Thoughts...

Food For Thought

2009-07-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

The only way to gain true success in life is through character being built into our lives. We were meant to live for so much more.

Confidence

2009-07-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

...Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. - Psalm 30:5

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. - Psalm 37:25

Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them, for it is the Lord your God Who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9

R.I.P

2009-06-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

Earth will never be the same but heaven has truly gained a beautiful soul. Let us all celebrate the life of the "often imitated but never duplicated" Michael Jackson.

Thought of the day...

2009-06-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Complaisant - "tending to comply to other wishes and/or the inclination to please or oblige others"

One of the most dangerous positions for one to be in is a state of complacency.
You never are truly your own but always a slave to others.
You can take that to the bank! ;)

Royal Tailor Band

2009-06-13T02:51:00.002-07:00

June 23rd @ 7pm @ New Life Church - www.choosenewlife.com

Music?

2009-06-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Thought Of The Day

2009-05-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

Life is that of an emotional roller-coaster! The ups and downs make the ride adventurous. The feelings are common yet uniquely individual. And the rewards are always great.

Albert Einstien

2009-03-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."

Think about it...

2009-03-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

"If you think the only people who are people, are the ones who look and think like you, then take one day and live in the world of a stranger, and you'll learn things you never dreamed you could"

Gustavo Dudamel

2008-05-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born January 26, 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. At age 27, he is presently the principal conductor of Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony, and in September of 2009 he will become the new Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has been described by the New York Times as "one of the hottest — and youngest — conducting properties around."
Dudamel was born in Barquisimeto in the state of Lara. He studied music from an early age, becoming involved with El Sistema, the famous Venezuelan musical education program, and took up the violin at age ten. He soon began to study composition. He attended the Jacinto Lara Conservatory, where he was taught the violin by José Luis Jiménez. He then went on to work with José Francisco del Castillo at the Latin-American Violin Academy.
He began to study conducting in 1995, first with Rodolfo Saglimbeni, then later with José Antonio Abreu. In 1999, he was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the national youth orchestra of Venezuela, and toured several countries.
Dudamel began to win a number of conducting competitions, including the Gustav Mahler Conducting Prize in Germany in 2004. His reputation began to spread, and he was noticed by conductors such as Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado, who accepted invitations to conduct the Simón Bolívar Orchestra in Venezuela.
Dudamel debuted with the Philharmonia, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others, in 2005, and also signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. In 2006, his additional guest conducting appearances included concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He made his debut at La Scala, Milan, with Don Giovanni in November 2006. On September 10, 2007, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time at the Lucerne Festival. In March 2008, he made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony.
In 2005, Dudamel first conducted the Gothenburg Symphony at the BBC Proms, on short notice as a replacement for the indisposed Neeme Järvi. In 2006, Dudamel was named Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony as of 2007. He will retain his position with the Simón Bolívar National Youth Orchestra.
Dudamel made his U.S. conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP) at the Hollywood Bowl on September 13, 2005 in a program consisting of "La Noche de los Mayas" by Silvestre Revueltas and the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. The concert was attended by many American orchestra administrators, and the performance was well received by the Philharmonic, audience, and critics. On the strength of these performances, Dudamel was invited back with the orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall in January 2007 in performances of "Dances of Galanta" by Zoltan Kodaly, the third piano concerto of Sergei Rachmaninoff with Yefim Bronfman as soloist, and Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (the latter of which was recorded live and subsequently released by Deutsche Grammophon). In April 2007, during a guest conducting engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel was named the LAP's next music director as of the 2009-2010 season, succeeding Esa-Pekka Salonen. His initial contract in Los Angeles is for five years.
On April 16, 2007, Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in a concert in commemoration of the 80th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI, with Hilary Hahn as solo violinist, with the Pope himself and many other church dignitaries among the audience.
Dudamel is featured in the documentary film "Tocar y Luchar," which celebrates El Sistema.
"The 2007 WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award is presented to Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela on the stage of Carnegie Hall on November 10."
A piece about Gustavo, entitled "Gustavo the Great" aired on American TV news program 60 Minutes with reporter Bob Simon on February 17, 2008.

