2014 – Brazil, First Book, and Diabetes

New Year’s Day began with an Al-Anon[1] Party in the morning followed by a Soka Group[2] shift for New Year’s Gongyo[3] at NYCC. Yoko and I had just completed the first full year in our new home in Brooklyn. It took some time to find our groove, but we were now in a state of momentum and various wheels were in motion. In addition to teaching lessons at Grace Music Center, I had three adult private students, and one adult English student to keep track of with scheduling and homework. Also, various faith-related activities as an SGI-USA young men’s leader were strong presences in my weekly and nearly daily schedule.

I was focusing on building my web presence as a guitar teacher and uploaded a series of beginner single string lesson videos[4] to build the content on my John Henry Guitar Lessons YouTube channel. And I was hard at work putting the finishing touches on my first book, Single String Songs Vol. 1.

Yoko and I were busy preparing for our upcoming three-week trip to Brazil. We had to visit the Brazilian embassy in Manhattan which was a little intimidating. Among other various pre-trip preparations, it befell on me to help Grace Music Center (GMC) find an appropriate substitute for three weeks. While guitar teachers were not too hard to come by, finding one who understood my teaching method, who was good with kids, and who was available during the timeslots that I needed them was tricky. I was fortunate to find a solid sub with local guitarist Roy, an acquaintance from Brooklyn College. Similarly, I also was in frequent communication with my Buddhist co-leaders regarding multiple activities and felt the urge to go all out to compensate somewhat for my time away. I was experiencing a lot of stress and pressure leading up to the trip.

We landed in Brazil on January 31^st. Our first destination was Campo Grande where we stayed in a questionable motel for one night. In the morning we traveled to a lovely youth hostel in Bonito. There we spent a few gorgeous days snorkeling in rivers and lakes, hiking down into a cave with bright blue water, and enjoying local foods and juices. Afterwards there were a couple of arduous super-long bus rides from one city to another. On these I refreshed my Portuguese study as well as reflected on my desire to release my own music, both original and cover songs. 

We visited the natural marvel Iguaçu Falls[5] on the western border of the country near Paraguay and Argentina. Being in Iguaçu National Park was overwhelmingly awesome. I couldn’t get over the vastness of the many waterfalls, the incredible amounts of water and the power of nature. It humbled me and encouraged me as to the power of Mother Earth.

I had gained weight since our time in Brazil in 2010 and couldn’t help but notice how much thicker I looked compared to many of the locals I was interacting with. I guess I had been really enjoying the past few years of married life with a wonderful cook, chef Yoko. 

We were hosted in São Paulo for a few days by two IICD-related friends. I had the exciting chance to visit an SGI-Brazil center. I was impressed with how much larger the building was than the SGI-USA New York Culture Center. It reminded me more of the Soka Gakkai centers in Japan though similar to New York in its multicultural aspect. A fellow young man Soka Group member was kind enough to give us a tour of the building. We also went to a soccer match while in São Paulo. Yoko and our two friends seemed relaxed and happy there, but I was on edge. The intense energy and chanting of team songs between opposing cheering squads felt ominous. 

On one bus trip we accidentally went the wrong way and ended up lucking out with having a chance to stay overnight in the very lovely tourist spot of Praia do Forte. After more long hours on buses, we found ourselves in the familiar town of Quijingue where our volunteer activities were headquartered back in 2010. Our former NGO[6], Humana was still there although it had moved the locations of its office and dormitory. A comforting face, our former chief Raimundo welcomed us at the bus stop and put us up at the dorm for the few nights that we spent there. It was amazing to be back. The bare bones plumbing, and the mosquitoes welcomed us along with lovely weather and a few friendly folks. That night after Brazilian pizza and soda we went to a small outdoor bar where we hung out with some friends and jammed on music for a few hours. 

We spent the weekend in the village community Lagoa da Barra, where we had been based for four months in 2010. We received a warm welcome. I was out jamming in the street with people for a while. We went around visiting families, we hung out with the current volunteers who were there, and then attended the big Sunday church service which gave us an opportunity to participate and perform. Yoko presented, via slideshow, a small book she had made which featured artwork based on photos from our time living in Lagoa da Barra. The community and the pastor were very moved. It was a beautiful experience. The next day Pastor João helped us to find a good spot in nature to leave some of our deceased son Coração’s ashes. Yoko and I wanted to do so as his life and our relationship were very much connected to this land and village community.

