Onward to 2021

 

Currents of emotion broadened my palette the minute the time square ball reached to the top of 2021.

You can never be too sure if destiny will allow you to collide with a future date because tomorrow is not promised. Looking back over 2020 has given me reason to pay attention to that truth. To be experiencing 2021 firsthand is truly a blessing.

If I was in need of a ray of light to burst in me hope, it was amplifying my voice to sing “Auld Lang Syne” that night, as I cheered to the moving image of confetti and kissing couples celebrating at that Rocking New Year’s party rolling across my television screen.

I knew that I would be obliged to find my cadence for this new set of 365. To know of the life altering events that wreaked havoc over the stretch of the past year, embracing the uncertainties of the new one still fresh with the grizzly wounds of circumstance, makes me know that I need to continue to hold on my faith in God’s miraculous provision over my life.

If I made any resolution at all, it is devoting my life to muddling along with every spurt of energy that it takes to tackle each moment. No need to mutter under my breath about how much I hate wearing the mask on my face or being unable to indulge in my routinized lifestyle of being out and about. I admit that I am struggling with the swift currents of these new ways of life. I am craving for the moments when I can get all dapper and polished again to thrust back into the way things used to be when the quarantine and the pandemic weren’t a part of our everyday vocabulary and my world was stuffed with activities. But until then, all I can do is express my appreciation for the mere fact that I am still here in the land of the living.

I’m still muddling along. 2020 was not all lost. I teamed up with the cheery and loquacious bassist, John Mueller, who helped to stitch me back together like patchwork with his happy talk and musical ideas that caused positive thoughts to ferment in my brain. We may have been under lock and key in our pandemic prison cells, but the time spent became valuable hours lumped together to come up with a cohesive set of songs that later became our collaborative album, The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project. 

I also found time to dig into books that I had been 

dying to read and also ones meant to leverage my 

strengths of honing my crafts and enlarging my 

territory; not to mention the binge watching of the 

many television shows that strew across my screen 

watching me most of the time.  

If it was never as evident before, 2020 cultivated an image that God is bigger than all our problems and that even in despairing circumstances, he still provides reassurance that is far beyond my comprehension. If 2020 is significant to perfect vision, it gave me the clarity to see what is important in 2021.

Appreciation is the most important thing. Sharing love is not something you have to bend over backwards to do. Not every tremor that is hurled into your life by a foolish skeptic, is a reason to spark another fight. If you have a dull longing to do something, make the strategic decision to do it or you might one day be riddled with regret, especially since tomorrow is not guaranteed. Appreciate God’s masterpieces of good moments and don’t let those times slip you by without acknowledging them. Love your family, friends and loved ones with heart and mind because they can be here today and gone tomorrow. And finally, keep hold to the love of God because from crisis to crisis, he makes it easier to deal with it all.

If you are interested in hearing the pandemic album that John Mueller & I created, you can check out The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project on Youtube here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mOpEdeTJ5N9SawA-9FxqwQtt_SR8nty8Q

I pray that your 2021 is filled with fascinating moments and comes with floods of wonderful blessings to fill your cup to the brim.

Congratulations to the class of 2020

Students often work around the  clock to claim success. It is their way of being in control of the outcome of their story. Doing well at their studies gives students a clear path to the stars and so, they pursue their education with diligence and devotion.

I have to give it to those students who were engaged in the great struggle of learning virtually; especially who were on the verge of becoming a class of 2020 graduate. Their
story is one I would consider as being unique because they had to deal with the
challenge of doing everything required to take off to the sky, online.

Thinking about that and so many of the students I had worked with who were about to advance to the next chapter of their journey made me remember life and how it felt to finally get to the last page of that part of my story. And I remembered all the first-hand exposure
and practice I did to make sure I had all the tools I needed to be able to walk
down the aisle with tears of joy rolling down my cheeks, to actually accept my
certificate of completion.

Thoughts of this ran through my mind when my sister sent me her intelligent and handsome son’s graduation picture. I looked at it and it made me want to dabble into a bit of creative expression while my excitement for his accomplishment was fresh in my mind. I’d say that I
went plowing full speed ahead and then not shortly after that, a song was born.

It is called “Moving Forward.” 

It is a song to celebrate the achievements of the students who put their all
into studying from the confines of home during the stressful time of the
pandemic and quarantine and were able to succeed. It is dedicated to all those
who were able to leverage the experience of the quietude and found success.

I felt such a feeling of elation for them that music came pouring out the well of my eyes; especially for my students and for my nephew.  Please check out the song here: https://youtu.be/cCqQLst99tM

I created the drum track and then the piano overlay and added stacks of vocal harmonies to it and then sent the song to my friend John Mueller in Chicago, IL, who added a funky bass line and moving guitar strums to it. The song was completed just in time for me to share it with my nephew on the day of his graduation.

I’m so very inspired by their strength; that even through the obstacles, they did it.

Congratulations to the class of 2020. Job well done. 

World Love is the Matter

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. 

You can check out the full length song here: https://youtu.be/jNhGBWp1WII via @YouTube. 

