From Star Search To Nowhere And Back Again

Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to check out the site.

So, let me tell you a little about myself and explain why I’ve created 1VibrantLife.com. 

In 1984 I was in a car accident on the way to my “real job” as a waiter at a popular restaurant in a northern suburb of Chicago called Mount Prospect.

I’ve been a working musician for over 75% of my life and have, as a majority of musicians do, supported myself with “real jobs,” as we tend to call them.

Some part-time and some significant full-time positions that I’ve been lucky enough to fall into that I’ll describe later.  

In the accident, I sustained a severe head injury, also known as a closed head injury, creating a subdural hematoma on the left side of my brain.

The injury required significant surgery, known as a craniotomy, which was a success. I walked out of the hospital two weeks later.

There is another story about how miraculous it was that I even made it to the hospital. I’ll have to let you in at some other time. 

Anyway, after a few weeks, the neurologist and neurosurgeon said that physically, I was good to go.  

However, because of that accident, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually my life changed dramatically, and has never been the same.

A few weeks before the accident, the two episodes I had been on in the first season of Star Search 84′ with Ed McMahon, in a band I was playing in, were shown on national TV.

At the time, we only had three major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, and from what I can remember, had an audience of several million viewers. 

It seemed that one minute I was on the fast track to stardom as a member of one of the hottest pop rock bands in the country, and the next minute trying to survive mentally, physically, and emotionally and find a way to pay for food and rent.

Over the next six to nine months, my life just unraveled in every way, to the point of having what would probably be called a nervous or mental breakdown.

Luckily, and just by chance, I met a psychologist shortly after the accident, and when I knew that I was in severe emotional instability, I called him. 

I’d lost confidence or belief in my ability to remember anything or accomplish everyday tasks. Let alone having any hope of achieving greater levels of success again in life.

My therapist put me through a battery of tests to better understand my mental acuity and cognitive capabilities, which he then sent out for a further detailed appraisal and diagnosis.

When the test results returned, he told me that my mental acuity and cognitive capability were fine.

However, he told me that I had, over time after being injured, I’d developed and had been living with some very serious cognitive distortions.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. What does that mean? 

You see, after the accident, I lost total confidence in myself and my abilities.

It was not the injury to my brain that was causing my problems, but that I had begun to continually doubt or believe that I couldn’t remember or think correctly about anything. 

He said that as time had passed since my accident, it was as if every negative thought I’d have about myself and the world around me, was like a drop of dark ink into a glass of clear water.

It was as if every negative thought I had was like that ink turning a clear glass of water, dark black.

And apparently, my glass had gotten very dark indeed. But his description of the situation made perfect sense to me.

I started to have hope and could see that there might be a way out of my very messed-up mindset.

So, I had to rebuild my belief system and my self-confidence all over again.

I am rebuilding my trust and confidence in myself so that I could accomplish things and remember things well.

Start to believe that I could reach higher levels of success in life again. 

My therapist started me on a reasonably simple yet life-transforming course of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, also known as CBT. 

It changed my life. And I wholeheartedly believe the process made me a much stronger, more confident person than had been before the accident.

I started this site, and have taken more in-depth studies into CBT, to try to help others through my own experience and further CBT studies. 

Helping others experience the same life transformation simply by looking and adjusting at how they think about themselves and their lives.

Creating a successful life is all about having the strength to start over again when we get knocked down. Learn to regain hope, trust, and belief in oneself again. 

When you think about it, as I learned after the accident, every day is a chance for us to start over and begin to dream and believe again.

I went on to play and perform with some fabulous musicians and great bands in the late ’80s, and ’90s, ad music remains a major part of my life, and I still play and write music to this day.

Around that same time in the late 80s, I became Sr. VP of marketing for the 86th fastest-growing company in the United States recognized by Inc. 500.

One of the songs on the first EP/CD that I wrote and sang on in 1994 (you can hear it below) played all across the country for a few years on Digital Music Radio.

Digital Music Radio was the first music streaming source through cable TV in the early days of digital streaming. Way before Napster, iTunes, Spotify, and all the rest. 

In the 90s I was the featured saxophone player on Jane Fonda’s Walk To The Music treadmill and workout program.

About that same time, I became the VP of Marketing and Artist Relations for one of the top woodwind reed manufacturers in the country in the early 90s.

In 2006, I was offered a sales associate position, and eventually took on the responsibility for sales for the western U. S. and Canada, for one of the United States’ most recognized and respected digital hardware manufacturers. 

I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting and working with many amazing people in the business and music fields and traveling the U.S. and Europe.

An example of just one of the amazing people that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with throughout my business career was NASA astronaut Richard (Dick) F. Gorden. (October 5, 1929 – November 6, 2017).

Dick Gordon was the Pilot on Gemini 11 and he was also the command module pilot on Appolo 12. Dick was one of 24 human beings to have ever been to the Moon in human history. I have a few great stories about our time together, but for another time. 

I’ve also had the great pleasure of meeting and working with many very successful musicians over my life as a musician as well. Both before and after my accident and injury. 

My hope for 1VibrantLife.com is that its content provides some insight and assistance for you and those that may be going through complex changes and challenges in their lives. Perhaps even having to restart or rebuild a new life for themselves, as I did.

I want you to find peace, joy, contentment, abundance, and happiness, which will enable you to live your 1 Vibrant Life! 

Thanks again for stopping by,

Marty,

Martin (Marty) Ward
Publisher & Founder of 1VibrantLife.com

Attended & graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, 1975 to 1977.

Attended the Berklee College of Music from 1978-79

CBTCP Certification (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Certified Practitioner) | 10-16-2021  Certification From The Academy of Modern Applied Psychology, in The Transformative Science of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT

“Success is to be measured not by wealth, power, or fame, but by the ratio between what a man is and what he might be.” ~ H.G Wells

“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
– Winston Churchill

“Success in not final, failure is not fatel: It is the courage to continue that counts” – Winston Churchill