Month: January 2021

Music

“Never look back…” 🎶

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I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like “Whale”, such an odd song. It’s inspiring, beautiful, and a little dark.

Yellow Ostrich is kind of blowing my mind here. 🤯

I think “the whale” is all about letting go and (literally) going deep to find your best self.

It gets off to a slow start.

Whale, swim with me whale
We will go far into the sea

Then it builds up and comes crashing down again around 2:00.

I’ve been swimming for a thousand years and I’ve
Seen more than you can realize

And finally all comes together in a soaring climax starting around 2:35.

You will take me
Onto your back

Never look back
Never look back
Never look back…

Photos

Inauguration Day

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Beautiful inauguration today. 🙏 I especially liked the comments from Amanda Gorman. 🙌

“We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.”

“And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.”

#inauguration2021#usa#flag#🇺🇸#poetry#shotoniphone

You

“Meaning is what’s left when everything else is stripped away.”

patmcg5 Comments

Cool quote from this TED talk about almost dying and then living.

Meaning is not found in the material realm; it’s not in dinner, jazz, cocktails or conversation. Meaning is what’s left when everything else is stripped away.

There are lots of way to interpret that quote, of course.

One way I look at it is this: life is about who you are. If everything in your life suddenly disappeared and you were dropped into an empty field in an unknown country, what person would be standing there?

I’m not talking about some crazy Naked and Afraid survival scenario. Suppose you have some money and some clothes. But not much else. Who is that person standing in the field? What does he know? What does he want? How does he move forward? How will he impact the world around him? That’s who you are.

I’m not actually sure if that’s what that quote meant ☝️, but there’s my take. 😆

This goes with Aristotle’s idea that the meaning of life is what you do — how you impact the real world. As humans, we are uniquely gifted with smart brains and “rational faculty”. We are happiest when we use these minds for some purpose in the world.

A poet should write, a teacher teach, and a doctor heal. Not only should each person do their thing, but they should do it well.

I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty inspirational. 😊