In My Nature

Right now, in this moment in time, singing is one of my favorite things to do. it is my nature to want to get into the nitty gritty of music and to turn the light switch on to using my voice to sound art.

When I think about finding my infinity, I can honestly say that it might be singing. I have loved it since I was a toddler, running around the house and listening to my parents listening to song selections that they enjoyed. My father would sing along with his deep timbre and my mother would just start singing a song while she was in the kitchen putting her foot into the best home cooked meal that anybody could make.

Hearing them made me want to sing and so, I’d echo sounds to the four walls of my room, to my neighbors and then to the congregation at our home church. I sang in the choir with purpose, as if I had to set the caged bird free in order to live happy.  

Years and years and years and years later, I can’t go throughout one day without singing something; even if it is just one song.

I remember the first time I ever got on the stage by myself. I have a pretty huge repertoire and sadly, know more lyrics to tunes than French words to have meaningful dialogue with my family members that live in Canada. So I thought I would be able to just fly through a song and do well. I didn’t even think I would have butterflies in my stomach, but when I got on the stage, I started shaking like the 1989 earthquake that occurred while the Dodgers were ready to kick some butt at the Major League Baseball World Series. The song came next. I started singing and strike two; the lyrics slipped my mind. I was so embarrassed that I left the stage crying, didn’t finish the song and swore that I would never sing again. But thank God that I did not let my own worries, step on my own toes.

I sing and I am in my nature. I get on the stage and for me it is as refreshing as sitting at the bank of the Caribbean Sea on a scorching hot day. And when there is a band billowing in the background, even better. It enables me to reflect individuality. I get wholeheartedly inspired by the musicians and their light seems to somehow illuminate me as if their energy was up for grabs and I simply absorb it. Music fills me with the right amount of stimulation to tend to my nature. I am even more convinced now that when I am a supercentenarian and I look back at my living history, I will still make a joyful noise for all the tender moments singing brought into my life.

It definitely is “the Way” that I am loved so different in my nature, that keeps me with an open heart and mind for singing. 

Speaking of music, I have some original songs on mine on Spotify. Here are a few songs to consider adding to your playlist for this rainy weekend. 

Have a great one, be safe and enjoy to the fullest. 

Thank you for reading my blogpost. 

Chronicles of an Angry Driver in New York City

Everything is so fast paced in New York City, so it is a pleasure at night when it is you and the road and the skyline and you can just ride without the heavy rush of the never sleeping town.

May Photo Challenge 2017: Skyline

The difference is that during the daytime, you are driving, stop at a red light and don’t let a second of green catch you standing behind it because you will be met with a chorus of beeps. So you start to move as you were prompted to by the cars behind you, and a person wearing all black clothes starts to cross the street in front of you. The latter example is even worse at nighttime when you can hardly see them at all. 

When I took my defensive driving class, the instructor told the class that every 3^rd person on the road is under the influence of something. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, makeup or Snapchat that you decide to stream live while behind the wheel that has your attention, the driver might not see that camouflaged to the color of the pavement walker, or that crazy bicyclist who decides that no traffic law pertains to them. Yeah! I said makeup. Haven't you ever seen someone applying mascara and eyeliner while behind the wheel or using nail polish remover to take an old coat of polish off the nails? 

But then you have the city skyline to provide some extra needed comfort to that vision-zero spot you are in. All those lights keep you abreast and aware; unless you start gazing at the sparkle and decide that at that moment, patience to just enjoy life is more important than rushing through it. As that thought skates through your mind, may I invite you to "Enjoy Life" and sing along with me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alV2ULnr9z8

How could you not see the draped in all black pedestrian when the neon lights kind of color them in as they cross the middle of the street that you might not have seen if it were in a different area? And how could you not stop to simply let them pass without road rage getting the best of you and leading you to want to curse them out because you are in a rush? And how could you not feel like stopping just to appreciate the beauty and to capture the essence of it? Just looking at the skyline transforms a driver and leaves them feeling good. 

Thank God for those lights. Here is hoping for more patience as we cruise on down the thoroughfares of life.