The vacation from the vacation didn't last long. My practice playlist had 67 songs on it.
Here's the thing though... sometimes a show is important because it helps people escape harsh realities and fill up on positivity for a bit. You must feed your soul. You must.
The show was great and a good time was had by all.
Grateful for these happy moments!
Wishing you some relief this week... some peace, some laughter, some magic.
Do you think it still works? Walk to it. Let's see...
You push on the old wobbly wooden gate and find that it's lighter in weight than you expected. It swings silently, effortlessly. You breathe in the crisp, cool air and feel the crunch of leaves beneath your feet as you approach. Sun illuminates what's left of the few green leaves on the trees and you glimpse golden shards of shimmering light before peering into the vast empty darkness of the depths of the well.
The top rail boards are dry as a bone. You can feel granules of dust finer than sand as your hand brushes across its smooth surface. The leaves dance in the soft breeze. As your eyes close, you feel the warmth of the bright rays against them and you are one with your breath, slow and deep. It's safe here.
You dare to see the vision, that one secret hope. It freely unfolds in your mind's eye - your deepest wish. The picture becomes more vibrant, stronger, clearer as you allow it. You must say the words now and make it official.
I wish...
and it is done.
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope it's positively magical!
Love,
T
P.S.
The moment after I created this post, my phone blinged. I looked down at it to see the words, "Jesus... liked your photo." #YouCantMakeThisStuffUp
Nope. I'm just not going to argue with people who refuse to see it. The delete button is magical. The block feature is like a most wonderful spa experience. It's "Troll Be Gone." Poof! Then I can get back to work. Stay centered. Stay focused. There's a lot of work to do.
Things like this... there is no justification for this type of behavior. The man you call "President" has just tweeted out to 85.8 million followers - that "Rochester N.Y., Brooklyn N.Y, Portland - All had bad nights, all weakly run by Radical Left Democrat Governors and Mayors! Get the picture?"
The mayor of Rochester said THIS of the peaceful protest:
"Last night, the world saw the true spirit of Rochester," Mayor Lovely Warren said in a statement Monday. "Over 1,000 people came together in solidarity to remember the life of Daniel Prude and call for the change that is needed to overcome structural and institutional racism. I am grateful to Pastor Myra Brown, our community elders, and the leaders of the local Black Live[s] Matter movement for helping ensure calm while making their message heard. I am also glad that our Rochester Police Department and Chief Singletary followed my edict to adopt a smaller and more restrained posture. It is clear to me that their actions were crucial to the peace we saw last night."
"Lastly," she continued, "I ask that all involved ignore the commentary from the President. It is clear [that] his only desire is to bait people to act with hate and incite violence that he believes will benefit him politically. We will not give him what he wants. We will continue to act with grace and do the work necessary [to] improve Rochester and our entire community."
If you are someone who thinks science is mythical and racism doesn't exist - I do not have time to argue with you. If you think that there is some righteous or moral reason to justify all of the obvious and disgusting qualities of this President and his enablers... You. Are. Wrong.
This is no time to take anything for granted. We can not just "hope" things will change or get better.
Go to JoeBiden.com - if you haven't already. It's time to work.
I'm from Western New York. I've spent a lot of time in Rochester. Many people I know, love and work with are from there. As we speak, an artist in Rochester is delivering artwork she has created, to be the cover art of one of my new songs. It's about the relentless power of Love. Those whose source is Love - will not and can not stand for division and hatred. To deliberately inspire those shadowy aspects of human nature is to work against the light. Love will win.
Another mom at church rushed in with her coffee and asked if I had slept at all (of course not). She assured me that she knew EXACTLY how exhausted I was and that we were in the same boat. (Yep, pretty much - except I didn't have a big cup of iced coffee with me. LOL.) Apparently, this is how the holidays go. Family comes, schedules get all out of whack, there are at least five hundred more tasks to be done in addition to the regular million, AND there's an Easter Bunny involved. I'm about to fall down and conk completely out, so this is going to be a short one.
A MILLION THANK YOUs to all moms everywhere who somehow magically make Easter happen. #outstanding
One memorable moment was at church when all of the candles were lit. There were hundreds of people each holding a small flame - and quiet reflections about how to spread light as it literally spread through a darkened church, as congregants lit each other's candles. It was beautiful when everyone raised their candles up.
Here's to a wonderful week in the light of Spring!
I was tired. I didn't know how I was going to muster up the strength to get through the whole, four-hour-long, high-energy gig without anyone noticing my exhaustion.
A friend had sent me a selfie as I was leaving the house. I tried to send one back, but none of them were coming out well. I thought, "Geez, I look terrible." I was wearing my fatigue outwardly.
But then something amazing happened. After the long drive through the beautiful Hudson Valley and a very pleasant encounter with the nicest valet guy ever, I began to feel a little better. Upon greeting the other singer and some of the musicians, we started kidding around and laughing. By the start of the gig, I felt a LOT better. The crowd turned out to be the sweetest group of lively, friendly people, the staff was smiling and happy, my bandmates were the greatest bunch of guys (besides being awesome musicians), and I was absolutely thrilled to be a part of the whole event family. I had a fabulous time! No one would've guessed that I had started off the day so sluggish - including me! LOL.