Unfortunately, the trip was catching up to me and I started to get sick. After departing our beloved Lagoa da Barra, we made our way back to Quijingue and then to Jorro, which had a hot spring bath site in the middle of town. We stayed one night in Salvador before our flight the next day. I could barely breathe that night from how bad I felt and the next day I visited the emergency medical staff at Salvador Bahia Airport. I worried whether or not, in my poor condition, I could make it all the way back to New York without incident. They assured me I was healthy enough to get on the plane and so I did and endured a very uncomfortable trip.

I kept low key that first week back in Brooklyn. All I could do was sit on the couch for hours reading Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. As I read Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, I suspected I was physically feeling almost as uncomfortable as the travelers in the story stuck deep in the earth. I was doing my best to build back my health reserves because I knew I was surely going to need them. I sensed 2014 still had a lot in store for me.

I was swept along with the fervor of SGI-USA activities which tended to intensify towards March 16^th, known as Kosen-rufu Day[7]. Even though I often felt overwhelmed by activities and responsibilities on various fronts, I still managed to be productive, albeit through discipline and a commitment to making the most of small windows of opportunity daily. Finally, on March 25^th, I published my first book, Single String Songs Vol. 1. This was a dream come true and something that I appreciated myself for following through on despite the countless unknowns and difficulties along the way.

April was eventful. Yoko’s sister Ah-chan visited us in Brooklyn from Japan. There was much to share with her. Additionally, we had another visitor from Japan overlapping some of those days with Atsuko. A young man and former English student of mine, Kohei was staying with us for some days. At the beginning of the month, we had a small surprise birthday party for Mom’s 60^th.

I hadn’t been performing for some time. After much consideration and soul-searching, I chose to re-emerge once again as a musical performer, this time as a kid-friendly singer-songwriter teacher-performer. I practiced, promoted, and prepped. Then on Saturday April 12^th, right after a full day of guitar lessons at GMC, I went into the basement there and put on a solo performance[8] geared towards kids and the young at heart. I was eager to promote my new book and so I played extended versions of the kid-friendly songs in the book accompanied by back stories and corny jokes. 

With Yoko’s help, we did a photo shoot at the nearby Salt Marsh Nature Center, so that I could have some promo photos. In between my intense schedule I made it back to Los Angeles for another music conference, this time the 2014 ASCAP I Create Music Expo. Perhaps I learned more about myself than I did about the music industry at this event, namely that being a part of the music business was not a natural fit for my character. Yet, I was still determined to try and meet the reality of the music business halfway if I still could.

As ever May brought gorgeous weather and a strong urge to be creative and share that creativity with the world. Towards that end, I did a few live performances. I performed twice at Greenhouse Café Original Thursdays[9] and once more at GMC. At Greenhouse, I was playing to an adult audience which was a bit tricky. I didn’t have much in the way of new material besides my quirky kid-friendly songs, so I played some of them while mentioning my new book and then added some old originals from my acoustic folk era. Meanwhile, when performing at GMC I focused entirely on kid-friendly material and connected it to learning the guitar.

I did not enjoy self-promotion but tried to do at least the bare minimum. At performances, to keep interested persons in the loop with my diverse musical activities, I passed around my mailing list. Figuring out my core audience was confusing and complicated. I was collecting email addresses from bar-going adults, plus my guitar students, and parents of younger students. I wanted to promote my original music as well as my guitar teaching which basically meant I needed two platforms: [1] adult-friendly singer-songwriter and [2] kid-friendly songwriter-teacher-author. Lumping these various roles all together felt wonky, but that was who I was. By nature, I was multifaceted and disinterested in the business side of music, which made marketing and promoting a challenge to say the least.

My attempt to adapt to being a performing artist again was an uphill battle. The drive to either perform or self-promote was low. I was writing simple new music to coincide with my single string guitar teaching method. It felt worthwhile and relevant. But as far as writing to express personal feelings, I rarely felt the desire to do so and forcing it was pointless. While I felt I had precious gifts to share and that it was necessary for me to be in the public eye and promote myself to some degree, I was kind of dragging my heels to performances and afterwards wondering what it was all for.

Contributing to my low enthusiasm was my general lack of energy and well-being. I was having tooth and gum pain. There were dental visits and root canal work between all various activities. Beyond home and work life, as an SGI-USA YMD[10] leader, I felt called to expend tremendous energies in faith-related activities. I tried to refresh body and soul with time in our gardens. It helped, but it too required time, energy, and attention. I felt constrained by time and lack of energy.

One thing I still very much enjoyed was recording music. I had several sessions with Josh Salant at Salant Sound studio in Canarsie, Brooklyn. He was helping me to record three solid rock versions of my new kid-friendly songs: “Late for School”, “Laser Star”, and “Marching Marshmallows”. I loved recording, especially with an awesome guy like Josh. The Salant Sound recording project was a fantastic experience and necessary step towards motivating myself to begin learning to record and release music completely on my own.

