Musings

UGH. Sometimes I am intellectual (like my last post), other times I just have so many random thoughts and feelings that I feel unable to focus.

I'm kind of in the second phase right now.

1) "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow..."
I have been blessed with a vision, a passion, a few talents, some opportunities. My future career is a bunch of images thrown together to create an abstract work of art. It's already beautiful, but only when viewed with your left brain, or through your heart. It doesn't make sense yet; it only makes warm fuzzies. Some day it'll be concrete,  but not today.

2) Brave New Voices
"BNV ain't nothin' to f*** with" is still one of the truest statements I know. It's got to be something real if it still sends chills up and down my spine and makes me cry four months after the fact.
I think what Russell Simmons (God Bless him) has a gift for is seeing the things that will inspire people and then giving those things the platform they deserve. He exposed poetry (Def Poetry) in a way that many people had never seen (Admit it, poets, we're wayy too proud of our antiestablishmentarianism to advertise our art to the masses). And then he compounded on that step in way that makes sure poetry will never die (Brave New Voices), because there will always be kids.
Note: you can think I'm wrong if you want to, but I have this new theory. If I create a poem, a song, a dance, an article of clothing, a program and someone else gives me publicity, I'm not a sellout if I accept (or even relish in) that publicity. Just because a poet/musician/artist/designer/activist goes on Def Jam or BNV or into a public arena doesn't mean they are now a commercialist who has forgotten where they come from. Art is most meaningful when people see it.

3) Balance is just about the most difficult thing in the world to learn.
fashion/presentation : non-vanity
piety/dedication to my beliefs : understanding/tolerance of other ideas
knowledge : faith << I'm struggling with this one BIG TIME right now.
diligence : flexibility
help yourself before you can help others : taking one for the team

4) Being a member of the information generation is both a blessing and a curse.
I couldn't live without social media/my cell phone.
The internet is the time suck of my life: email > news update > tweet > intellectual discourse > reflection/blog > friend's new FB photos > entertainment news > reflection ... RIDICULOUS. We're all going to have to learn to buckle down, turn off our internet connection (maybe) in order to get things done.

5) I feel a connection to Carrie Underwood. Not because I adore her music. Sometimes belting gets on my nerves. But, I feel connected to the lyrics she writes (or at least the ones she sings, lol); probably because she's from Oklahoma and she sings about that. (I also love most all country music, btw, fyi.)
I will probably never leave Oklahoma for long because I can't imagine feeling like she does when she sings "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore." "You can get anything you want here, except a Walmart store...I'd rather be tippin' cows in Tulsa than hailin' cabs here in New York..." (even though I've never tipped a cow or been to New York, I understand the feeling.) "I miss the big blue skies, the Oklahoma kind..."
On a more universal level, even though I'm still at home, I feel this in my bones: "Tell my baby sister I'll see her in the fall. Tell MeMaw that I miss her. Yeah, I should give her a call. And make sure you tell Daddy that I'm still his little girl. Yeah, I still feel like I'm where I'm s'posed to be. Don't forget to remember me." That last line goes out to my sorority sisters and to Frank and to Jen and to Jeffery.

All in all, life is very good. I smile a lot because I focus on grace, vision, and possibility. ("What you focus on expands.") For the first time in a while, the glass is very much half full.

Happy Friday.
Have a blessed weekend.