"We cannot live only for ourselves.
A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow man."
- Herman Melville
L to R: John, Chris, Me, Paul, Harvey, Doug
Being a part of that fellowship was truly energizing - such an uplifting experience. I drove home with a profound sense of happiness and an energetic spirit, grateful to have been surrounded by such wonderful, positive energy. Also, I was reminded that we are exactly as we believe we are. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped thinking that I was tired and started thinking that I was going to have a lot of fun.
"Every thought we think is creating our future."
- Louise Hay
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything. What we thnk, we become."
- Buddha
"The words, 'I am...' are potent words; be careful what you hitch them to.
The thing you're claiming has a way of reaching back and claiming you."
- A.L. Kitselman
I'll listen carefully to my thoughts this week. If I start telling myself "I am tired" or anything I wish not to be, I'll replace it with something more like, "I am going to have a great day!" It's just a thought, after all. It can be changed - like magic.
For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."
- Stuart Chase
As for me? I believe.
This week, I am reminded of the Truth - that all things are possible, that magic exists, and that we can. "We can" what? We can - anything.
The following is from The New York Sun, 1897. I've always loved this Christmas editorial:
"WE TAKE PLEASURE IN ANSWERING THUS PROMINENTLY THE
communication below, expressing at the same time our great
gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the
friends of The Sun:
Dear Editor -
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there
is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The
Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a
Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety Fifth Street
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected
by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except
they see. They think that nothing can be which is not
comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia,
whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great
universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as
compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by
the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and
knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas!
how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It
would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be
no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable
this existence.
We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The
external light with which childhood fills the world would be
extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in
fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the
chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you
did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no
Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that
neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies
dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they
are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders
there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise
inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not
the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the
strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith,
poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and
picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it real? Ah,
Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A
thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years
from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
- "Is There a Santa Claus?" reprinted from the September 21,
1897, number of The New York Sun.
This year, I was moved by the writing of a nine year old little girl, Basya Fogelman, who read her winning essay aloud at the National Menorah Lighting in Washington, DC. I was also inspired and encouraged by Rabbi Levi Shemtov's comments, which immediately followed:
“Chanukah means different things to different people. To little kids, Chanukah means
presents. To adults, Chanukah means
spending time with family. To me,
Chanukah means going up. You might ask, ‘What does that mean?’ The second night
of Chanukah is symbolic of elevation or ‘going up’because every night you add
more light by lighting another candle. So
too does a Jew by doing this important mitzvah.
This mitzvah will lead to more. As
our sages say, ‘One good deed leads to another.’ We should try to do more good deeds every
day. It’s important to me to add more
light in honor of my grandmother who passed away on the second night of
Chanukah many years ago. My favorite
way to add light is to visit old and sick people and light the menorah and
sing Chanukah songs with them. When I
do this, I know I am not only elevating myself but my grandmother’s soul too.” - Basya Fogelman
“In your homes or via the live broadcast, know that you can
light a candle too.Even if you’re not
celebrating Chanukah, go warm up somebody’s life.Go do another good deed.Go make the world brighter than it would be
without you and in that way, you’re celebrating Chanukah too.Obviously, in the Jewish community we light
menorahs, but spreading light, good, and warmth in the world is a universal
opportunity and message.”- Rabbi Levi Shemtov
While the children are teaching us, here is another good find from Sesame Street, about Kwanzaa. I fondly remember learning all about Kwanzaa when my (then five year old) little sister came home from school and excitedly shared her entire lesson on the holiday with the whole family.
“Just as millions celebrate Irish culture on St. Patty's Day and Mexican culture on Cinco de Mayo, Kwanzaa has grown to fulfill Dr. Karenga's vision. The vision that people of all stripes celebrate the African culture and spirit.” - History.com
This holiday season, I'll keep in mind what the children have taught me. I will be warmed by the purity of love in their hearts and by the magic and spirit of family that fills the air. I will be reminded:
Life is simple. Choose Love. Choose Joy. Follow the Magic. Follow the Light.
Be Love. Be Joy. Be Magic. Be Light.
May we all have a joyous holiday season. May we love and appreciate each other for our uniqueness, for the variations and different traditions within our brotherhood and for the common bond which connects and unites all of us.
The gig on Saturday was definitely magical - and unique! Two brides married each other and both looked positively radiant and utterly joyous! We were reminded that love is love - plain and simple. The band had fun and so did the guests. :)
Selfie with Tony Allen
Selfie with Erich G
THEN... at church on Sunday, the lecturer spoke about Divine ideas and being childlike in our faith: about how we must be confident in our doing and believe in the results. (Sounds kind of like magic to me!)
Hey - I'm noticing a kind of theme here...
OK! So this week I'll carry the magic around with me and believe in it. :)
