Entries Tagged 'Inspiration' ↓

” . . .Perhaps the most forwarded poem ever, from a full time poet no less . . .”
Seth Godin

By Seth’s definition, an artist is not just some person who messes around with paint and brushes, an artist is somebody who does (and I LOVE this term) “emotional work.”

Work that you put your heart and soul into. Work that matters. Work that you gladly sacrifice all other alternatives for. As a working artist and cartoonist myself, I know exactly what he means.

It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it.

Hugh MacLeod

by Lisa Adamowicz Kless

This past Wednesday, I walked into Carolyn’s Coffee Connection, books in hand for the Kenosha Writers’ Guild’s children’s story time. As I took off my coat, I noticed a group of ladies gathered together around a few tables in the middle of the place, talking, with laughter punctuating the conversation every few minutes. While groups of friends or family getting together to catch up is an everyday thing at Carolyn’s, Francisco Loyola came over to tell me that this particular group was there to celebrate Beethoven’s birthday. Since there weren’t any little ones waiting for story time to begin yet, we asked the ladies if we could interrupt for just a second to ask why they decided to celebrate the maestro’s birthday. It turned out to be a far better story than any of the books I’d brought along.

As I was invited to pull up a chair and get comfortable, one of the ladies explained to me that the group had been meeting like this since about 1997 or 1998, in memory of their friend Bernice King after she passed away. Bernice used to host wonderful parties at her home, her friends said, deciding to celebrate Beethoven’s birthday every year in lieu of a traditional holiday party. From around the table, one by one, her friends raved about what a terrific cook Bernice had been, and how they always enjoyed fantastic, elaborate meals at her Beethoven parties. I learned a little more about the group over the next few minutes, but we paused in our conversation when one of the ladies began passing around sheets of paper. The person I was sitting next to told me that the friend handing them out had written “parodies” set to some of Beethoven’s songs, and that we’d be singing them together. Handing some of the papers my way, they asked, “Do you sing?”, to which I replied, “Not very well, but I’ll try!”, secretly relieved when the whole group joined in on the first sentence, muffling my voice. The tune was Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, with witty and fun lyrics about the type of lady Bernice was, substituted in. I tried my best to sing as well as I could, touched that the women had allowed me to share in this celebration of their friend’s life. After the second song was sung and the old friends started to catch up on what had been happening in each other’s personal lives again, I thanked them and said goodbye.

I shared this story with one of my closest friends, and he had the same reaction to it that I did; what a heart-warming and wonderful way for these women to honor their friend’s memory. ‘Tis the season for celebration, friendship and love.

As seen @ Operation Nice

After nine heart surgeries, “Harmonica Man” Andy Mackie stopped his prescriptions and used the money to spread the joy of music to kids. Watch Mackie in Steve Hartman’s “Asssignment America.”

by Micah Siy

Nobody has the answers.
Nobody is listening to you.
Nobody is looking out for your interests.
Nobody will lower your taxes.
Nobody will fix the education system.
Nobody knows what he is doing in Washington.
Nobody will make us energy independent.
Nobody will cut government waste.
Nobody will clean up the environment.
Nobody will protect us against terrorist threats.
Nobody will tell the truth.
Nobody will avoid conflicts of interest.
Nobody will restore ethical behavior to the White House.
Nobody will get us out of Afghanistan.
Nobody understands farm subsidies.
Nobody will spend your tax dollars wisely.
Nobody feels your pain.
Nobody wants to give peace a chance.
Nobody predicted the Iraq War would be a disaster.
Nobody expected the levees to fail.
Nobody warned that the housing bubble would collapse.
Nobody will reform Wall Street.
Nobody will stand up for what’s right.
Nobody will be your voice.
Nobody will tell you what the others won’t.
Nobody has a handle on this.
Nobody, but you, that is.
Never forget, a small group of people can change the world.
No one else ever has.

Micah Siy is co-founder of the Personal Democracy Forum. He tweets @mlsif.

This essay is part of the What Matters Now (Big thoughts and small actions make a difference.) ebook.
Seth Godin wants to shake things up. More than seventy extraordinary authors and thinkers contributed to this ebook. It’s designed to make you sit up and think, to change your new year’s resolutions, to foster some difficult conversations with your team.

Things to think about (and do) this year Click HERE to download the free ebook