In late May we heard that our beloved Electric Plant Sound Studios would be calling it a day. Dave Evans, Niles Kouros, and I got together for a farewell jam with Vin Cin. Jeremy Batchelor was also there capturing on film some of Electric Plant’s final moments. It was bittersweet as we sat and chatted with Uncle Vinny in his legendary local studio for the last time.

GMC held its annual Spring Recital in June. It coincided with the end of the school year and was generally a big deal as it represented a culmination of what the students had been working on throughout the previous months and weeks. I was the emcee again. It was a delight to see so many students showcasing music that they had been working on in front of an audience of family, friends, and peers. 

By early June, the three songs I had been recording at Salant Sound Studio were completed and the “Late for School” music video shoot was underway. I had reconnected with childhood friend Frank Galligan (who I used to collaborate with on Flice Productions movies during high school days) and found out he was still into doing video work. We agreed to experiment with making an official music video together, which would be my first. It was a lot of fun and I was thrilled to be working on it. We had a lot of laughs!

There was a damper, however. As I was running about, I couldn’t help but notice how lethargic and unusually tired I felt. I never liked feeling out of sorts physically, especially in my favorite warm weather months. Yet, I was feeling exhausted and noticing some disconcerting, odd symptoms. On top of this I was engaged with post and core work on a new root canal. I was still getting around on bike and did occasionally jog, but something was different. Everything was feeling like an uphill battle.

Meanwhile, Mom visited Norway by herself while we kept an eye on things for her. Mystically she had the chance to be there when her beloved Uncle Olav passed away which was meaningful for the family.

As a way to build out the content on my John Henry Guitar Lessons YouTube channel, I was inspired by Bob Baker’s concept of creating a series of videos around a central topic over the course of several days. And so, using the 4^th of July as a target date, in the days leading up to it, I created a vlog series with the somewhat mysterious title: John Henry’s Countdown to the 4^th of July V-Log Series: Beginner Guitarist’s Frequently Asked Questions[11].

On June 26^th, I embarked on a series of chord and song teaching videos entitled Easy Songs Using 4 Chords or Less and released the first one[12], “Learn to Play ‘Stand by Me’”. That night, I performed some songs at Greenhouse Café Original Thursday including “Traveler” which received a warm reception. My confidence was boosted as to the value of my original songs. Despite the fun and fruitful activities throughout the lovely month of June, I was feeling a general sense of heaviness.

In July, Yoko and I celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary at a lovely Greek restaurant followed by a Prospect Park concert with friends. Another night we went to Kingsborough Community College for an outdoor jazz concert and then took the hour-plus home from Sheepshead Bay. On the way we stopped for a large frozen yogurt. I acknowledged the self-indulgent aspect of it especially since I felt so tired and weak, and sensed that my diet was part of the culprit. But I couldn’t help it, I loved treats.

Guitar teaching at GMC was going well and I enjoyed teaching several pleasant and interesting young people there. Private guitar lessons at home had expanded a bit. I was beginning to accept students online and came up with a separate set of rates for both in-person and online lessons. I also joined a site called FindAGuitarTeacher.com and was interviewed[13] for the occasion, so that prospective students could sense what kind of teacher I was. To maintain a level of professionalism and mutual respect, I came up with and posted some lesson policies on my website.

Working on a big music video project with Frank Galligan was awesome. It was certainly a step up in sophistication from our teenage home movies. Thanks to my time working with Rock Asylum the year prior, I incorporated techniques and concepts that I had learned from Paulie Z and Dave Z during the making of the “American Revolution” music video. My debut official music video “Late for School”[14] was released on July 23^rd.

For my burgeoning John Henry Guitar Lessons YouTube channel, I had worked out a tradeoff with buddy Nik Edelman in which he would help me make some higher quality teaching videos to reinforce my Single String Songs Vol. 1 material[15] and I would help him with the development of his guitar jam tracks website. Nik also insisted on doing a pro headshot for me, which I really appreciated as it gave me something to work with for some years as I developed my professional presence.

Throughout July I couldn’t avoid acknowledging various distressing physical symptoms. I was concerned about several things: lack of energy, almost painfully weak feelings, low physical life condition, very sensitive teeth and gums, exhausted body, strange weight loss, a sticky and dry mouth, frequency and urgency of urination, and skin irritations. I was beginning to feel like something must be done, but really did not know what.

