Tag: Inspiration

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

“The Chance of a Lifetime”

From Camdiluv at https://flic.kr/p/7Ls5GD
From Camdiluv at https://flic.kr/p/7Ls5GD

Tonight I decided to go through some e-mails. I’m actually down to 40 in my inbox now, which is some kind of record for me I’m sure. I stumbled upon a blog link for bestselling author Seth Godin‘s blog. Having written 14 books and started many (mostly failed) companies, he’s definitely accumulated some wisdom over the years. The blog post that was sent to me was titled “The chance of a lifetime“. I recommend the read, but in the end, there are two passages that resonate with me. I’m writing them here to remind me. Today was a day in which, for whatever the reason, I felt a bit down. These quotes came at a good time :).

“The thing is, we … live in a world that’s filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.”

“You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.”

Musical Pitch: Alicia Keys, The Element of Freedom

AliciaKeysSo I figured that one of the things I’ll blog about is music, and what graces my ears at that point in time. Since I live alone, and have no furniture (or barely any), and the fact that it tends to be really quiet, I pretty much have music going at all times. Or TV. I have a TV.

In general, I’m a huge fan of the divas, especially the black empowering ones. It’s no secret that I’m a huge Beyonce fan. Yes, I flew home to Toronto this past summer just to see her in concert. Yes, I’ve endured countless jokes by my coworkers on my obsession. My boss tried to get my attention once while I had Beyonce’s music blaring in my headphones. Eventually she gave up and told the people she was meeting with ‘Oh, he’s just listening to Beyonce.’ Yes, I have a poster/calendar of her in my office, complete with complimentary Beyonce stickers. So it now comes as no surprise that I’ve always been a fan of Alicia Keys as well. But I’ve now come to love this woman’s music as of her current studio album, The Element of Freedom. She has an amazing gift in her voice, and she’s a great pianist as well- along with her soul and passion, she produces some incredible music. I highly recommend it. On this album, she sings about what one may expect- moving on from a relationship, empowerment, love- but it has a little different of a feel.  I can’t quite articulate how I get a different feeling from it, but sometimes that is the great thing about music- it’s all about how one feels when one feels it.  Take my word for it though- it’s a great album 🙂

One of my favourite songs on the album is called ‘Wait Till You See My Smile.’  I think it’s good to highlight this song as 2010 begins since it complements the positive thinking and optimistic resolutions that I feel characterize this year for me. ‘Wait Till You See My Smile’ talks about enduring hardship, but standing strong after that experience and coming back in full force; showing the world that you’re ready for it once again… or it better be ready for you :). My favourite line of the song: “‘Cause you’re stronger, and you’re better, and you’re ready for whatever, Sing!” And I like to sing. Sometimes like a diva. And what a positive message to internalize and project. When you’re ready to show your smile, the world will be watching :).