Monday, September 22, 2014

Closure















Well as many of you know,
I am finishing my time with the Royal Southern Brotherhood and continuing on
with my own group and career.
I have been making my own records since the late 1990's and to this date I have 10
albums of my own, both independent and on labels.
I am not bragging, but my point is I have been doing my own thing for a long time
and I have always intended on keeping that my main focus.
I love playing in the RSB group, it's been a lot of fun and I have learned a lot.
It's always nice to get an opportunity to pull you out of your element and put you
in a different position to truly appreciate what you're capable of doing and what it
takes to make a marriage work with others. I really consider my time with this
"Supergroup" as a likening to being cast into the NFL after playing College level.
Maybe you were the Quarterback on your team back at Ohio State, but we've decided
you're gonna be a Wide Receiver here.
I have said all I have to say about the musicians individually and my love for each of them.
I truly appreciate the fans worldwide for all of the support.
This group has actually brought me closer to fulfilling my own personal dreams by
bringing me to a larger limelight.  I am so thankful that today I can walk away proud
and confident of where I am going and what I am doing.

All of this being said, it brings up a wonderful spiritual concept of closure.
Many times in our lives we walk away from loved ones, marriages, parents
but we carry with us the division for a long time after we have actually left.
We think of what could have been, should have been and never really accept what it
was.  An angry teenager leaves the home too early because they are mad at the parents
and that anger carries on for years and is never quite settled.
Even later in life there is a division between the parents and this child from something
that happened long ago.
I do my best to think of matters spiritually and take everyone into consideration.
Obviously in the end I do whats best for me and my family, but I am thinking of how
it will affect others as I am doing so. I am looking for the easier, softer way in every situation.
If I can let everyone know that this closure is not personal, not angry but out of love,
everyone should be equally understanding and supportive.
Of course, this is not always true. Not everyone is basing their thoughts and considerations
on spiritual principles and they get their feelings hurt and take it very personal.
When we leave on an angry note, a divorce, it is painful and can take years to amend.
But if we can look ahead before we walk away and become brave enough to know that this is
whats best for all involved, it can be beautiful and bittersweet.
Maybe the teenager and the parents realize later in life that this was the best thing for both of them.
The child needed to learn some lessons the hard way and the parents needed to let go and give it
to God.  Trusting the process is usually, always the best bet in the end, but certainly not easy.
It requires a lot of faith and prayer.
I think to achieve true closure is to accept things as they are and be grateful for what it was.
Celebrate the good times and the bad times (which were probably not that bad after all).
Life is ever changing, and if we don't change with it, if we don't adapt to the world around us,
we will begin to die.  The true explorer, the witness in us all, has a need to walk away.
Sometimes walking away gives us the perspective to see things for the absolute truth.
We could always have done better or worse, that doesn't really matter anymore.
It is what it is and so be it.
Life is so short, and to live conflicted is just painful at best.
Take chances, believe in who we are or want to be, walk away and try a new door....
They are constantly opening for us when we look where we are going,
but if we stare at the ground or wrap up in our ego's, we lose sight of our
path.

Not that my leaving this group is such a grandiose experience, it's just part of life.
Time to move on and celebrate the good times we shared.
I am thankful for my life and the support I have to make my dreams come true.
In a world full of pain, I am one of the luckiest men alive.

Peace, Love Zito