Musicians
I don’t know why, but of all the musicians I know, it seems the trend is that the better skill they have with a selected instrument, the less connected they are to music as an expressive form.
I’m a musician and I’m somewhat “natural” with instruments (aka. I can basically pick one up and play it within ten minutes), yet I’m not extraordinary at any one instrument. I feel a kind of bond with music and when I write songs or just cover songs (or even listen to music), they’re an extension of me and my feelings.
There are some musicians that are amazing with an instrument and are amazing songwriters, but… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like you can only have one or the other. And more than often, to me, it seems that extraordinary talent with an instrument is an interest in more technical activities than with music itself.
My Two Cents. Again.
strengthsquest
strengthsquest.comstrengthsquest has been all up in my business the past couple weeks and i’m obsessed with it. i have a thing for personality tests and stuff like that, so to explain how excited i was when i heard we’d be doing SQ in training for work would be plain embarrassing. not two weeks later, i find out we’re doing SQ in my english capstone as well. out of 34, here are my top 5 strengths:
empathy
strategic
intellection
discipline
connectedness
anyone else taken it? what are your strengths?
“So that when I look up at the night sky, and I know that yes we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up- many people feel small, cause they're small and the universe is big. But I feel big because my atoms came from those stars. There's a level of connectivity. That's really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant. You want to feel like you're a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. And that's precisely what we are just by being alive.”
—Neil deGrasse TysonWalk the line
There are plenty of ways people have expressed the True oneness of everything, and there will be many more I’m sure. People call it God, Atman, the Self, and a whole bunch of other things. There’re also a lot of different ways to call the state in which one lives in the realization of this truth: nirvana, enlightenment, awakened, advanced. What it all really means is that there is no distinction between one individual to the next, nor is there from one moment to the next, nor from individuals to moments, nor anything to anything else; All is One. But another Truth people express is that of duality, that all things within it possesses equal and opposing forces. Of course, there is no True difference between these forces, but there is an undeniable, underlying polarity in how we see things. This is all how we see things as separate individuals, but in truth they are one. The universe is constantly expanding into infinite infinitely different consciousnesses but at the same time is all one consciousness. Separate and together in a great big One-All. And more distinct ideas will be created, and more distinctions between ideas will arise, all in an endless, rhythmic pattern. But just as they are quintessentially separate individual beings, they are one collective Being that pervades all.
Seeing this infinite duality in everything, all the time is seen by most spiritualities as a state of perfection, of enlightenment, of nirvana. What they are not realizing is that the lack of distinction between anything, including perfection and “normality” is an illusion and that in Truth, we are already perfect. What we need to do, though, is accept that we are perfect. We see ourselves as highly flawed, and we are! But we do not see ourselves as perfect. To attain this state of higher being, we must realize that we are both perfect AND imperfect in all moments, and thus in the one True moment. It is here, in the total balance, that we will find It.
Focusing Away From Distractions
thedailylove.comWe all have some way[s] in which we need to grow and should experience growth within ourselves at some point in our lives. One of the best things that can happen to you, is to be open, willing, vulnerable and enlightened enough to recognize what you have the power to improve. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you are flawed, but that you, along with everyone else in the world, has room for growth to become the person you want to be and in doing so will be one step closer to gaining all that you wish to achieve in life.
In this technologically submerged day and age, our toys and gadgets have all too commonly become something that distracts us from life and what is present in front of us. I, myself, will be the first to admit that our tech toys are amazing for numerous reasons, but we cannot allow them to disconnect us so much from the real world that it affects those closest to our hearts. Even people you meet just for a day, a season, or for the time being deserve better than this. There is a level of intimacy and connectedness that should be preserved in our relationships, friendships and encounters. If someone is willing to give us the time of day, how can we not entitle them to all of ourselves? I hope that we all are lucky to have someone, whether it be ourselves, a partner, friend, family member or complete stranger, who is able to help us shed light on what we wish and need to grow and develop in our lives. We should all be so lucky.
What if we remembered?
I wonder what would happen if we were to suddenly remember everything about this life. What if it suddenly became clear to us why we’re on this planet? Not just at a collective level, but a personal one as well. What is it that my personal self, my specific soul, has come here to accomplish? I don’t know. Where do I even come from? I don’t know. Where am I supposed to be going? I really just… don’t know. I have all of these ideas swimming along the currents of my mind but it’s all very vague. And there are people who don’t even question these things. That’s what scares me I think… that there are souls out there who are truly lost, entirely caught up in the game of life… so much so that they have not even a glimmer of insight or even a desire to truly understand the depth of it all.
What if we remembered everything? What if some cosmic event caused all of the veils to be lifted in an instant. Picture it: You’re in the supermarket, pushing your cart down aisle 5 looking for the ingredients you need to make the perfect apple pie that you plan on bringing to the office party the next day. Everything is as normal as it can be… and then suddenly you freeze. Everyone around you stops. Everything is silent. It only lasts a few seconds but when you come back, everything is different. Suddenly, you remember it all. You remember who you are, not who your body identifies as. You remember why you chose the family you now spend your days with. You remember why you pursued that day job you hate with such a passion. You remember why everything is as it is.
Everyone surrounding you has the same look on their face. That same “Aha!” going through their mind. Everything starts making sense. The puzzle pieces slowly come together, instilling a sense of relief as each one finds its way back into its original position. Life starts to make sense. You realize that you are no different than that man who had just stolen the parking spot in front of the supermarket right as you were pulling in. You realize that the momentary hatred and anger you felt towards this person does not resonate with your true nature. Your nature is to feel love, to create love, and to be love. Happiness stems from love, not hate. You cannot hate and feel happiness. You cannot hate and feel joy. It is love that is the source of all these things… and you remember now that you, at your deepest core, are pure love.
Just imagine.
