Two of years ago I was sitting on a plane on my way to Wyoming, thinking about how busy I was and how the year ahead was going to be a doozy professionally. It started out as a bit of a downer, but the more I thought about it, the more pumped up I got.

It seemed that I was actually looking forward to the prospect of what I affectionately call the “daily grind”. Since also around that time I had been messing around with writing lyrics for a friend of mine to put to music, I picked up my notebook and put these feelings into verse:

Six forty-five comes fast these days
Not much rest for the worried mind
So much more to think about
It seems these middle ages are less than kind
Seems these middle ages are less than kindAnd the shower brings me clarity
Cleans away past residue
Looking for a caffeine jolt
I know exactly what to do
I know exactly what to do

Daily grind
Double shot of mankind
Adrenaline is my best friend
It drives my heart around the bend
The spice of life is what I find
When I taste, I taste that daily grind

And yet chaos brings me clarity
Contradiction through and through
Need another caffeine jolt
I know exactly what to do
Oh yes I know exactly what to do

I need that Daily grind
Double shot of mankind

The Daily Grind is what I need
I got a mind I need to feed

I showed the lyric to my music writing friend a couple of days later, and it wasn’t long before he sent me a demo of the melody. It really captured the feelings that I put on paper. The next time we got together I put a vocal to it (he played ALL the instruments, bless his heart), as well as some harmony vocals. We had a blast, because we both could relate to what I was singing.

Relating that double shot of espresso to a hectic day at the office wasn’t too big of a stretch -they both provided me with positive energy to “feed” my mind (i.e. my love of learning). Little did I know that a year later I would have much more opportunity to talk about this positivity (and dub it “Half-Fullism”) on this blog.

So it is appropriate to highlight the finished product on the second anniversary of its creation -here is “The Daily Grind”.

Thanks also to Jodee Bock for playing this on her Sunday radio show (“You Already Know This Stuff”) a couple of times – that was a thrill to hear it on the radio!

I hope chaos can bring you clarity too – just taste the “Daily Grind”!