Charles Ives

2008-05-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

One might say Charles Ives was the most original and most radical, and arguably the greatest, of the American composers of art music. One might also say that he was one of the most innovative figures in music history because he is named America’s first major composer.
Charles was born in Danbury, Connecticut on October 20, 1874. His father was George Ives, a bandleader in the Union Army who had served with General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. George gave his son Charles a highly unorthodox musical education by European standards.
It was not an option to learn of the three B’s – Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. He received much instruction in harmony and counterpoint (counterpoint being the harmonious opposition of two or more independent musical lines). He would also be given lessons on the violin, piano, organ, cornet, and drums.
Most importantly young Ives was taught how to “stretch his ears,” as he said. This method of instruction would play a HUGE part in the progression of Ives’ creative composing. In order to practice “stretching his ears,” He was made to sing a song called “Swanee River” in the key of Eb while his father accompanied him on the piano in the key of C – this was a useful lesion in polytonality.
Since his ancestors had attended Yale it was expected for young Charles to enroll in the same University to study music. He took courses in music from a composer who studies in Germany. His name was Horatio Parker. Because of Ives young, independent ideas about how music should sound, these ideas clashed with Parker’s traditional European training in harmony and counterpoint. Ives opted to leave his experimental musical ideas out of the classroom and express his musical creativity in extracurricular musicals and things of that nature. He graduated with the class of 1898 with a maintained D+ average in grades. He did not pursue music as a profession because he realized that the people of his time would not pay money to hear the music he would create.
Instead of pursuing music he headed to New York and Wall Street. In 1907 Ives and a friend formed the company Ives and Myrick, an insurance agency that became the largest company in the United States. Long hours of work and spare-time composing caused an undermined to his health and in 1918 he had a heart attack. This decline in health caused Ives to think of retirement. Upon retirement in 1930 the company had sales of $49 million. So Ives had been a millionaire for sometime before he retired.
He was a modernist of the most extreme; given the time period he lived in.
Ives devised radical, compositional techniques and was the first composer to use polytonality extensively. Polytonality is the simultaneous sounding of two or more keys. This would make pieces of music sound distorted or cause tonal clashed and the tune would seem out of phase with other tune’s. He also experimented with quarter-tone music - music in which the smallest interval is not the chromatic half step but half of a half step. Ives would always take the familiar and “defamiliarize” it - making the old, sound very modern.
The Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1) is a composition for orchestra by Charles Ives. It was composed across a long span of time (sketches date back from 1903, while the latest revisions were made in 1929), however the bulk was written between 1911 and 1914. Three Places consists of three movements in Ives’ preferred slow-fast-slow movement order:

I. The "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)
II. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut
III. 'The Housatonic River at Stockbridge

The three movements are ordered with the longest first and the shortest last, and a complete performance of the piece lasts eighteen or nineteen minutes.
The piece has become one of Ives' most commonly performed compositions. It showcases most of the signature traits of his style: layered textures, with multiple, simultaneous melodies, many of which are recognizable hymn and marching tunes; masses of sound, and tone clusters; and sudden, sharp textural contrasts.
Each of the three movements is named for a place in New England. Each is carefully composed to make the listener feel as though he or she is at that very place, experiencing its unique atmosphere. Ives’ use of paraphrasing American folk tunes is particularly important in creating such an effect, as it provides the listener with some sort of tangible reference point from which to access the music. In this way, Ives makes the music accessible even though it makes heavy use of chromatics which, at the time of its writing, was seen as an advanced trait.
Ives' music was largely ignored during his lifetime as an active composer, but since then his reputation has greatly increased.
Although Charles Ives had brought his work to completion long before his death in the spring of 1954, it is still largely unknown to the American musical public. Some do not even know his name; others have heard of him as a composer from professional musicianship; still others have gained an impression when some of his work had a public performance.
For all of the obscurity and neglect that followed this man no one would argue of what an enigmatic composer he was and how difficult it was to understand and explain many of his works.

Beautiful!

2008-05-16T19:54:00.001-07:00

This may be stated without danger of hyperbole: Lalah Hathaway, as the older daughter of classic soul music artist Donny, and classically trained vocalist Eulaulah, is the poster child for genetic coding. Given such auspicious DNA, one is not surprised to discover her a gifted—even brilliant—singer.
Not shocked in the least. And, of course, these types of assumptions are not necessarily just, but talent is expected ? Considered birthright—the scheme of the stars, the design of a divine hand. It makes it all the more impressive that, while Lalah has been imbued with—and influenced by—her begetters' faculties, she is, ultimately, her own artist—an individual voice seeking a singular aesthetic and pursuing it arduously, painstakingly, and sans compromise. She is an artist managing the feat of all great artists—to borrow from existing color, only to create brilliant and unexpected pastiche. To be, at once, familiar and foreign.

In 1990, Lalah was responsible for an acclaimed debut album, eponymously titled and compliments of Virgin Records. Words like "smoky" and "confident" were used to describe it. Then, in 1994, came the album A Moment, also on Virgin. Again, glowing reviews. She was said to be the possessor of "torchy elegance" and to have made a "solid" and "independent step" in contemporary Rhythm and Blues. Lalah joined Joe Sample—jazz veteran of The Crusaders fame—for 1999's The Song Lives On; he provided the formidable piano tracks and she? well, she did what she always does: mesmerized us with a more than notable, persistently sultry vocal performance. Most recently, she has come to the table with a group of songs that reveals an even greater maturity and a darkly original approach to production.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-08T15:53:00.001-07:00

No words could completely describe the thanks that mothers across the world deserve. It is but a shame that merely one day out of the entire year is given to honor mothers everywhere. However, I will take this day I am given to show much honor and respect to my mother. I hope you will do the same regardless of the circumstance.

