One week into 2023 and here we are eight days in deep.
The year just started and it seems like an entire year
already passed by. Why you may ask?
I experienced a week full of work, a wake, a funeral, and a
death all in a week’s time.
And as we enter into the second week, I just think about all
the good times that I have experienced before this moment that just seemed to
add a bit of weight that I did not expect to have to carry into this new year,
although no one knows the day nor the hour.
As I step into this brand-new week, I think about all the blessings
that seem minor which we often overlook. It is hard to not acknowledge the gift of
oxygen that God breathes into us when we watch a person in a hospital bed with
tubes down his/her throat because they cannot breathe on their own. The ability to breathe on your own is something to not take for granted.
I think about people who get sick from the effects of a stroke that might cause them to
be unable to walk, talk or to even use the bathroom on their own. How often do we thank God for the gift of having a
voice that we can use to sing, speak up for ourselves, to talk about things
that are important to us or to just simply be in our right minds?
The older I get, the more I realize how short life really
is and how blessed I am to see another day and to be surrounded by loved ones. This is the year to tell the people you care about that you love them. Do
not ever forsake those moments of care because you never know the day or the
hour that someone’s last breath may be. Love your family. Love yourself. Pray and
bless the people that you care about and share the joys of life the way that
you would want to receive love from others.
Life is short. Tomorrow is not promised or guaranteed. The
next moment might be your Last. Live in the moment and appreciate it. May you be blessed today and
always. I dedicate my song "Enjoy Life" to you as I make my mantra for each day of 2023: blessed to see another day; because I truthfully am. https://youtu.be/alV2ULnr9z8
Enjoy
life and experience it while you still have time.
We always did
our Christmas family reunion in high fashion. It is like walking into the Academy
Awards in your best dress. Some have the most beautiful of red dresses draped
over their bodies. The men all wearing suits or their cute ugly sweaters. Santa
Claus always finds his way here in his big red suit and bag filled with
promises and toys to place under the huge pine tree that greets you when you
walk in. The walkway is sometimes a carpet of fresh, white snow, and it is usually
the most extravagant of parade ways. The hype is so high, it is a celebration
from the moment of entry.
I haven’t seen some of the
faces of my family members since last year at
this time. We converge with a kiss
on the cheek and the request to remove your shoes and to walk with just your
socks on your feet over the wooden floors. I think it is fun because when you get
into the danceable moments sponsored by my curated Spotify playlists, you can
sing along to the Christmas carols, dip, and slide across the floors with a
smile bigger than Carlton’s on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
I mask my winter blues like I
always do when I see them. It is like a glow of stardust washes my troubles
away and brings me sparks of joy. Seeing my family member’s eyes bring a glow
over the verge of tears that I’d been facing. The year can sometimes push me to the brink of
despair but for this family gathering, I feel like a poem of bubbling brooks
and flowers blooming.
And as they walk in the door,
the aroma of something savory is wafting from the kitchen. Every burner and
rack in the oven is occupied with a food item on its way to being ready to eat.
The counters filled with spices, desserts being decorated, and foods still being
prepped for cooking.
We cook like this is the last
supper with more food than you would probably eat in the 525,600 minutes that measure
the year. There is so much deliciousness spread out over the table that your
stomach gets filled just by looking at it. My mother put her foot into each and
every bit of the meal that is about to be shared. The turkey timer has popped
and now I can add my corn souffle into the oven so that it can be ready for the
dinner we are about to serve.
I added my two senses into cooking
as well and turn my kitchen into a canvas and the ingredients that get added
are like my paint. Art is on my mind and the ideas I sketch with the charcoal
pencils of my fingertips. The food we eat, a picture-perfect masterpiece like
those in MOMA, and all who are exposed to it are getting a piece of my heart.
The dinner call is sounded,
like a chapel bell of a 16th-century church and the whole family approaches the
table. We gather and we pray over the meal:
“Father God, thank you for the
day that you made and for the food that we eat and for the hands that prepared it
and for the family that gathered, for those who wanted to come but didn’t find
the opportunity, and for those who have become ancestors and rest in your
peaceful arms. That you might continue to bless us and to keep us and to protect
us with your grace and with your love. You are mighty and everlasting and we
love you and bless you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.”
It is cute to hear the little
ones who can barely talk say, “Bonne Appetit,” but we all do it in our little
celebration. Actually, I make sure to make them say it so that they can have
knowledge of some of the words from our Haitian culture. Those words are part
of it. Some of the foods and drinks found on the table are as well like the Kremas
which is like eggnog with rum in it or the Griot which is pork chunks that are
one of the many meat items on the table and diri a djondjon which is black rice
with dried mushrooms.
It is more than just the
eating that is involved. The stories we share of tradition and exoticism always
pique my interest. When you think about all the experiences you face in a year’s
time, it is no secret that there is so much to talk about if the right person
to talk to sits at your gate. We sip some of the best Apple Cider you can find
and chat. Maybe a sibling or cousin is the family that becomes your listening
board, or maybe it is a friend who is like family, who intently listens to the ranting
of it all without judgment or interruption. This is what makes the conversations
interesting. There is always something new being told, something different
being shared that you have yet to hear and that you are newly learning for the
first time. The laughter is like a weight being lifted off because it surely
makes you feel better.
We eat and chat and then we play
our annual Taboo game. It is always such a fun experience trying to get our
team to guess the words that we are attempting to animate so that we can win
the game. I think I laugh the most during these times because it is so much fun
just getting lost in these moments that never seem to get old. While we play, everyone is experimenting with all
the different desserts that are on the table; cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream,
jello, and candy. These are the yummy moments that are passed until we start to
distribute all the different gifts that are under the tree.
