Great minds have purpose; small minds, wish....

Good Morning all!

Woke up to some morning rain and nice, fresh air. No angry thunder-bumpers, just straight down, quiet, drenching rain...oh, the grass and plants will be rejoicing today!! This weekend has been great and it also has seemed to "last" long enough to fully enjoy it. Usually, weekends fly by so fast and I find myself sitting there (like EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT) going, WOW, where did my days off go--lamenting for Friday to come back so I could more fulfillingly spend the time...but to no avail...Monday ALWAYS follows Sunday and then it is a fast-forward wish. This weekend was not like that at all. I was able to do some very fun and fulfilling things, spend my time with people I love and enjoy being around, some from WAY back in the day. On Saturday, went to a block party down in my old stomping grounds and it was like some kind of reunion of sorts of a 30-year span, I saw people I used to spend a considerable amount of time with as far back as the 80s..friends, coworkers, friends of friends...it was great.

I got a chance to listen to a friend play in his "other" band, which I must stay is WAY more suited to him than the full-time gig he plays. The music was EPIC and his talent was showcased to the maxxxxx, while in the other band, it is ALL about the band "leader." The minute I arrived at this block party and glanced at him as he played, it was as if he was BEAMING..the whole aura around him was bright, electric, and "fitting." The two ends of this spectrum where his talent, his heart, and "where he belongs" was concerned was vast and blatantly recognizable.

I made SURE I let him know this. I have wanted for SO VERY LONG to hear him let loose and break out and do what I KNEW he could do, but was stifled from doing under the iron fist of the band leader of the other band...SO SAD. The same goes for my boyfriend, who is an incredibly talented drummer and isn't such a bad guitarist himself...STIFLED....and pretty much turning what is a large part of who he is into nothing more than a "paycheck." Who has the right to do this, and why do WE allow this to happen? Have we become so dependent upon the mighty dollar that we dumb ourselves down, make ourselves less, and consistently do things for the money that EVERYONE needs to live and as commmonplace as this is, what does this dynamic really do to US as INDIVIDUALS as time marches on? What other areas of our lives does this kind of "settling to be less than we are capable of being and WANT to be" in one area of our lives affect our lives as a whole...especially when we are dealing with a creative process, our destiny, our soul's cry, our life's blood--who we REALLY areand what we are crying out to say? What happens when our outlet for expression is expected to be dampered or to "follow" someone elses in order that we may eat, have a roof over our heads, drive our cars back and forth to work--our physical sustenance? We are selling out...and the fallout from this effects us VERY deeply as well as those who love us most. We are NOT put here as MONEY-MAKING machines in order to live...we are put here to ALLOW our hearts to make a difference, to have our voices heard, to reach out and touch others in the manner that GOD intended--the way we are creatively equipped to do so...not the way society dictates that we do. It literally makes me sick how in this life we are incessantly put in a positition to CHOOSE between being WHO we are and our purpose and our so VERY BASIC needs, and it has just become such that we put ourselves on the back-burner for probably most of our lives.

At any rate, I am SO happy that this particular person has found his outlet and voice through this "side-band" and I feel priviledged to have been one of the sponges to soak up all the wisdom that came from really SEEING and HEARING it...being witness to such a spreading of wings and breathing freely is almost as important as doing it myself FOR myself. It releases hope, validates purpose, and drives me to LIVE mine.

Think about it...I'm sure you can connect the dots here.

"Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose direction and begin to bend." ~Walter Savage Landor

"We all possess the thunder of pure fury and the calm breeze of tranquility. If it wasn't for tomorrow, how much would we get done today? Whatever your purpose... embrace it completely. Get lost in the clouds every now and then so you never lose sight of God's wonder." ~Paul Vitale

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." ~George Bernard Shaw

LIVE your purpose openly, freely without restriction, and you may just learn again how to LOVE and begin to recognize the pangs of true happiness.

Much love to you all and happy Sunday!!