Every October, I get to spend 11 days working with a wide variety of musical acts from all genres. Like the many people who pass through our lives, they all are unique and to watch them from behind the scenes is a perspective that provides insights that are amazing glimpses into the real story of the performer. It never ceases to amaze me at the depth and passion that many of theses performers are sharing on the stage. Often, we think it’s a show but in reality they are baring pieces of their lives and souls to create the performance.
Most everyone has a secret dream – that dream to be able to perform in some way, whether it’s art, drama or music. Guess what friends – we all perform every day for all those around us. We paint a picture, tell a story and create the music of life for ourselves, our loved ones and the people we interact with as we walk though life. Like a piano, the song we play is determined by the keys we choose to hit. More often than not, we are content to play the same song over and over again. It’s safe, it’s familiar and it’s easy. The true challenge in life is to be brave enough to reach deep and express ourselves – playing the new songs that are waiting to be created and shared. All it takes is a little courage, creativity and daring to express yourselves. Imagine if Little Richard had never dared to sing “Bop bopa-a-lu a whop bam boo”…… so regardless of what you think holds you back, or the dream you think you could never do – dare to dream, dare to try and make a new song for the world!
October 2012 Quote Recap
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. Andre Gide (1869 – 1951)
Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall. Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 – 1894)
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another. George Eliot (1819 – 1880)
People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. W. Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965)
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
“A pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results.” -Bennet Cerf
The root of joy is gratefulness…It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful. Brother David Steindl-Rast
It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011)
“At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.
–John Burroughs
It’s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it’s the work you put in the hours. Sam Ewing
Sanity is a madness put to good use. George Santayana (1863 – 1952)
An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895)
I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it. Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
Honesty pays, but it doesn’t seem to pay enough to suit some people. Kin Hubbard (1868 – 1930)
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963)
It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated. Alec Bourne
Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: It’s good to be silly at the right moment. Horace (65 BC – 8 BC)
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
–Benjamin Disraeli
Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. William Ellery Channing (1780 – 1842)
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
–James Baldwin,
American writer
Values are critical guides for making decisions. When in doubt, they cut through the fog like a beacon in the night-Robert Townsend
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. Jacques Maritain (1882 – 1973)
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. Storm Jameson
Character is forged in the smallest of struggles. Then, when the big challenges come, we’re ready. Waiter Rant
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. George S. Patton (1885 – 1945)
Don’t confuse being ‘soft’ with seeing the other guy’s point of view. George Bush (1924 – )
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Dorothy Parker (1893 – 1967)
Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master. Demosthenes (384 BC – 322 BC)
To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. Plutarch (46 AD – 120 AD)
Mike Craney 