Since its inception, Liquid Mind ® has been a reflection of my path from life in a too-fast lane to life on a slower, more sustainable journey. I thought it fitting to focus my tenth "studio" album on the one thing which, more than any other, influenced me to begin my slow music Liquid Mind series: Meditation.

I've found a simple clearing meditation, just counting my breaths, often quickly refreshes and restores me to sanity in our "information overload" world. The peace of mind and perspective I often experience after contemplation helps me more deeply understand the world I live in and my place in it.

I recall a seminal moment in 1987 when I was taken by the producer of ABC-TV's Max Headroom® series to an urgent care clinic while having a panic attack brought on by sleep deprivation from working twenty-hour days, seven days a week on that show. In addition, it was an emotionally challenging period for me, having lost more than fifty friends to the early HIV crisis in a short period of time.

After examining me, the doctor held up two items, one in each hand: In his left hand was a bottle of anti-anxiety medication, in his right hand was a single sheet of paper on which were written instructions for a simple clearing meditation. I've never forgotten the doctor's words: "Take your choice, Chuck, medication or meditation, they both work about equally well to relax you."  I've always thought it interesting that there is only one letter's difference between the spelling of the two words, medication and meditation.

The doctor's instructions were brief: I need only sit in a quiet place, breathe in, and breathe out, silently counting from one to ten with each subsequent breath. So, I began meditating in those early days with five minutes of just sitting and fidgeting, while trying to count my breaths. Though at first I couldn't stop my mind from being hyperactive, my hyperventilated breathing did slow considerably. The vice grip on the back of my neck and head lessened just a bit for a few minutes.

Thinking more might be better, I extended my "breathing" time to fifteen minutes, and then to one hour. I felt the first sensations of deep peace and insight in several years. At that time, my friend (composer, philosopher and inventor) J S Kingfisher suggested I visit a counselor he knew. That counselor challenged me to compose music that represented the way I'd like to feel, similar to what I felt during those interludes of meditational peace and calm. That moment was the birth of the Liquid Mind series.  Since then, Liquid Mind has been the musical representation of my own meditations.

Twenty-five years and twelve albums later, meditation remains an important anchor in my life,  a simple and easy tool that helps me retain balance and equanimity in my life.