Brilliant!

2008-04-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hiromi Uehara first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. The buzz started by her first album spread all the way back to her native Japan, where Another Mind shipped gold (100,000 units) and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's (RIAJ) Jazz Album of the Year Award. The keyboardist/ composer's second release, Brain, won the Horizon Award at the 2004 Surround Music Awards, Swing Journal's New Star Award, Jazz Life's Gold Album, HMV Japan's Best Japanese Jazz Album, and the Japan Music Pen Club's Japanese Artist Award (the JMPC is a classical/jazz journalists club). Brain was also named Album of the Year in Swing Journal's 2005 Readers Poll. In 2006, Hiromi won Best Jazz Act at the Boston Music Awards and the Guinness Jazz Festival's Rising Star Award. She also claimed Jazzman of the Year, Pianist of the Year and Album of the Year in Swing Journal Japan's Readers Poll for her 2006 release, Spiral. Hiromi continues her winning streak with the 2007 release of Time Control.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi took her first piano lessons at age six. She learned from her earliest teacher to tap into the intuitive as well as the technical aspects of music.

"Her energy was always so high, and she was so emotional," Hiromi says of her first piano teacher. "When she wanted me to play with a certain kind of dynamics, she wouldn't say it with technical terms. If the piece was something passionate, she would say, 'Play red.' Or if it was something mellow, she would say, 'Play blue.' I could really play from my heart that way, and not just from my ears."

Hiromi took that intuitive approach a step further when she enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music less then a year after her first piano lessons. By age 12, she was performing in public, sometimes with very high-profile orchestras. "When I was 14, I went to Czechoslovakia and played with the Czech Philharmonic," she says. "That was a great experience, to play with such a professional orchestra."

Further into her teens, her tastes expanded to include jazz as well as classical music. A chance meeting with Chick Corea when she was 17 led to a performance with the well-known jazz pianist the very next day.

"It was in Tokyo," Hiromi recalls. "He was doing something at Yamaha, and I was visiting Tokyo at the time to take some lessons. I talked to some teachers and said that I really wanted to see him. I sat down with him, and he said 'Play something.' So I played something, and then he said, 'Can you improvise?' I told him I could, and we did some two-piano improvisations. Then he asked me if I was free the next day. I told him I was, and he said, 'Well, I have a concert tomorrow. Why don't you come?' So I went there, and he called my name at the end of the concert, and we did some improvisations together."

After a couple years of writing advertising jingles for Nissan and a few other high-profile Japanese companies, Hiromi came to the United States in 1999 to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. For as open as her musical sensibilities had already been when she came to the U.S., the Berklee experience pushed her envelope even further.

"It expanded so much the way I see music," she says. "Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, 'This guy is the best,' 'No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else."

Among her mentors at Berklee was veteran jazz bassist Richard Evans, who teaches arranging and orchestration. Evans co-produced Another Mind, her Telarc debut, with longtime friend and collaborator Ahmad Jamal, who has also taken a personal interest in Hiromi's artistic development. "She is nothing short of amazing," says Jamal. "Her music, together with her overwhelming charm and spirit, causes her to soar to unimaginable musical heights."

At 26, Hiromi stands at the threshold of limitless possibility, constantly drawing inspiration from virtually everyone and everything around her. Her list of influences, like her music itself, is boundless. "I love Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt, I love Ahmad Jamal," she says. "I also love people like Sly and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre and King Crimson. Also, I'm so much inspired by sports players like Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. Basically, I'm inspired by anyone who has big, big energy. They really come straight to my heart."

But she won't, as a matter of principle, put labels on her music. She'll continue to follow whatever moves her, and leave the definitions to others.

"I don't want to put a name on my music," she says. "Other people can put a name on what I do. It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."

http://www.hiromimusic.com/index.htm

A ray of sunshine...

2008-04-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

Nine and a half years ago a beautiful, loving and incredible little girl was brought into my life! This little girl is my younger sister. She has taught me so much in the past nine and a half years and I will always be thankful to God for giving her to me.

Life lessons can be learned from the people least expected. I never thought that I would learn such great things from a child, but every single day I am reminded to be a better person.

The life of a child would never have been so impactful to me if this wonderful little girl was not in my life. Her open mind and thirst for knowledge has constantly made me remember to never lose that passion for life.

