creativity, Music, Photography

“YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED”

January 2, 2016

Some of the best moments in this life are happening all around us but we often take them for granted.

Or maybe we are sidetracked, trying to find our selves,  or our path in life, so we aren’t fully aware of those moments and are unable to really appreciate them.

Or we’re too busy doing something else and we don’t even notice them.

In the video clip below, “the guy” seems  to be Clueless!….Missing the sunrise!… Possibly too busy admiring himself!”  🙂

AMAZING GRACE ………..the song

      AMAZING VOICE………………Lizz Wright

            AMAZING MOMENT…………….”A New Day Begins

 

A chance to do it over!

A chance to try something new!

A chance to do it better!

A chance to just do!

A chance to see things in a new light!………

 

I heard a comedian once say, “There are three types of people in this life.  Those who make things happen. Those who watch things happen. And those who don’t even know anything is happening.” That had me ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing).

But seriously, which of those three types of people do you want to be? (I want to be the first type).

But in order to do that,  we need to be present every minute of our day, living purposefully, mindfully, and gratefully.

So how do you do that?

It starts by knowing what you want in life by knowing what things make YOU happy. Those things that interest you the most and make you the happiest are your gifts to pursue in this life.

A couple of months ago, a young woman  whose taste and opinion I value dearly, mentioned that she liked the music of Nick Drake, so I’ve been listening to him lately. (Music is one of my favorite things.)

As I’m writing this post, I am listening to Luluc doing a cover of a song by Nick Drake called, “Things Behind The Sun“, which is on the tribute CD called “Way To Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake”, and it is also on  a CD called “Pink Moon”. (Check out this youtube link: BBC Sessions: Songs of Nick Drake-Way To Blue)

This line popped out at me:  “Don’t be shy. You learn to fly. See the sun when day is done, if only you see…….Be what you be.”

There is much more to the song than this but “See the sun when day is done, if only you see..” is in the same vein as the message I’m trying to convey here: “Do the things that feel right to you. Do the things that interest you.”

When you think of everything you are grateful for in your life, you begin to focus on the here and now, and you see what is right for you.  Then,  being present,  is not so hard to do.

Your “plan” for the day, or for the year, or for your life,  begins to reveal itself, one step at a time, in the here and now. You succeed and then fail and then succeed again, as you steadily and consciously  move forward, making choices that make sense for you, with full gratitude for the positive, as well as negative, clues and feedback that life gives you along the way, to help you stay on track.

Be grateful for all things you have great interest in!

Be grateful that you can make choices that are right for you!

Be grateful for a chance to see things in a new light!

Be grateful for the new day!

By the way, while you were watching the new day dawn, and listening to Lizz sing “Amazing Grace” so uniquely and beautifully, I was busy doing something else!

I WAS in the present.

I DID SEE the sunrise.

But I had a “higher calling” this morning!

I was “Making The Sun Come Up In The West!!”   🙂

 

Making the sun come up in the West

Making the sun come up in the West

Remember:    Your choice!  Your Way!  Be present!  Take Action!

 

P.S.  I wrote this post before I went to Boston last September (See “Weekend in Boston”) to see and hear LIzz Wright perform.

While I was there, I wanted to shoot a video of a beautiful East Coast sunrise.

All I needed to do was shoot the video and plug it into the post and hit publish.  But it was cloudy and rainy in Boston that weekend.

Then I thought I would do the sunrise video on the Top of Zurich, when I went to Switzerland last October. But it was foggy and gray every morning there too.

So I arrived back in Seattle but November and December were  gray and rainy on the days I was actually able to get up early and do the video (days I didn’t have to work).

But finally I was able to get the sunrise video this morning in Seattle on New Year’s Day, no less!

Every day is so much more interesting and worthwhile when you are present and consciously choosing how you want it to go (even if it doesn’t always work out the  way you plan).

 

P.P.S.  There have been quite a few artists who have sung “Amazing Grace”.  So I didn’t think I’d ever want to hear another cover of it.

But then I heard Lizz Wright sing it and it was like hearing it for the first time.  She’s so present, focused, sincere, and unique in her version of the song.

So as I listened to the song, repeatedly, I began to think of how we all are blessed in many and varied ways,  and how we need to be present and grateful and pursue our gifts. That was the germination stage for this post.

The song says,  “………`twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”

But………OUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

 

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