What’s your WOW MOMENT. . .
Was your WOW one of you ever been having been someplace and then your sensor came out your Boundary Guard rose up and it kept you from not saying what you really felt. . . ?
W O W. . .
What’s your WOW moment?Was it at a concert?
Was it at a play?
Was it a movie?
Was it just sitting there watching a sunset or watching one of your kids or grandkids
play. . . ?When’s the last time you could contain your
W O W
and what
and when
do you think the next time will be. . . ?In the meantime, watch THIS WOW MOMENT again and then be about creating some:
W O W
MAKING MUSIC OUT OF MUCK
Kids living in a slum built on a landfill in Paraguay create an orchestra made of trash, The Recycled Orchestra, and tour the world, finally realizing their wildest dream: to play with the heavy metal band, Megadeth. . .
There is not one of us that doesn’t have a trash heap landfill right in the middle of us. I mean right there at our Center. It surrounds our soul, but it doesn’t imprison our Essence
So maybe the biggest question is not what kind of a landfill do you have in you but what kind of music are you making out of the junk, the throwaways/discardeds in your life?
P O N D E R
while you wander through a rare double-feature
Monday Video Blog
Making MUSIC out of MUCK
is one of our greatest purposes in life
and our grandest contribution
especially when it begins with ourselves
So cue up
that magnificent Instrument of yourself
and PLAY ON
Share Your Music
and bring some much needed harmony
MUCK
TO
M U S I C
FOUND/TONIGHT
MARCH 19, 2018 was when this was first posted on YouTube and with well over 20,210,965 views I question just what boulder I’ve been living under, especially when it popped up on my YouTube feed, maybe not so randomly this past week. Hmmm.
I really like when certain things come across my YouTube feed without me trying to search for them. When I get something like this, it’s almost as if it’s a divine intervention or message that I need to hear at that time I need to hear itwhich means that as you’re reading this blog post this morning it may be the time that you need to hear or see you too; especially if you weren’t even aware of its existent much like this under the boulder dweller.
Two my favorite singers and talented, songwriters, Ben Platt, and Lin- Manuel Miranda combine to mash songs from Hamilton and Evan Hansen together…why? Not merely because it sounds good, because they want to bring a message of Hope. From what? For what? A better world? So I did a quick Google Search to get the “WHAT FOR” of this song and:
A portion of the proceeds from this record will be going to the March For Our Lives Initiative. Donate now at https://marchforourlives.com/.
So before this sounds like a rant against gun violence or assault weapons, I go back to what Mother Theresa said nearly 50 years ago when asked, “Are you against the war in Vietnam?” Mother Theresa answered meekly, “I’m for peace.” Did you catch that or did it elude you like it did me? She was showing that real power is in WHAT YOU ARE FOR and not WHAT YOU ARE AGAINST. When we rile up and rant what we are against, it always adds up in more bad ways, but when we work together for what we believe in and for what we are for, it takes on a much more positive take.
Yeah, let’s work together for that because that’s a song we could all sing and certainly the world needs to hear. . .
UNDERSTAND. . .
WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME ORCHESTRA
PLAYING THE SAME SYMPHONY
WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME ORCHESTRA
PLAYING THE SAME SYMPHONY
YOU-NIQUELY YOU
THE OLDER WE GET
THE CLOSER WE GET
well. . .
You can fill in the ________________________________
What some call
R E T I R E M E N T
others call: STARTING OVER
others call: THE NEXT CHAPTER
others call: THE GRAVY YEARS
others call: THE BEST PART
others call: RE-TIRED-MENT
others call: _______________
A couple of Sunday’s ago I switched from reading the New York Times Sunday Edition to watching “60 Minutes” One of it’s featured stories was about Hans Zimmer. It immediately got me to writing this Friday Blog post and even more about being devoted to never retiring and most of all always (ALL-WAYS) reinventing myself to continually being: MYSELF–AN (EVER EVOLVING) ORIGINAL
All of this prompted was prompted by this interview with German-born composer Hans Zimmer. You may not know his name as well as John Williams, but he has scored many blockbuster films like “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Dune,” and “Lion King.” He said from his earliest days learning the piano, “I did not want to play other people’s music.” He has certainly passed well beyond that: it’s hard to categorize his work (or even to completely discern all the instruments that make his unique compositions.) Towards the end of the interview he was asked about RETIREMENT and he in essence said that he couldn’t imagine it because he was energized and at his best and gets jazzed by creating/re-creating himself. (THAT ONE STRUMMED THE STRINGS ON MY HEART AND BLEW THE WOODWINDS OF MY SOUL) We all know it’s not terribly easy to BE ORIGINAL. There will always be pressures to conform, to not “rock the boat,” to “get back in line.” We also know that great strides personally and professionally are rarely made by settling for cutting with the grain. This week’s challenge (and I’m right there with you) — what can you initiate this week, TODAY, that will set new standards, travel down new paths, and establish once and for all that you are an original?