Try as I might, whatever abundant drive and enthusiasm for music performance I remembered possessing in the early 2000’s was simply no longer available to me. In early August I played again at Greenhouse Café’s Original Thursdays event, yet I was already feeling uninspired by the whole performance thing.

Other aspects of my musical life did appeal to me, however. I made up a fun guitar teacher flyer and began getting the word out locally about my guitar lessons. On August 10^th, the subscribers on my John Henry Guitar Lessons YouTube channel reached 6! I was determined to grow and create value with it. I also began posting “album art tracks” on my other YouTube channel (John Henry Sheridan Music) for songs from Brooklyn Folk (my 2001 debut album) so as to finally make them available digitally. And I was spending time looking into prospects for placing my music in film and TV.

As is apt to happen in summer, I found myself eating more ice cream and drinking more beer. Yet, I was losing weight as well as energy. My five-mile bike ride to GMC was exhausting, never mind having to teach for hours afterwards. My strange and unpleasant bodily symptoms seemed both disparate yet connected. Yoko and I were scheduled to visit with friends Paul and Bob in their beautiful cabin in the Adirondacks, NY. I thought it might be best to visit a doctor beforehand. 

I explained to friendly Dr. Mark, “I don’t exactly feel sick, but I have all these various unpleasant symptoms occurring more or less simultaneously.” 

“Let’s take a urine sample”, he replied. He appeared serious when he came back a few minutes later with the results. He looked me in the eyes and said, “I cannot confirm this without proper blood tests, but it seems you have diabetes.” 

I felt like it might be some odd joke. Like if I reacted the right way, it might not be true. He urged me to get a blood test as soon as possible after my trip. I left the office in a disconcerted daze. 

Yoko and I drove upstate to the Adirondacks with Paul in his car. Unsurprisingly, the conversation that week turned to health and food. Bob was a diabetic and pricked my finger to see if my blood sugar was elevated - it was. Paul and Bob treated me as loving uncles and geared me toward the healthier food choices that they were aware of.

We loved being in the forest. Their cabin was pretty deep in the woods. The closest neighbors were about shouting distance away. The screened-in back porch faced a sheer wall of forest. Just being in the cabin was a vacation. We also enjoyed long walks and drives in the beautiful nature amongst trees, lakes, rivers, mountains, wildlife, and that delicious air quality. Paul took us to the Adirondack Museum where we learned about the area’s history of lumberjacking. Before long it was time to return to “reality”.

In September, the hunt was on for a new primary doctor who would accept my insurance as my beloved Dr. Mark no longer did. I found Dr. Mason, who said he would see me if I promised to make him my primary. I didn’t feel like I had too many options, so I agreed. During those first visits to Dr. Mason, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and was prescribed some typical diabetic pills. While optimistic, the notion of living the rest of my life as a diabetic felt burdensome.

I began logging daily blood sugars in mid-September and for the first two weeks my daily average was well over 300. With Yoko and Mom’s help I began experimenting with various new foods according to what we were learning about diabetes. I was still quite ignorant of the true nature of diabetes and its effective management (if not reversal) of it. There was much to learn, and I often felt like I was drowning. 

My life was thrown into a minor tailspin as I began to make major energetic calibrations to not only new food choices, but effectively a new way of life. My schedule was naturally forced to shift priorities. Plans to release my next single string book were pushed back indefinitely. Also, there was a big SGI-USA YMD conference coming up in Florida which I was preparing myself to attend. My health was too unstable, so I chose to stay home as I acclimated myself to stabilizing my new diabetic reality.

I visited an endocrinologist and was started on glyburide on October 2^nd. The first half of the month my blood sugars were averaging in the 200s and trending downward. By late October I was in the lower 100s, and I was feeling very good about that. All this was a combination of finding the right medications and doses as well as eating somewhat healthier.

Meanwhile, I was actively researching how I could possibly live a happy, healthy, and fruitful life with my newfound condition. This inquiry soon led me to consider going primarily plant based. The main medical professionals and thought leaders that initially gave me hope were Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Neal Barnard. Their videos and books were eye-opening and inspirational. Through their teachings and explanations, I could sense that, while seemingly strict, a whole food plant based diet might indeed be the best choice for my healthy path forward.

I had done all the research and prep work that I could, and it was time to take radical action. On October 20^th, I officially shifted to a nutritarian diet[16]. My initial vault into a plant-based, minimally processed diet was kind of like jumping into the deep end of a chilly pool. I believed I could survive but didn’t know when I’d be able to relax and feel satisfied, if ever. 

It was socially confusing. I felt some vague resentment towards “regular” people eating the standard American diet. At gatherings, at restaurants, or wherever my eating choices were made side by side others, it would be challenging.