MTV ARTIST OF THE WEEK: MARIAH CAREY

2008-04-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit: Danika Singfield)

Even back in the early ‘90s, when she was just a curly-haired Long Island girl in cut-offs and a hoodie, Mariah Carey — the youngest daughter of a struggling, middle-class broken home — was that chick, destined for a luxe life of Louis Vuitton luggage and Louboutin heels. That larger-than-life voice soared out of our Sony Sports Walkman (remember the banana-yellow ones?) like a supernatural force, and nearly two decades, five Grammys, 11 studio albums, and 18 #1 singles later, that chick’s still rocking iPods and MTV.

With that logic-defying range that glides from whisper-soft-sexy-sweet to match-in-a-gas-tank explosive, Mariah went Unplugged, got animated for Christmas, and took down a cheating Jerry O’Connell at a matinee. She went undercover on a Jet Ski, fled her symbolic wedding, cruised Paris with Pharrell, and lived out a computer geek’s fantasy with a unicorn at her side. She debuted more #1 singles than any other artist in chart history, and she spent more time on the charts and broke and sold more records than half her peers combined.

She’s the voice, the body (those abs!?!?), and an unrivaled musical legend. Yet she still manages to embrace the spotlight (while skillfully avoiding scandal), and work the treadmill in spike heels — which, as MTV’s Artist of the Week, you can catch her doing all week.

Watch more videos of the lovely Miss Mariah at http://www.mtv.com

New Beginnings...

2008-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

What makes someone take a second, third or fourth look at their life, evaluate where they are, encounter a life changing moment, and then move forward? The answer to that is unknown. However, everyone has those moments in their life; sometimes many times throughout their life. They come at the least expected and most needed times in your life. Although they are completely unexpected, a majority of the time they come at the last moment when you need a change the most. Even in times where you don't necessarily need a complete change in your life, you need a good kick in the seat of the pants to wake you from your sleep.

There is something incredibly mysterious about the year 2008. Every human being walking the face of this earth, at this point in time, has experienced life-changing events that they have never dreamed. Some setbacks to set-ups, some setbacks to a downward spiral to destruction, and others the most prosperous year of their life (very few though)!

I once studied that, "the number 8 itself means new birth or new beginning. The number 8 comes after the number 7 which means completeness." This will only mean something to you if you believe in symbolic time periods. There is something very interesting about the significance of time that most people do not recognize. If we merely walk through our lives without acknowledging we could be walking in a specific meaningful time, there is certainly no purpose to even believing that we are born for a reason. I personally am comforted in knowing that somewhere between the beginning and the end of my life I will make a difference in someone else's life and fulfill my dreams when the time is right.

With the knowledge of knowing this could be the year of new beginnings, there is so much possibility to grow and start something great that can in turn change your pathway in life and lead you into the most amazing journey. Life is short, unfair, unkind and unforgiving but yet one of the most ever changing. If you do not change or start your new beginning today because of fear or doubt, just wait to see the sunrise of tomorrow and have a little more faith then you did yesterday.

From a park bench... I am reminded

2008-04-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

The inner child in all of us can be drawn out from a simple view of a past memory. A profound yet simple action can be dug from the past burial of our old lives. Remembering the days from a time that was, and then a time gone forever, is a stepping stone into the future that is set before you.

Your every day existance depends on the true acceptance of things before -- to things present -- and faith for a bright future. Just because everything began with us as children doesn't mean we are designed to stay there. To grow and learn is the ultimate goal and the memories are there to just recall and bring feelings of sorrow or joy into our lives for only a moment; then the momet is forever gone.

Living trapt in a world where our past depicts our present and future and holding strong to feelings untrue only confine you to never moving from today to tomorrow. To live and truely live your beautiful life is to experience every mountain and endure every valley, to live every dream and destroy every sorrow, to laugh every day and live by every word you say; this is what I truely deserve.

I Never Left... "Control Of The Mind"

2007-12-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

The human mind will never be completely understood. We can merely scratch the surface of what makes people think the way they do and what makes them react they way they do. Many people have a slight idea of what someone else is thinking by their actions and the way they go about their lives, but no one really knows your thoughts. Endless possibilities of creative explorations unfold when one person puts his or her mind to work. I personally have noticed that my mind never sleeps; it is in constant motion and thought. I have found this to be quite exhausting and even frustrating at times. If anyone has ever experienced this then you feel my pain! However, regardless of this being good or bad I found that the mind is easily controlled with a lot of discipline. People, like myself, have fallen into the disillution of the mind controls you but in reality you control your mind. Just like any part of your body can be controlled, control of your mind starts with a simple conscience effort. It sound easy enough right? WRONG! As easy as it is to start this phenomenal control of the mind, keeping control I have found is the hardest task. I can be in control for one day then completely lose it the next over something so small and meaningless. Like learning anything new, it comes with one day at a time. I however believe that it comes one minute at a time throughout every day. If we can learn to control our mind then we can change the world.