ITS NOT ENOUGH TO OWN YOUR OWN FINGERPRINT. . .
You have to make sure
that you make indelible
I M P R I N T S
And lasting impressions
YOU-NIQUELY
your own to have and share
now and
for-an-evermore. . .
BE THE SYMPHONY
you are ever composing
and never forget to
CONDUCT IT
WE ARE A GENTLE, ANGRY PEOPLE
There are many different covers of this song but I like this version because it reminds me what we know, what we know we know, what we’d bet our lives that we know but for the LIFE OF US never act like we know. . .
WE ARE ALL INSTRUMENTS IN THE SYMPHONY OF THIS UNIVERSE
and the WE ARE AT OUR BESTS when we not only play in unison and harmony but when we just merely play together. . .
WE NEED TO BE THE CHORUS we already long have been and need to be now, UNMUTED, UNDILUTED, PURE, UNADULTERATED, UNFILTERINGLY US. . .
The video starts quietly but builds. I love how the singers end the song. ENJOY!
(My sincerest gratitude and appreciation to GALA Choruses.)
The Symphony YOU
There are a lot of
AMAZING THINGS
in Life
but probably none more than
Y O U
. . .more unique than a
s n o w f l a k e
a fingerprint
any other atom
Y O U
WE MAY NOT BE A
WALKING
TALKING ORCHESTRA
OR A BAND
BUT EACH OF US
ARE LIVING SYMPHONIES
AWAITING TO NOT
Not
so much to be
D I R E C T E D
so much as
PLAYED
and most importantly
HEARD
. . .E X P E R I E N C E D
NO ONE
has your
PLAYLIST
Pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:
there’s only one thing to do with
the Gift of
Y O U:
S H A R E
I T
SNOWING when it DOESN’T
While others were complaining
about it
S N O W I N G
again
and yes,
I absolutely was tempted. . .
I caught myself
and literally stopped in my tracks for
just a couple of minutes
T O R E C O G N I Z E W H A T I N O T I C E D. . .
Amazingly
when I just did that for two minutes
and a mere seven seconds
The other side of the coin flipped for me
and instantly
instead of literally joining the Masses
and severely
C O M P L A I N I N G
about it being APRIL 8
and it was snowing
A G A I N. . .
i instead heard the most amazing
symphony being composed and performed at the same time
by an orchestra and chorus of birds
who were in the snow like me
and singing back in defiance
WHO CARES, WHO CARES, WHO CARES, WHO CARES, WHO CARES,
and I stopped myself and S A N G
back this amazing refrain from an inner voice
I didn’t recognize:
I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO,
and I did
. . .I finally recognized what I noticed
that m o m e n t s
even those sprinkled with snow flakes
on a April 8th Sunday Morning
on the edge of an empty Church Parking lot
where bare brush and trees only purpose
were to collect rare Spring snowflakes
are L I F E T I M E S
that never perish
and nor do the ones
who take the time
to recognize
what they notice. . .
I won the coin flip
to one of the biggest events
in my life
(this time)
but it was all I had
and all I wanted
in just two-minutes and seven seconds. . . .
G L O R I O U S
Sometimes you go to Church
without ever actually going
T H E R E
(and those are the most holy of times)
There are times when
You might feel aimless
And can’t see the places
Where you belong
But you will find that
There is a a purpose
It’s been there within you
All along
And when you’re near it
You can almost heart it
It’s like a symphony
Just keep listening
And pretty soon you’ll start
To figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece
And there are melodies
In each one of us
Ohhhhh it’s G L O R I O U S
And you will know how
To let it ring out
As you discover
Who you are
Others around you
Will start to wake up
To the sounds that are
In their hearts
It’s so amazing
What we’re all creating
It’s like a Symphony
Just keep listening
And pretty soon you’ll start
To figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece
And there are melodies
in each one of us
Ohhhhh it’s G L O R I O U S
And as you feel
The notes built
H I G H E R
You will see
It’s like a Symphony
Just keep listening
And pretty soon you’ll start
To figure out your part
Everyone plays a piece
And there are melodies
In each one of us
Ohhhhh it’s G L O R I O U S
Sometimes you go to Church
without stepping into the front door
of even the most magnificent of
all sanctuaries. . .
on a brand new,
f r e s h
Monday Morning. . .
