Did the Governor say that today is day 96 of the quarantine? That is so crazy to me. We started off 2020 and my thoughts were that this was going to be a great year and somewhere in the midst of it, I was wishing it would be 2021.
But nonetheless, we are here and the fact that we are still here is a blessing, though we have lost so many along this journey.
Quarantine is interesting. I guess I never have had a problem with quietude. I think that is a musician thing maybe.
I have spent so much time lately practicing my piano and working on music and a new forthcoming project that if God is willing, I will be able to share with you at some point in the upcoming month. But for now, here is one of the first cuts from "The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project."
The song is entitled "Love is the Matter." All lyrics and music by Stephanie Jeannot and John Mueller. It is a song to promote the idea of world love and unity.
So here we are at the end of
the A to Z Challenge Cycle.
I think it pushes me to write
more and to go from different angles trying to fulfill each letter and then
learning new words because I definitely had not know many words that began with
every single letter of the alphabet. I mean, who knew xu was a form of
currency? But today because of the writing challenge, I like that it gives me the
knowledge of new words. I look forward to soon starting from A again.
MLK DAY
In honor of Martin
Luther King Jr Day and his dream for freedom, I wanted to share some of my
favorite quotes from the many zwazo de chante who inspire me as a chanteuse and
songwriter to use my voice, the voice being the most powerful tool you own in your life. I mean, I am a songbird. Here are some quotes from some of the
songbirds that I love a lot.
“I could stand on the stage, facing the
audience, knowing I was dancing down the barriers between us”
(Sammy Davis Jr)
“Being a singer is a natural gift. It
means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me”
(Aretha
Franklin)
“Breathing, of course, is very important
for singing. And while singing is exhaling, the inhaling process can make a
huge difference to the sound of your voice”
(James
A Cohen)
“Soul is the ability to make people feel
what you’re feeling”
(Aretha)
“I am history, I am the future. I was and
still am, because I always was and still am the truth”
(Anthony
“AZ” Cruz)
I was
thinking of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s dream and the latter quote. AZ said that "[he is] history." Our history is a part of us. He fought for us to be able to
experience the freedoms that we have today. We are the future that Martin spoke
about though we still have a long way to go when the denial of basic human
rights is less of a human crisis than some of God’s other children seeking
survival from hunger for themselves and their children that they are not getting beyond the invisible wall.
Why is it
that if we do not get our way sometimes, we feel so emasculated that we have to
put up a tantrum? I bet we will never
see El Capitain looking through a lens of better
understanding of Mother earth that
all of God’s children dwell on, on Twitter because toddlers with tantrums want what they want now; sometimes they even cry to have what they want. Why isn't humanity the eye candy? I wish time would have permitted us to see a “Dr Martin
Luther King Jr” reaction video to today’s modern world on YouTube. Would have
been interesting to hear his thoughts.
I HAVE A DREAM
With his
dream in mind, it started me thinking about my own dream of becoming better at
video editing. What better day than today when it is like 2 degrees outside to
stay inside and practice on building up my video editing skills.
I created this video for my song "Love
No Limit." Music by Paul Garrod. Lyrics by Stephanie Jeannot. Tell me what
you think about my editing for this video I made in honor of Dr Martin Luther
King Jr's dream of equality and fight for freedom for us. https://youtu.be/WcL9ZVr9nwU
Happy Martin Luther King Day everybody! God's blessings upon you!
“We are tied in a single
garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality” (Dr Martin
Luther King Jr)
It is not a bad thing to have
an emotional response to others when you see the things that they are going through.
Sometimes you might feel a sense of urgency to pray for others because of what
the media shows. That’s the right thing to do because we are all one body of
people on this one earth. Right?
Not everyone’s life feels like
a sweet joyride. Some people are unable to commit themselves to a grind and
straggle behind because they are physically incapable of it. Some people live crying
in agony on a daily basis because there is no hope to build on or to be
maintained and instead, they sit and suffer every day. Some people die for a
meal a day while others have the opportunity to eat six small meals a day. Some
people sleep in a warm bed every night while others sleep in cardboard boxes.
Some people have the ability to walk to wherever they want to go while others cannot
because they are in wheel chairs. Some people cannot dedicate themselves to
reading because they were not taught to read nor did they have educational
opportunities available to them.
Some folks carry on traditions
that are different than the ones we live. Some go to church every day. Others
may go only on Christmas and Easter or not at all. Some folks celebrate their
birthdays with laudatory festivals. Others fast to celebrate their new year.
We all are the same because we
all are different. We all have baggage, songs and dances. We all lived romances
and have taken chances from the moment we started on our life journeys.
We all make memories that resonate
through the years. We all feel things in our hearts in different ways. We all
have a diversity of ideas and are packed with emotions and we all perspire beads
of sweat making an effort to be the best version of ourselves.
Even though we are different,
we can still praise each other’s effort. Some make an effort to feed their five
kids. Some make an effort to survive the mean streets that they live on. Some
make an effort to simply have a voice in society. Some make an effort to overcome
the ravages of cancer. But we all as a people make efforts to fight the battles
of life and to overcome our own obstacles, regardless of what they are.
It is important to consider
others and to not generalize or make assumptions. Don’t topple someone else’s
confidence just because they live in a different bed of roses than you. Don’t
make judgments because someone’s educational background was different than
yours. And don’t tumble in the waves of measuring someone else’s work, monetary
or life situation on yours. Sometimes it is good to strike up the conversation with hopes of building a new perspective,
so we can root out bigotry, confront discrimination, fight for inclusivity, and
stop the unsavory stereotypes of people who are different from us. Please check
out my original song and video entitled, “People United.” Lyrics by me, Stephanie
Jeannot. Music by Paul Garrod. Video edited and produced by Stephanie Jeannot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKL0kS92s10&t=59s
At the end of the day, we
should hold high esteem for each other because we are all people alike. Let us
no longer look at people based on their age, class, color, gender, sexual
orientation but as human beings as we challenge old ideologies and instead make
provocative moves towards accepting responsibility for the progress of humanity.
In my opinion it seems more pleasing to the ear to hear stories of shared
humanity than struggling and fighting each other over the same nonsense because
at the end of the day, we are all equal. We are the change that is needed in
this world and we have the power to be in a position of influence to get everyone
to see the world from a broader perspective.
After all, Ujima is all about building
and maintaining the world together and to make our Brother's and sister's
problems, our problems and to solve them together. Happy Kwanzaa!
From Umoja to Imani, may all
the blessings of Kwanzaa be yours.
I have spent so much time lately practicing my piano and working on music and a new forthcoming project that if God is willing, I will be able to share with you at some point in the upcoming month. But for now, here is one of the first cuts from "The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project."