I'm Always Learning...

2007-05-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

Never neglect the great wisdom you can recieve from others. Doesn’t that sound simple enough? Unless we live under a rock we will daily have contact with people. People who may be very different from us are the ones that will give us the biggest surprise on learning. A majority of the things you learn will come from the people you least expect. The rich man on the hill can learn a simple lesson of compassion from the bum in the alley. Whomever we learn from it is the most important to glean from the ones least expected.
How can one be so ungrateful? Those are the words that I repeated to myself over and over this fine day in the month of May. My every thought clouded with such guilt and shame for taking my perfectly capable mind for granted. My selfish and lazy nature was put into check and again I was reminded of how fortunate I really am. It was a typical and ordinary day at Starbucks reading and studying when at the next table a semi-handicapped man sat at his laptop, typing very carefully, a paper of some sort. I began to search deeper and seen a stack of schoolbooks lying next to him. Folders with other papers in them lay atop a table and a bag that held them all lie next to his chair on the floor. He wore a pair of earphones on his head and fiddled with his coffee in between sentences of typing. I realized that he was a special learning student at the college I attend. I instantly sank with shame realizing how I was dreading my own homework, papers, speeches and tests that I had to complete that day.
This particular man seemed to possess such a joy and satisfaction from all of his studies. Even in the midst of his struggles with typing his paper, which is such a simple task for me, he seemed to have a certain peace about working at his own pace. Perfectly capable in my own way to excel in life and gain a higher education without the set-back of many special needs that some have, I came to the conclusion of the attitude that many seem to harbor from living in larger more affluent cities. It is the feeling of superiority and instant gratification.
As these big city inhabitants, we have a microwave mentality that leads us to believe we never have to work really hard for anything in life. Money should automatically come to us and we should own all of the material possessions that we could ever want without lifting a finger. We want a degree in minutes because how dare it take 6 years to complete a Masters Degree. We want the big promotion just by simply showing up to work the first day and not paying our dues year after year. We want the millions in the bank just to prove how valuable we are and so other will see our worth. This list could go on and on to fit the lifestyle of many people other then myself. While shooting for the stars in life we cannot neglect hard work and perseverance. The distraction of looking at others who have put 10 years into their careers and set aside the 6 years for college and higher education can be thinking that we can have that instantly the moment we graduate from high school. But the reality is, when we are capable of earning these positions in life we will receive them. Patience is a virtue!
I don’t know this man’s condition or the reason for him being handicap, but I do know that a very significant lesson was learned from observing his hard work despite whatever obstacles he has to overcome. I will never again (anytime soon) take lightly my gift of life and health that allows me to wake up each morning and take the day by storm.
I am truly humbled.

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE

2007-05-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

These three simple words can be the interpreted various ways by numerous people across this great planet. For some, living is simply the daily survival of food and water. In others, it is simply waking up to a new day each morning and breathing life into their lungs. To live is the act of a daily survival for all. The fulfillment of our dreams starts with the simple act of knowing who we are and why we are put on this earth. Laughing and loving are the embodiment of living and if we do not posses any we truly are not alive.

I am taken back to a time when these words rang loud in my ears and I have never forgotten them. Live, Laugh, Love. There is so much more to life then meets the eye. At first glance from a rather pessimistic person, life can be merely a time we are placed here to live and then when our time has expired we die. And whatever you believe happens after death, well, so be it. The reality of starting from ground zero and taking control of your life is a foreign thought to most. Because for most people they are late in life and never really found who they are. If we begin to just live and let things be that cannot be changed and stop sweating the small things we are beginning to take baby steps toward just “living.” Our minds can be completely over taxed with the ideas of solutions for problems that do not exist. We always want to be something that we are not and strive tirelessly for it and are devastated when peace is not found or the gold is not at the end of the rainbow.

The greatest lessons of learning to laugh was from no one but myself and maybe a little from my mother. The statement, “Laughter is like a medicine,” could not hold more truth. I probably love to laugh more than anyone I know. I think I was born laughing. This does not make you exempt to problems, heartache and pain but it certainly does help melt the worries away. It can be difficult to laugh at yourself because it shows our imperfections and our weakness is revealed. Being in a place of vulnerability can be very uncomfortable. We need to feel in control and the loss of it is almost as horrible as being naked in public! (for some that might be a comfort) However, the relief found in laughter can be the very thing that brings healing to our lives. Our baby steps are growing into leaps of progress in mapping out our life and purpose for living.

In conclusion, never underestimate the power of these emotions and the power of the voice of another leading you in the right direction. We were not put on this earth to live in it alone and without the help of our fellow man we will not live at our full potential. All of us are given unique knowledge and special gifts that are for others. The greatest gift is giving itself and the greatest life is that to Live, Laugh, and Love.