Everyone in the place is
unwrapping gifts in excitement over what someone thought was a good gift for
them. I’ll never forget the time when my next-door neighbor put a Michael
Jackson jacket in a box for me and gave it to me. I wonder if that was one of
the reasons that I became a performing artist. That was one of my favorites. The
other most memorable was an album of Miles Davis recordings, and I love Miles
Davis. What a beautiful gift to receive from a kid at that. Seems like Auntie’s
baby knows me better than I thought; made me so happy.
The night ends with everyone
packing a big foil tray filled with food to take home. Everyone scatters out
the door back onto the carpet full of snow and make their exit back to their
regularly scheduled programs. It is sad to see them all go and even sadder to
know of all the cleaning that needs to be done to bring the art of Christmas
back to a blank canvas.
I think sometimes I count five
hours of washing dishes, cleaning pots, and putting glasses and other things
back into the china for safe keeping until next year, same time, same
celebration. But to think of the reason for continuing on in this tradition for
as long as we have, a smile is ignited.
We continue on. The numbers
might decrease due to heaven calling some to its gates but it is always a
welcome celebration that will always make Christmas one of my favorite times of
the year.
And now that the year is
coming to a close, I am thankful for all these traditions and for all the good
times and bad times, and for being blessed to see this moment of time. I find
peace in it knowing that I made it through. God has been so good and it is not
a secret. May your 2023 be the most
lovely, prosperous, and powerful year that you have ever seen. I offer to you "Peace on Earth: https://youtu.be/ctlbmq9Rit8
Good tidings to
you and yours and hope to see you in the new year.
A song writter to make sure that while we are remembering to decorate for the holidays, and to sing carols, and to buy present for our loved ones, that we not forget that Jesus is the reason for the season.
New music
bombards the world every day and music lovers’ ears are receptive to the art of
it all; always in the mood for something different and enticing to listen to.
On this
Sunday’s episode of Jazz on the JNote, I hope to open your mind
and hearts to New York City alto & tenor saxophonist Don Hanson’s latest
project, “Echoes of Light.” The album is a gumbo of jazz, spirituality,
soul, and funk all mixed together into a delicious brew.
Join us as
we discuss his music, his artistic diversity found on this album, his
inspirations, his upcoming musical performances, and also explore the question,
what is jazz?” You will be in for an exciting ride on this musically cultural
experience. If you love jazz and are someone who also loves to be inspired by
music with a message, join us as we discuss the beautiful work of art found in
Don Hanson’s “Echoes of Light;” a body of work created for both Christian
and secular music lovers of all ages to enjoy.
Jazz on
the JNote airs
each and every Sunday at 7:30 PM as part of the Medgar Evers College Community
Radio stream over the airwaves of WNYE 91.5FM with your host Stephanie Jeannot.
We look forward to vibing with you this
Sunday, September 25th, 2022 at 7:30 PM on WNYE 91.5FM.
I will never forget that sad day in 2001 when chaos took
over New York City.
I just sat at my desk sipping on my Venti cup filled with
dark roast coffee. It was not shortly after the freshness of it got me all jittered
up for the day ahead of me that I heard the news of a plane crashing into the
first of the Twin Towers.
I was in my office building in mid-town and everybody ascended
to the top floor of the building so that they could see from the windows what was
going on. The sites I saw that day, I hope to never see again.
It was like a movie and so unreal. Who would have thought
something like this could have been happening right before our eyes. And the craziest part about it all is that it
happened 21 years ago and it is still very fresh in my mind like it was yesterday,
when my friends and I walked along the thoroughfares of Manhattan, over the
Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn; I still remember seeing burnt paper from the World
Trade Center showering over the streets of Flatbush as I approached the comfort
of home and the quietness that took over the city that never sleeps thereafter.
Twenty-One years later, we remember the tragedy, the lives
lost, the beautiful skyline, the shopping center that was in the building, and
just all the things that was pre-9/11. I want to encapsulate the memory of
these very things in this Sunday’s episode of my radio show Jazz on the
JNote which will air Sunday, September 11, 2022 from 7:30PM to 8PM, as part
of the Medgar Ever’s College Community Radio Stream over the airwaves of WNYE 91.5 FM, hosted by show host &
producer Stephanie Jeannot.
The show traditionally plays jazz and has commentaries throughout
the show that relate the songs to the topic at hand. This week in particular is
to celebrate the lives lost on the tragic day back in 2001. Hope that you will
join us this Sunday at 7:30PM on WNYE 91.5 FM for Jazz on the
JNote with your host Stephanie Jeannot.
Have you ever wished that you had a time machine to be wherever
you wanted to be in the blink of an eye?
No more 80-mile drives to a far distant place just to get
into the things that your heart says yes to but your energy says, maybe another
time. Instead, you could just climb into a contraption, press a few buttons,
and boom, you are there.
You wouldn’t have to rely on airlines and hope that their
staff doesn’t all get sick that day. You do not have to sit in rush hour
traffic hoping that whatever mess is before you on the journey home will clear
up. No more wishing to go back in time to revisit a person or to relive a
moment. You could just climb into the time machine and Bam.
That is what I was thinking about when I wrote the song “Time
Machine.” After a long work week, I want to be like the road runner and zoom
home in a flash. I wish I had a “Time Machine” to be where I want to be and to do what
I want to do when I want to do it.
If you could relate to any of this, please check out my song
“Time Machine.”
Sometimes I wish I had a time machine at my disposal for so many different reasons. How about you?If so and you can relate then, add the full-length version ...
The poem was based on my explorations of Chicago via the CTA; perfect for Poetry Tuesday.
Every time I am in Chicago, riding the El is on my bucket list of things I want to do and so, I do it and I always end up seeing something else that fascinates my eyes.
Also, while here on my downtime, I am experimenting using various apps to complete short video editing projects.
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