B E
T H A T
S A N C T U A R Y
that simply
a c c e n t u a t e s
another’s part
in the
s y m p h o n y
and listen to how it
plays
inspires
motivates
new notes in you
that have yet to be
c o n d u c t e d
I T ‘ S
G L O R I O U S
The Sweetest Sounding TRASH
Have you ever been
T R A S H E D ?
NO. . .
not drunk, not hung-over, not disabled with too much alcohol or drugs–
W O R S E
Discarded
Forgotten
Left Behind
Thrown Away
Given up on
S L A M M E D S H U T
T R A S H E D ?
I Love this video about some kids in Cateura, on the cusps of Asuncion, Paraguay who are showing the world that tunes out of trash is a real thing.
Favio Chavez is an environmental technician who visioned up a music school as an open door for kids. Don Cola Gomez is a simple trash worker and carpenter. He had never seen, heard or held a violin in his life, but when someone described one to him, he took a paint can and an old oven tray into his dirty workshop and made a violin.
I’m moved
I’m embarrassed
I’m inspired
How someplace I’ve never heard about, took a junk heap and literally turned it into a concert hall
I F . . .
THAT
. . .what. . .of me. . .of you. . .of us ?
What tune can come from my mess. . .
What symphony can crescendo up out of my Soul. . .
What Maestro can wave up a baton and command me to Create/Produce/Harmonize out an aria. . .
w h a t ?
REALIZATION
THAT
I
CAN ?
Garbage always has a way of earning it’s name
. . .But our mess often can become music
if. . .
you just keep playing. . . .
A symphony is never just a note
but try having one without a single first euphony
Shhhhhhhhhhh. . .the Sonata is beginning
you’re up–
S O U N D
O F F
. . .the world needs your music
desperately
YOUR DUMP
is the World’s Dance Hall
. . .do not disappoint. . .
P L A Y !
The Compassionate Competitor’s Chord
Well, does it?
Does Competition bring out the best in you?
Does it make your Compassionate Chord ring out its best?
Just how Competitive are you?
I can’t play golf or bowl. It’s not that I don’t know how or that I haven’t, it’s just that I WILL NOT golf or bowl, because it brings out all Beast and nil to nary Beauty.
I mean that in all of its viciousness.
My best time EVER for running a marathon was the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. 1983 on a cool 45 degree rainy day. I ran it in 2:50.26 seconds.
I finished 286 out of 9987 runners that day. I didn’t even get to the starting line because of that vast crowd almost until six minutes AFTER the race began. I should be proud. Honored. Bragging about it….
The qualifying time to go to the Boston Marathon that year was 2 hours and fifty minutes. I missed it by 26 seconds. That averages out to 6 minute 29 second mile for 26.2 miles and I still needed to be a second faster per mile. I MISSED IT!
I swear. I never felt winded that day. My legs never hurt. I never hit The Wall. But I failed.
I NEEDED TO BE JUST ONE SECOND PER MILE FASTER…and I wasn’t.
Yes, I could have contested the race saying I wasn’t able to even reach the start line for 6 minutes…but in my heart, even if granted the allowance, I WOULD KNOW I WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH…and there’s been the dance of competition I’ve haggled with all of my life.
I compete with my self more fiercely than any one else. I don’t need a foe…I AM FOE to myself. I am constantly challenging myself to do more, be better, faster, more efficient, More, MOre, MORe, MORE,
M O R E!
And I never, ever settle. Never give in. Always looking for the next battle, challenge, competition, game.
What competitor’s song bounces within you? Does it’s notes haunt or taunt you? Are your striving to be better…even more than yesterday?
I have found that as destructive and sometimes as devastatingly disappointing this could be, it has taken me to new, higher levels when it comes to my Compassionate Ways.
Can I be more giving? Can I Care more? Can I listen more empathically? Can I be more accepting? Forgiving? Nurturing? Sharing? Loving?
When I compete with myself, DAILY, on these feats of the heart…can others gain, be better? Can I?
It’s then that these vicious musicians, duel madly within me, trying to OUT SOUND and gain Center Stage…but if the notes all work together for the good…this magnificent Symphony beautifully unfolds in a most magnificent way.
…hands get clapped, toes get tapped, faces wear smiles and the Music of the Soul bursts forth and OHHHH, how that pleases the Maestro…but NEVER ENOUGH! There’s more symphonies to be created and perfomred!
And on THAT NOTE…it’s time to begin again.
Buckle up!