Have you ever said..."how ironic is that?!"

2007-04-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Irony, from the Greek εἴρων (eiron), is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). Irony may also arise from a discordance between acts and results, especially if it is striking, and seen by an outside audience.
More generally, irony is understood as an aesthetic valuation by an audience, which relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal, and which is variously applied to texts, speech, events, acts, and even fashion. All the different senses of irony revolve around the perceived notion of an incongruity, or a gap, between an understanding of reality, or expectation of a reality, and what actually happens.

There are different kinds of irony. For example:
▪ Tragic (or dramatic) irony occurs when a character on stage or in a story is ignorant, but the audience watching knows his or her eventual fate, as in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet
▪ Socratic irony takes place when someone pretends to be foolish or ignorant, in order to expose the ignorance of another
▪ Cosmic irony is a sharp incongruity between our expectation of an outcome and what actually occurs.
(wikipedia.com)

Turning from an oblivious situation to the reality of life is the very thing that can harm one’s pride and self esteem. We see through the eyes of what we want to believe and in our tragic state of being we realize we have been taken for a ride. Not only does our pride suffer but also as stated our self-esteem takes a massive blow and we then are drug down the level of the offender. The irony of tragedy is most devastating when it comes from a place least expected. A place of love, trust and extreme confidence is the first it can occur. This is not always true but is the majority of the offense. We can replay the episodes in our minds that have brought us to this point but again we are at a place of handicap. The strength we once gained from someone or something is not there to lean upon anymore. We then are forced to put on a mask and disguise our inner feelings of turmoil and pain. When the fog lifts and the light of day is shown into our situation, we then realize what we were fighting for was all in vain.

Our clever nature is the one that knows the evil we posses and we pretend to be the very thing we are not. Our words become what others want to hear instead of the truth. This action has an ulterior motive behind it. We are using others ignorance to our advantage and willingly setting the trap for them to fail. When used for good, these situations can produce life-changing moments that can set our feet on a new path in life. However, if these tactics are used against us for evil, we are truly in a position of weakness and ignorance. Our life is violated and our weakness then becomes weaker when we fall into the trap.

Our final moments of irony can be summed into our moment of expectation that is broken with a completely different outcome. If our plans for the future are going in one direction then once the time arrives they are not there following us, that cosmic irony can cause a displacement of self in the world around us. This failure to accomplish could very well be something that another has interrupted and caused you not to complete or it could be because of our human nature we have genuinely failed. The moments in life that will make or break us are found in these unexpected ends. With this knowledge in mind, our self- image (much different from our self-esteem) is derived by the things we accomplish in life.

Our fate in life will end up in an ironic situation eventually, we must be prepared for them and act with thought and not with too much emotion. Driven in the heat of passing moments our destiny will always be the outcome of a bad situation. It is as simple as that. A great life philosopher once said, “You’re on the brink of change and elevation when you see the road behind you go up in smoke!” Now that could turn into a whole other topic and I surely could speak on that a while!

Two Great Tragedies

2007-04-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

A philosopher once observed that there are two great tragedies in life. The first tragedy is not getting the desires of our heart. The second tragedy is getting them! The problem is that we think we know what we want, but when we finally get it, it is not what we thought it was going to be. We are disappointed and become disillusioned.
What we desire may not always be the best thing. Remember when you were a kid and you wanted a new toy or a new gadget really bad. You thought you could not live without this simple thing that probably would keep your attention for a moment or even bring harm to you. When you would beg your parents to get whatever it was you wanted they would respond, “We’ll see” which meant, No! But why did they say no? Why did your parents not just let you have anything you wanted? This is because everything that you want is not always good for you. If your parents would have let you eat junk food all of your life then you would grow up to be very sickly or even have a short life.
The simple analogy with a child is no different from our lives today. We live our lives in the moment and we act so spontaneous that we never stop to think. Our actions are in a race with our mind and they usually win. We cannot see but a few feet ahead of us in the race of life when we should be looking at the whole track and the finish line. We must learn to have character and discipline to lead the life we were meant to live. But for all of this to work in our lives we must make a conscious effort to change the course we are on and make the adjustments necessary.
After receiving what we so much desire and it not fulfilling out lives can be a very dangerous thing. This can be dangerous because for some they wait their whole lives for something and if they are left disappointed that could be the end of their rope. To place all of your expectations in one thing that you desire is nothing short of a catastrophe. You should never place al your hope in one thing because not only are you unfulfilled if you receive it sometime but what happens when that one thing is taken from you? How will you cope with the loss? Are you strong enough to handle the pain?
The definition of disillusioned, “dis·il·lu·sioned adj. disappointed by a frustrated ideal or belief.” If the desire brings about an unnecessary frustration then that could be a sign that it is not meant for you. Some things we desire are going to be hard to get but that is not the type of frustration I am referring to. This is the kind that eats away at your mind and soul every moment of every day. The kind that makes you loose sleep, your eating habits change and you cannot seem to get the relief you need. This is the disillusioned state that some might find themselves in after receiving what it is they thought they needed.
The strongest tool in breaking free from unnecessary baggage in our lives is the power of knowledge. I think the most neglected quality in our modern day is the neglect of knowledge and personal growth. We do not embrace the idea of improving ourselves and getting the knowledge to do so. Before we can change ourselves we must first learn how. We cannot blindly take the wheel of change without having clear direction as to where we are going. If I could say anything to the world at this moment it would be to not neglect knowledge because truth will set you free.