God bless you all and be safe out there!

Currents of Love Flowing From My Heart through 'Songs For My Mother'

I want to tap into your emotions and share with you how my mother created magic in my life. I want to convey the story of a woman who made a melodic statement everywhere she escaped to.

I have accumulated so many facts over the years from the multitude of scenarios that she bolstered. She is a woman of faith, a warrior and a jewel. And so, I thought it would be nice to expose others to some of the ideas and concepts that my mother shared, as currents of love flowing from my heart.

If you have yet to get a gift for your mom and are looking for something different, perhaps she will enjoy the strong lyrical content found in my most recent collection of poetry entitled, “Songs For My Mother” by Stephanie Jeannot.

It is a collection of poems dedicated specifically to my mother but appropriate for any mother. It speaks of my family being clustered close together submersing into the idea of being in unity.

The overall mood of it is happy. The poems concentrate on the woman that I have been blessed to call mom. It is an emotional minefield with an endless trove of golden moments shared.

My mother bolstered faith. She showed us how to make our existence dynamic and fun. She showed us how to recognize the errors of our ways so that we could bounce back from our series of stupid mistakes and successfully navigate the world. She gave us a passion for knowledge. She built us up strong so that when we were ready to take off the training wheels, we would be capable of doing big things. And she cooked the most delicious food that you can find on the face of the world.

As opposed to letting these truths of our upbringing sit up in the storage of my mind, I thought it would be nice to share the memorability of it all; mostly because our upbringing was teeming with life.

Hopefully, you will feel inclined to perhaps get a copy for yourself or for your own mom, to slip away and leaf through the pages.  I realize that we all hook our own meaning to the life that we lived and the parents who generated energy into the lives we pursued but I am thinking that some of the elements of our upbringings might have some similarities and you might be able to relate to many of the scenarios presented in this poetry collection.

The poetry collection, “Songs For My Mother” by Stephanie Jeannot, features 24 poems. Each poem is uniquely equipped with a different length with a sense of openness to my heart woven into it.  This book delivers a series of thoughts meant to celebrate the royalty that a mother possesses in her queendom.

I invite you to support my efforts. This book is well worth the purchase. Somewhere in the world, there is a heart that might need the dazzle found within its pages. You can get your copy on Amazon. It is available as a hard copy or in a Kindle format here: Click Here to Get the Book "Songs For My Mother" by Stephanie Jeannot

Songs For My Mother

I hope that you received my blogpost in an open-minded manner. My thoughts shared were dispensed with gusto.  If I connected with your state of mind through this promotional platform at all, I appreciate your network of support. 

Sharing this with you all was quite humbling for me and I am thankful to you for indulging for a moment on how I am trying to satiate my appetite of being a writer and an author that is currently giving me gravity.

Talks of Jazz, The Music and The Culture with Lon Ivey

On Sunday evenings when New York is being illuminated by the light of the moon, some folks log on to their computers or phones to listen attentively to the positive vibrations of my radio show, Jazz on the JNote.

Because April was Jazz Appreciation Month, I thought it would be fitting to capture the energy and excitement of the melodious artform by featuring some of the world’s many men and women of jazz who could talk to a meaningful extent about their momentous journeys as craftspeople of music. The idea danced through my head for a while. I am thankful for the most part that I was able to shape the vision into reality and remained remarkably consistent throughout the entire month of April, even in these benighted times.

Our special guest on April 5, 2020 was NYC drummer, Lon Ivey who had an endless supply of ideas that he was willing to share about how his career started, about his definition of jazz and about how young aspiring artists can prosper in their efforts to yield their fruit. 

He definitely had some knowledge to pass on that you might get in a typical classroom situation from a teacher delivering a lesson and leaving students well-equipped to move forward. I admire his courage and was honored to have him present on the show. For the most part, it was an intelligent discussion of unique viewpoints, shared stories and prodigious knowledge.

The question, what is jazz alone, can set someone off on a spate of wondering. And so, it is interesting to tap into the brain of different people to see what their philosophies are. The engaging melodies, the conversation and the cultural landscape of jazz is what the show is centered on.

Some of the viable community of listeners tune in while plopped on their couches in the comfort of their living rooms. Some of the members of the diverse audience, listen to the montage of jazz while driving in cruise control down the thoroughfares of their hometowns. Others enjoy the creative freedom of jazz that is built into this show while sitting on the sand at the ocean and taking in the atmosphere.

I thought the content of this show was worth sharing for folks who didn’t get a chance tocapture the energy of the show when it was aired. On any given Sunday, Jazz on the JNote can be heard all around the globe at 7PM EST at http://theenglishconnectionmedia.com.

If I aroused interest in you and you are willing to patronize of the arts and to take in the absorbable, joyous sounds, you can get your fix on the episode of Jazz on the JNote Radio Show which was hosted and produced by Stephanie Jeannot and featured NYC drummer Lon Ivey; as previously aired on April 5, 2020. Here is the link:  https://youtu.be/8-O_Syg_8PQ via @YouTube. 