For me to successfully switch my eating patterns, I needed to be deeply convinced of the merits of doing so and so I took in as much information and encouragement about a plant-based lifestyle as I could. My nature was to enthusiastically share whatever I was into. My sharing of the merits of giving up animal-derived foods was often not received with a warm welcome. Sometimes people would try to convince me against it. And I couldn’t even be straight with my doctor about it. Dr. Mason had given me a one-page photostat (apparently put together once many years prior with no consideration to ever update it) with advice to diabetics on what and how to eat, which largely contradicted what I was learning on my own. Man, being healthy is not simple, huh!

On October 26^th I switched from an SGI-USA young men’s district leader role to a chapter leader. This meant a larger scale of members and activities to support with additional levels of complexity. Though part of me definitely wished to remain in the background with less responsibilities, leadership felt appropriate to me, and I saw it as a fitting opportunity to frequently challenge myself to be my best.

There was still plenty to enjoy about Halloween season without candy. I loved the change in natural scenery as well as the holiday decorations. And of course, music. Despite the delays, I was deep in the development of my second book Single String Halloween Songs, so I focused on teaching that material throughout October.

On November 1^st, I performed a post-Halloween concert at GMC complete with corny jokes, printed lyrics for singing along, and a full set of Halloween-themed songs. I invited kids to come up and sing with me throughout the show and there were a lot of smiling faces.

I had been keeping close track of my dietary and lifestyle details since October 20^th, and as I paused to reflect on the past couple weeks. I was learning about my tendencies and preferences. For one, I ate a lot of food and drank a lotof coffee. Wow! To my credit, I had been sticking quite close to the nutritarian guidelines, but not 100%. I observed that whenever I began to eat more in my old habitual way, it became very tempting to fall back into that dietary pattern completely, as it was both familiar and addictive. While eating what society considered “normal” was tasty and easy to do, it wasn’t good in supporting me to be my healthiest, most productive, and stable self. Additionally, Yoko discovered in early November that she was pregnant! This gave me a moment of reflection to recognize this as the perfect timing to build a healthy foundation for myself at the very beginning of our future child’s life.

As a YMD leader I did my best to rise to the occasion regarding organizational goals and put a lot of effort into various things: contacting numerous young men; participating in meetings; reporting statistics; and uniting with co-leaders. It was not easy, but I regarded it as training for my life. It often stretched the boundaries of my comfort zone and challenged what I believed was possible, which essentially seemed like a good way to grow as a person despite the discomfort.

I played again at Greenhouse Café Original Thursdays on November 20^th. Jeremy Batchelor came down to support and took some quality photos and video. The following week was my first plant-based Thanksgiving. I chose to have turkey on just that day along with some vegan dishes. The turkey was tasty as usual, but it no longer felt necessary to eat it.

I began to look for the deeper meanings in seasons and holidays. Up until then, seasonal shifts especially holidays had always been associated with special fun foods that matched the season (for example: Halloween candy, Thanksgiving pies, Christmas cookies). Now, most of those foods were not on my list of recommended eating. I recognized that I was addicted to certain foods, and that moderation was not going to work for me. I was going to need an overhaul of my palate and tastebuds. I began to learn how to adapt to events by bringing my own prepared food, eating in advance, and explaining to others my shift without offending them. 

Two friendly Norwegian relatives came to visit in December. I was their Manhattan and Brooklyn tour guide a bit. It was good to connect with family members from there and for Yoko to get to know more of that side of the family.

I was making faith-based efforts to connect with young men and co-leaders. On December 15^th, our South Bay district had a year-end meeting. Together with a female Indian sitar player, we played the SGI song “Forever Sensei” as a cultural presentation. The sound of my voice and guitar combined with the sitar was quite interesting.

I was consistently making efforts to grow my guitar lessons business as a teacher and content creator. I posted some chord teaching lessons on YouTube; I took on a few new students and considered how I could expand. I was busy developing holiday music to teach to students and share online as well. I hosted a Winter Recital at GMC for my students which brought the year to a joyful close there. I survived my birthday and Christmas alright within my new dietary framework. On the morning of Christmas Day, Yoko, and I along with our friends Nemo, Momoko, and Nina went caroling at some neighbors’ homes. Everyone seemed to regard it as a pleasant surprise, and it noticeably brightened the Christmas spirit.

On New Year’s Eve, as I sat by Mom’s lit Christmas tree with a Manhattan mixed drink in hand, I made a toast and performed (for upload online) three re-arrangements of kid-friendly songs incorporating New Year’s lyrics spurred on by that ever-present drive to write original songs for each holiday and every season.