For What It Used To Be

2007-04-26T21:41:00.002-07:00

To pose questions at the onset of a topic is to simply provoke thought and begin to draw you into a state of wonder. Where were you when you loved something? Where are you now? Our feelings can change from one point to the next but what is written in our heart will tell us the truth. Feelings are the emotional charge we receive from something great or small. No matter what is it we receive that gives us these feelings we know them to be true by our first reactions. Do we love something for what it used to be and not for what it is today? Are we doing this without even realizing it?
According to wikipedia.com, “Emotion, in its most general definition, is an intense neural mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and evokes either a positive or negative psychological response. An emotion is differentiated from a feeling.” It also points out, “Feelings are affective states of consciousness, triggered by physiological changes arising from both sensory perceptions and memories in comparison to internally stored norms or ideals.” The idea of loving something for what it used to be is just as simple as stated. What we love may have changed. Time is the truth. What something may have been before is what triggered an emotion within us - the forever mystery of love. This is more than a feeling that is in our consciousness but an “intense neural mental state” that is born within us.
When I personally think of things that I have loved I think of music. When I reflect on where I was when I loved it would be as a small child, as far back as I can remember. My mind is drawn back to the music that existed before I was even thought of or born. Eras of music that would have been but a dream to be a part of are now what I read, study and listen to daily. Is the music I fell in love with simply history to me now and not what I love today? At times I begin to wonder! What is this garbage I hear playing across the airways sometimes? Surely there is someone out there receiving recognition for true talent and a gift for music. These thoughts are of course very drastic as well as slightly extreme and I did so to make a point - a very valid point I might add. I still am deeply in love with music and will be until the day I die but what I fell in love with is not the same anymore.
Change is necessary and needed so desperately that our growth is stunted, however this change has made us lose the emotion of love that is so vital. Our standards of love have dropped therefore we do not love with the intensity of yesterday. Presently because something may appear to you in a new and does not bring with it the same feelings, love is repressed. “Fundamentally, Change denotes the transition that occurs when something goes from being the same to being different. For example, water in the liquid state is not the same as water in the frozen state. At some point, it experienced a transition and became different. Thus, it changed.” (Wikipedia.com) The in between times or the transition is the true test. This is where time is put to the test. Can you endure the transition? This process is the very element that has taken us from the love we once possessed. The simple act of change now has taken on a complex nature that can change our lives forever.
Everyone has to evaluate things in their lives once in a while and weed out the points that deter them from their course. This particular evaluation would be for us to find what it is we truly are passionate about. If it is something that has changed our minds because of time, then with strength we must move on. This happens to many people that began majors in college. They start out in a particular field of study and then years later find out they are not so passionate about the field they have chosen. Our greatest gift is to love. In loving something for what it was and not for what it is today is tragic but part of life. However, during this tragedy we find out who we truly are and the change is for greater good.

Bitterness

2007-04-26T21:41:00.001-07:00

When you look up the word "family" in the dictionary you will find, "...a domestic group of people (or a number of domestic groups), typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by analogous or comparable relationships — including domestic partnership, cohabitation, adoption, surname and (in some cases) ownership (as occurred in the Roman Empire)." This is a generic term for what most would feel the word family means. We understand the meaning of family as something more emotional and tangible then the generic term we are given. Although it is understood we are genetically connected, we have the ties and bond of blood, which is the closest form of being connected. We share specific genes and visible characteristics that tie the bond even tighter for our families. With all of this knowledge of how we are connected to one another, why is it that we can be so distant from the ones closest to us? Why are we bonded through genetics but separated by bitterness?

We are born into a family as a child. Helpless in every way but more alive than ever we are born into this world. We are completely dependant upon those around (family) to take care of our needs. Knowledge at this point is nearly void and we know nothing other than the things we feel. Children are born barely being able to see so there sense of feeling is the only one they know. Trusting that they will be freed from hurt and pain they cry, crying is the only response they know. From the moment of birth and through the years that pass, life unfolds the cards it has dealt. The emotional bond is formed and we are connected with no strings attached.

