created. It was a time when “chop wood carry water” was more the norm than going to a retreat where we are served and pampered by the locals or hitting up the hot yoga class on the way home from work. We often don’t consider that many spiritual practices were also the path to finding bliss and gratitude in times of great struggle and suffering. The practice was a path to balance, so perhaps a blissful practice in a blissful retreat followed by a blissful party, then a blissful massage, and more bliss, bliss, bliss, might have you numb to bliss. Perhaps a little suffering or hard work could add contrast and gratitude to the bliss train we’ve hopped on.

Martial arts are full of rich stories that teach powerful, timeless wisdom. They prove the power of context, time, and place and how they can influence how you use tools and information.

A time when impractical martial arts were practical.

Tae Kwon Do is famous for high-flying kicks, and there was a time, all my mentors would also tell me that kicking high and spinning around is highly impractical. However, the story I was told when I was 8 or 9 years old was that those kicks were for kicking people off of horses or fighting someone uphill from you because many villages were in valleys, so they would be attacked by people moving downhill. Now, it makes sense.

There was a kung fu system I started learning with very low stances. I wondered why we were staying so low in our footwork. The context or story of that type of footwork was that martial artists were usually arrested during this time in history, so they would practice on their boats below deck. However, the ceilings were very low, so the stances became low. As luck would have it, when the martial artists came on shore and fought, their legs were so strong, and their footwork was so powerful that these martial artists became very feared—ah, time, place, context.

Your wellness practice today in your body now.

Are you going into your wellness journey trying to get your youth back or with an awareness that you can be fit, capable, and happy at your age now, in your body today? Are you trying to return to a time when you had less responsibility or thought staying up all night was fun? Who are you today? Admit it, because that's who you are, and that's where you are. However, there are a lot of things you may be overlooking. I consistently forget that I am valuable and capable because my skillset is rarely required. So life was really weird for a decade or three. What context do you need your mental and physical health? What time are you in now? One journaling session with me, we can sort this whole path out, sh'mon. 

Creativity in context is revolutionary.

The context of mixing records in hip hop—forgive me if I get this wrong—is that people were poor and couldn’t afford musical instruments, so they began mixing records together to make new sounds and beats, which became hip hop.

Do you love guitar players? Eddie Van Halen’s guitar has a unique sound because he could only afford a used amp, but it had European circuits, which are 220 volts, and when he plugged it into his 110-volt outlet at home, his tubes were underpowered. That mistake made him realize he could manipulate the voltage in the amp to control the tone instead of just turning it up to eleven like everyone else.

Why did the punk rocker only whisper?

One of the most intense punk singers I had ever heard played the most aggressive music but at a whisper-quiet volume level. He would crouch low and quietly pluck his guitar with tense fury as he would whisper scream lyrics. It was like being in a riot, but you could hear a pin drop. [Hmm. A Quiet Riot] He explained that in communist Russia, you couldn’t play punk music, so he had to do shows quietly in small flats, as all the punks would huddle around him. They would quietly have punk shows in near silence so they wouldn’t be imprisoned.

There are so many examples of how time, place, and context created a unique mixture of creative adaptation that revolutionizes or creates an entirely new way to view and express traditions.

So, how are you adapting to time, place, and context in your life?

We so often force things without considering these three elements. You want a simple life, but now you can communicate worldwide. We wonder why FOMO, wanderlust, and being unfulfilled are so rampant. The times will tell us that life is more complicated now, yet it occurs on a screen. We used to hear about things happening worldwide and wonder; I remember being on the East Coast and hearing about some martial arts in Okinawa or music in Seattle. Now, we have instant free access to information, which inhibits our time for real-life experiences. Did you google it or hitchhike to the event and work your way to the front of the stage?

How you interact with your arts and practices will dictate your connection and relationship with them, just like having an online chat with a stranger or traveling Europe with someone for a year. It’s different. 

So many of us forget that an algorithm feeds us a very limited and carefully curated feed of news and views based on what we engage with. We must look beyond our algorithms. Time, place, and context are essential to realize that 20 years ago, this algorithm didn’t exist. You must seek balance because balance is not what keeps society working, however, balance will prevail, you just might not be included into the grand solution.

Are you taking your grandma’s cookie recipe and making it gluten-free or practicing qigong to improve your posture? You sit a lot, just like the monks, but you are at a computer, not on a pillow in a temple.  So, you also need some strength training and techniques to de-stress.

So, consider time, place, and context. Word up, and  CLICK HERE. Let’s work together.