Yes, I know it should be 'cause and effect' - and that is going to be my point.

I'm not a greedy guitarist - I don't want to be able to play in all styles, like all my heroes. I am, however, an ambitious guitarist. I would like to sound like The Edge. The Edge's signature sound revolves around the innovative use of delays mixed with his unique picking style and the tone of his guitars and amps.

Here is why I have played on words today for the blog.

You cannot get The Edge's Signature Sound with one effect pedal.

It is not cause and effect. It is causes and effects. The Edge's sound is broad and rich because it is not in mono. He uses a stereophonic set up with multiple amplifiers and multiple delays.

Your life is as complicated and as sophisticated as The Edge's Sound - and more so. The 'effects' in your life - your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours have not one cause but many.

"All behaviour is caused and the causes are multiple."

This is one reason why I don't believe there is a simple or quick fix for anything.

The spiritual and self-development industries depend largely on the illusion that there is one solution. "If you do this one thing..." Those of us who are disillusioned with this approach know this to be a deception.

I think the worst vice is 'Advice' - advice from those who think in terms of a single cause leading to a single effect.

So what am I saying today? I'd begin with a plea. My plea is that you and I stop trying to 'fix' the complex problems in our friends' lives by applying single 'cause and effect' thinking. The key may well be to keep going - keep digging.

My life is 'interesting' in part because of my family's break-up just before my 'A' Levels. Without this, I would have become a botanist. Instead I became a Theologian. I can point to a very distinct cause - but pinpointing that cause would not be accurate. 'A' did not lead to 'B'. 'A' plus 'C' plus 'X' and 'Y' and 'Z' led to 'B'. There is no 'root cause' - there's a whole root system!

Understanding this means that you can never blame an individual person or event for the way your life is turning out.

That's a liberating thought, isn't it? No single person or event is to 'blame' (or due the 'credit') for your current woes or wonders. It's complicated.

Moving forward then, our 'freedom' or our 'success' or our 'happiness' will depend upon multiple causes and effects. It'll be complicated but it's doable!

Have I found The Edge Sound? Not yet, but I'm a lot closer. The key was understanding multiple causes and multiple effects - probably not the insight The Edge was intending when he created his Signature Sound, but I am profoundly grateful for his complexity.

Lex

A Moodscope member.