Skipping past the first 18 years of ones life, circumstances and problems arise in the home and families are torn apart. This could be from divorce, abuse, financial crisis's, broken promises, distrust, alcohol and drug abuse and that only naming a few. The broken relationship is not what I am referring to but the separation of bitterness. Bitterness is the feelings that have developed over long periods of time and surface much later in life. It is when parents once so connected in conception can be so separated by simple differences. The feeling of rejection is the most devastating feeling to get from a family member. It is so strong because of the emotional ties that are held and how sensitive we are to their perception. Sociology refers to this as self-concept. We are given are self-esteem and concept by our parents at a young age. Then it seems as we become older and wiser in the ways of life, we make our own decisions and if they are not in harmony with what our family feels is right then we are shunned. The simple act of change is the hardest for us as human beings. We resist change therefore we fight it and push change away. This resistance leads to rejection and the rejection leads to the separations and then bitterness is birthed into out lives. The pregnancy period lasts for 9 months in most cases and then a birth happens. The same is the way bitterness starts. It is conceived inside of us and a root is planted and before we realize, time has gone by and bitterness has already been born and we cannot seem to figure from where it came. Can we continue to reject the family we have around us over simple things that hardly matter or will be set aside our differences and mend the relationships that are bonded by blood?

This topic of bitterness in families is something that I have seen far too much of in times past. It is a topic that will never end either because of our stubborn nature and emotional pride. "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes...” the scripture so clearly states, but yet we are so quick to judge another for their possible faults. I feel there is no right or wrong way to remedy the problem of bitterness but just a simple step in the right direction and more knowledge can effect a change sooner than some people think.

The Phenomenon

2007-04-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

In sociology, familial love is a type affinity or natural affection felt between members of a group bound by common ancestry or blood ties. The cultural ideal of familial love is one that is committed, unconditional, selfless, emotionally full, and reciprocally returned by the other.
In the fourth century BC, the Greek philosopher Plato [428-347BC], disciple of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, positioned the view that one would never love a person in that person’s totality, because no person represents goodness or beauty in totality. At a certain level, one does not even love the person at all. Rather, one loves an abstraction or image of the person’s best qualities. Plato never considered that one would love a person for his or her unique qualities, because the ideas are abstractions that do not vary. In love, we thus look for the best embodiment of a universal truth in a person rather than that of an idiosyncratic truth. (Wikipedia.com)
Susan Hendrick and Clyde Hendrick developed a Loves Attitude Scale based on John Alan Lee's theory called Love styles. Lee identified six basic theories that people use in their interpersonal relationships:
1. Eros (romantic love) — a passionate physical love based on physical appearance and beauty.
2. Ludus (game playing)— love is played as a game; love is playful; often involves little or no commitment and thrives on "conquests".
3. Storge (companionate love) — an affectionate love that slowly develops, based on similarity and friendship.
4. Pragma (pragmatic love) — inclination to select a partner based on practical and rational criteria where both will benefit 5. From the partnership.
5. Mania (possessive love) — highly emotional love; unstable; the stereotype of romantic love; its characteristics include jealousy and conflict.
6. Agapē (altruistic love) — selfless altruistic love; spiritual
(Wikipedia.com)

The term Agapē love has always been something of a phenomenon to me. I have heard the term expounded upon since I was a young child and especially a young child growing up in a Christian family. Many spiritual and religious authors of Bibles days and beyond have used this type of love in explaining Christ's love for the world and how he gave of Himself even before he knew us. For this reason the term Agapē love has been a mystery. It will continue to remain a mystery because my human mind cannot understand or wrap itself around the idea of it. As human beings we are created with flaws and that is what makes us humans.
We are fallible and with natural error. Imperfect creatures are such as ourselves are constantly striving to become better, greater, stronger, and wiser. Our wisdom comes with life experiences and failures. If failure did not show his face once in a while then we would never learn from our mistakes and become stronger. When you are on top of a mountain metaphorically speaking, you must come down from that mountain and walk through the valleys around you. The mountaintop is a place of bliss and serenity while the valley in contrast is a place and loneliness, anxiety and unknown. The unknown is the next breath that we take. If we trust to take our next breath to stay alive then the next step we take in life is of that great of importance. We must continue our walking forward on this journey called life.
Because of our fallible nature we are always trying to obtain this so called Agapē love.
Can we obtain this kind of love?
Will we ever receive this kind of love?

Too long...

2007-04-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my blog readers. I deeply apologize for not writing to you in several months! I did not realize how many people actually took the time to read my silly thoughts. I realized this after many emails from friends that I did not expect to read my blog. I assure you that I will begin posting again and try my best to give you something semi-insightful.
Till then, I wish you all the best in the world!

Chandra