Listening might do a few things. It might lift your spirits and fill your heart with content. It might calm the mind that is usually full of busy thoughts. It might birth new feelings of creativity in you. It might get you moving them undulating hips to the twists and turns of the music. It might even compel you to want to listen to a live show on a Sunday evening at 7PM EST at http://theenglishconnectionmedia.com.  You might have negative feedback to sting me like a bee because it was a dismal experience for you. Or, you might be in the absence of care just because it is not your thing.

Regardless, I feel mightily blessed that you took the time to read my blogpost. Your simple act of kindness means everything in the world. I am content that there are still ways to have a connected presence with people all over the globe such as in the human connection that is present in reading, writing and music. I am eternally grateful to you.

Music Put Its Arms Around Me And Forced Me To Fall In Love

There is a quote by W.H. Auden that says, “music is the best means for digesting time.”

I wouldn’t doubt that because it has definitely got me through this quarantine, being trapped in my home with ample time to do while the spinning world takes a repose from the business of it all that it used to be. 

In this social distancing world where we are more and more creating these digital communities and finding time to learn something new every day, I have definitely been feeding my soul with purposeful creativity. Being in isolation made me realize how to access and control my superpowers better than I had before.

I have been unleashing my mindset through song and poetry. I have found different ways to give the world a taste of my skills. Music has found its way to dance quick circles around me and I had no choice by to simply jump in with a listening ear and a butterfly of speech to add my own creative juices into the universe. My time in quarantine has been a singing revolution from my heart because it has fueled me with confidence.

If music didn’t move me before this pandemic contagion, it has put its arm around me and forced me to fall in love with its sophisticated soul. It has been my wing of security. It has helped me to generate chuckles and smiles. And so, while I am trapped in my home, I seize every moment to listen to sultry voices of different instruments blaring through my amplified speakers and also, different podcasts and on-line seminars that have helped me to rise above the circumstances that the coronavirus has left us in which has helped me go gain more self-esteem and I am so thankful for that.

If you are like me and in these trying moments, music make you think differently, perhaps you might be interested in discovering some music sounds that you may not have heard before. Music has given me an overwhelming sense of comfort and I would like to invite you to check out this music playlist created by E.N.D.I.E. FIYA, which has made a positive impact on my world.

While every spoon-fed thought about the coronavirus is being served that sends me into a frenzy, this playlist has spread love around the world. It features music from different indie artists, and it is a great listen. I am also excited to have one of my songs featured in this playlist among the many other songs that are presented which I found to be through enjoyable and heightened the mood of encouragement that felt just right in these crazy moments we are facing.

So here is the link to it if you are interested in listening:  https://youtu.be/RJvEtD_aVYQ.  

Hope you enjoy it. God bless you and be safe out there. Much love!

"In My Quietude..." by Stephanie Jeannot

April is National Poetry Month. It is a month dedicated to celebrating the art of the many poets and poetesses in the world. 

My first experiences writing came in the form of poetic verse. I love to write and during this world crisis and in my quietude, I have found ample time to put my pen to paper and to just let my thoughts flow. 

I am sad that I have not been able to place my 2020 American Poets' Society National Poetry Month Poster on the wall of my classroom this year but I am happy to put some of my own poetry on to the wall of this blog and I hope that you will take the time to read it. This poem is entitled "In my Quietude"

In My Quietude

In my quietude

I have spent a good deal of time 

inside lately

The coronavirus has been 

attacking our livelihood lately

But I don’t take 

my blessings for granted

I still acknowledge and steward 

over each day that I am handed

Surely this COVID 19 

has shifted my thinking

I’m bombarded with so much news of it 

that has left me crippled broken

In my quietude, I wonder

How many can handle 

all this darkness with ease?

How can I truly operate 

through all of this in victory?

I don’t want to accept the idea 

that this is a losing battle.

This pandemic contagion has come 

and the earth it has rattled.

In my quietude, I have come to the conclusion that 

These are some of the darkest moments 

I have ever seen.

I’m affected by all the ambulance sirens 

and this shifting economy.

I can definitely say 

that I have been pierced with sorrow.

In the twinkling of an eye, 

I’ve lost so many that I won’t be able to physically embrace tomorrow

I am hoping that these dark times 

won’t sway my viewpoint of faith

I am praying that sooner than later 

this disease will get out of our way

I guess you can say with this quarantine 

I have quiet time dedicated to my thoughts

I am trying to overcome 

the circumstance of the coronavirus that haunts

The beat goes on 

even if I let the doubts of surviving take over

My hurts sting for the world 

as it continues to lose soldiers

In my quietude, I realized that 

I have faced many trials in my life 

but not like 2020

So many good times experienced 

stay frozen in my memory

I only hope to move from the empty cityscapes 

and get back on to non-virtual social track soon

I give credit to all my inspirers 

who keep me from totally being blue

And all the essential workers 

diligently working to save so many lives

And all the prayer warriors praying 

for healing over the world and for better times

_______________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to read my poem. I am a poet at heart and also have a few poetry books that you might find interest in reading. Please check them out here: Stephanie Jeannot's Author Page on Amazon