Sometimes, the really simple stuff is deceptively hard to understand. For example, here are a few tricky concepts I’ve been reading about at work, and trying to use every day:

Everything that exists exists right now.
• Nothing exists except for what exists right now.
• This moment is what it is, as it is, because it is.
• This moment cannot be changed, because it is a done deal.
• Everything else exists only in our minds, even the past.

Alive! may be the most misleading album title of all time, NOT because there are overdubs on the record, and NOT because it’s an inanimate object. It’s misleading because it has come and gone, just like these words I’m typing.

This is what we struggle with constantly. We refuse to accept the fact that this moment is ALL we have, and that it’s a done deal. Instead, we wind up saying things like:

“I should be making more money.”
“She should have said it more often.”
“He should have done it differently.”

Basically, we spend most of our lives should-ing on ourselves! Even worse, we miss out on everything that’s happening all around us. I don’t know who said it first, but there’s an expression that comes to mind:

“If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you’re crapping on the present.”

And you know something? We, the members of the KISS Army, often make that mistake.
Think about it: how often do the “shoulds” come out when we’re talking about KISS lineups (who’s in and who’s out), KISS albums (who played and who didn’t), KISS tours (full seats and empty seats), and the big one since 2001, KISS makeup?

“Should” is a pointless word, because the past is absolutely gone. So what’s left? Everything!

Every time we put on our copies of “Alive!” it becomes a part of the present, and in some ways, it’s very much alive again.

We said “goodbye” to Eric Carr many moons ago, and now we’re saying “goodbye” to Mark St. John. Already, we’re being tempted by the “shoulds,” as we think about what was and what wasn’t and what could have been.

Instead, why don’t we listen to Animalize and enjoy what IS?

Rather than dedicate this show to the passing of Mark St. John, James and I want to dedicate this show to something that’s still alive and always will be: his music.

In this episode:

– We take another trip to ABNER’S LABORATORY to hear the Animalize
album in the making.

– We get HOOKED ON ROCK AND ROLL and find out where “Firehouse” came from.

– We present our EXCLUSIVE BRUCE KULICK INTERVIEW, conducted by our
good friends Corey Nowlin and Mike Flasch.

and much, much more!!!

So take some time to enjoy this installment of PodKISSt, and then do something else. Whatever you do, though, don’t let the autopilot take over, don’t let your memories capture your focus don’t get stuck in the “shoulds.” Just enjoy what is, as it is, because it is, and get all you can take.

Thanks, Mark, for being a part of this moment, and this one, and this one, and this one.

(Please check out our friend Corey Nowlin’s site http://www.effnshirts.com where Corey puts his own wild spin on KISS t-shirt designs!)

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Now, in the words of the Demon… TURN IT UP!!!

Gary

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