My favorite post from someone else's blog

TIRED OF SPEAKING SWEETLY- (The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,
Break all our teacup talk of God.
If you had the courage and
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
He would just drag you around the room by your hair,
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world that bring you no joy.
Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly
And wants to rip to shreds
All your erroneous notions of truth
That make you fight within yourself, dear one,
And with others,
Causing the world to weep
On too many fine days.
God wants to manhandle us,
Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself
And practice His dropkick.
The Beloved sometimes wants
To do us a great favor:
Hold us upside down
And shake all the nonsense out.
But when we hear He is in such a “playful drunken mood”
Most everyone I know
Quickly packs their bags and hightails it
Out of town.
~ Hafiz ~

I've read a lot of people's blogs this last year and the following post is simply my favorite for 2009. Thank you to Kelly Sheehan-Funk (from her blog "Cover It With Love").

What's Up with Kanye?

Speaking of passionate genius, I reported in the Examiner today about the Kanye West is dead hoax. I feel for the guy. I mean it. Kanye West is clearly a very talented guy and yet he also seems to be haunted by a dramatic sense of insecurity and it's been showing up increasingly in how he's acted in the most public of settings.

So here's the questions: Is it all an act? Or is this rap-superstar really fighting the kind of inner demons that are driving him to the edge? The music biz is a tough world, like any success-driven scene (and it's even rougher, if you don't know that who you are on the inside has nothing to do with whether people like you, respect you, or give a damn about you).

What do you think? Is Kanye one more casualty of his own success? Or can he pull it together and recover from his own faux pax and the rumors of his own demise?

And see, here's the deeper question: (Because it's easy to judge the man from over here where I'm not dealing with what he is) If you were in Kanye's shoes, what would do to? How do you handle success? How do you approach it? What are your fears about your own success?


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Views of those commenting have not been checked for accuracy and do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog publisher or his associates.

If You Had Three Months To Live -- What Would You Do?

Recently, a long-time friend of mine died of cancer. I had gone to lunch with her a few weeks before she found out she was going to die. When I got an email from her that she needed to speak to me right away, I couldn't imagine that she would tell me she'd just found out she had 4th stage pancreatic cancer and would die within three to six months (it turned out to be just barely 3 months).

Knowing of her presumed fate, she and her husband set out to do some things she had always wanted to do: trips to places she'd only dreamed of previously; visits to the family to make things right; conversations with friends; and sharing the intimacy of her dying process and eventually her death.

Like every passing of one who is close to our heart, my friend's death has left me particularly reflective about life... about it's precious nature. And having died twice myself, and then come back to life, I'm keenly aware that our time here on this planet is limited. Nothing, it seems, provides us perspective on what we're passionate about like dying (odd, isn't it?).

In my case, as I felt my heart stop during the Northridge earthquake of 1994, my life flashed before me like some strange online slide show. What struck me most as I watched it go by, however, was that the only regrets I had were not for things I had done or experienced -- but only for those things I had not done; the words not spoken; the passions not expressed; the dreams not fully pursued.

I've spent my days since, trying to live out what my heart revealed to me in that critical moment. And so, as an exercise... perhaps a mini-workshop in being present to the life that is and what you most ardently feel called to do... what would you do, if you only had three months to finish out your life on this planet?

My hope is that in our sharing, we might awaken the calls within us... those deeper passions that in a significant manner are part of our reason for being here in the first place.

And for those of you who choose to share your thoughts in the comment section below, thank you... I always gain much from what you contribute.

P.S. As always remember that to see the comments in a separate window, click on the "Comments" link. To see the comments in the body of the topic, click "Links to this Post"

Views of those commenting have not been checked for accuracy and do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog publisher or his associates.

How to Access Unlimited Creativity

In my most recent articles in the Examiner How to Access Unlimited Creativity and Stimulating Your Creative Genius, I share some of the ideas and exercises that have evolved from research done by both "creative types" and scientists (also very creative) and my own work around the topic of creativity.

In this blog, I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences about the topic. When do you find yourself most creative. What do you do to access or stimulate the "muse?" Where do you think heightened creativity comes from? How is it, for instance, that the patent office reports nearly simultaneous submissions of paradigm-breaking patents from different people who have had no contact with each other?

The more we master creativity, it seems, the more we'll have the chance to generate great art and music, and solve some of the challenging problems of our age. What can we do to better support the process of creativity with each other?

P.S. As always remember that to see the comments in a separate window, click on the "Comments" link. To see the comments in the body of the topic, click "Links to this Post"

Views of those commenting have not been checked for accuracy and do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog publisher or his associates.

For a glance at other topics covered so far, please visit:
Christopher Harding's Entertainment Column at the Examiner,

My most recent posts are:
Leonard Cohen (writer of "Hallelujah") Collapses During Concert Performance
Music Nomad -- a Philanthropist for Indie Artists
How to Empower Your Band -- Do You Want to Know a Secret?
Artist Integrity and the New Music Business -- A Match Made in Heaven?

Or check out some of the articles that have generated the most discussion:
"20 Questions Every Band Should Answer"
or
"Secrets of Social Networking for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 3",
Social Media Basics for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 4 and
Social Media Stragegies for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 5