For Free
"Everybody makes their own fun. If you don't make it yourself, it isn't fun. It's entertainment."
This is a quote from the movie State and Main and despite its provenance I think it is profoundly true. It came to mind today when I read Seth Godin quoting Arianna Huffington in his blog (sethgodin.typepad.com).
"Self expression is the new entertainment, We never used to question why people sit on the couch for seven hours a day watching bad TV. Nobody ever asked, 'Why are they doing that for free?' We need to celebrate [this desire to contribute for free] rather than question it."
I love the idea of acting for free. Just because I can and want to. Just for the love of it or them.
I begin to think that freedom, like fun, is a do it yourself activity. To choose how we will spend ourselves is the most basic freedom we have. To choose to give a part of ourselves away instead of selling is, by this accounting, the very essence of liberty.
Three morals in this story:
1. Everybody makes their own fun.
2. Everybody names their own price.
3. "For free" is a very good reason to act.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.27.10 @ 12:54 AM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
Free Bird
A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
from Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
I have built my cage like a bird builds her nest and for many of the same reasons. It makes me feel secure and sheltered from the predators that circle overhead.
I have built it with promises and commitments and initiations that I put in place one by one and now they have hemmed me in on every side and there is no escape; I have clipped my own wings with worries and imaginings.
I would be content in my state of confinement if only I could forget what it feels like to leap on the back of the wind and float on the downdraft until the current ends. Or remember what it feels like to drop like a stone in a sudden calm. But memory is capricious. And I would dare a free fall, just to reclaim the sky.
Three morals in this story:
1. We build our own cages.
2. We clip our own wings.
3. The caged bird sings of freedom, but the free bird claims the sky.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.26.10 @ 11:59 PM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
Dropping Keys
Sometimes its tough to tell the difference between spam and something special when it lands in your mailbox. This is especially true when it comes to blog feeds. I subscribe to one or two and try to keep the rest of the riff raff out.
The Art of Nonconformity is on my specials list. It's written by Chris Guillebeau and you can find it at his namesake site www.chrisguillebeau.com. Chris is on a mission to prove you can make a living from anywhere, even while criss-crossing the globe on a personal quest to visit most countries of the world by your fortieth birthday.
The blog is always intriguing, frequently provocative, and sometimes the source of a good quote. Which is the case today.
From the 14th century Sufi poet Hafiz by way of the 20th century adventurer Chris Guillebeau with a wish for the liberation of the human spirit wherever it is in bondage.
The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He Knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.
Three morals in this story:
1. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between spam and something special.
2. You can make a living from anywhere.
3. We are beautiful, rowdy, prisoners and we keep dropping our keys.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.08.10 @ 08:40 PM EDT [link] [2 Comments]
Whatever is True
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4:8
These are good words from The Good Book. They came to mind when I was reviewing my last few blog posts and I noticed that there was a lot of sighing, crying and scrambling going down on the page.
Dr. Barbara Fredrickson works in the field of positive psychology and is the author of a new book called Positivity. She has identified ten positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, pride, amusement, hope, inspiration, awe and love.
According to Dr. Fredrickson, positive emotions open our minds. Positive people literally see more of the world around them and are more likely to find innovative solutions to problems. Positive people are healthier, more productive and generous. They bounce back from adversity more quickly, make better managers and live longer.
Most of us experience positive emotions more frequently than negative ones. The problem is that negative emotions are stronger than positive ones; they make a greater impression on us and stick around longer. So we need a lot more positive feelings to overwhelm the negative ones -- 3 to 1 is the positivity ratio that tips the balance.
You can find out your positivity ratio by visiting www.positivityratio.com and taking the positivity test.
I'm feeling better already.
Three morals in this post:
1. Feeling good is good for you.
2. Positive people are more open to new experiences and new ideas.
3. Fundamental truths stand the test of time and science.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.08.10 @ 12:59 AM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
Scramble
I want to write about love
But it’s been done,
The words have come and gone,
Tripped and fallen,
Out of the mouths of babes
And reprobates
And I, who am old enough to know better,
Scramble, like a child
At a Sunday School picnic,
Gathering up the sweets.
Three morals in this poem:
1. When it comes to love, it's all been said and done.
2. But each generation gives new life to the old metaphors.
3. Scramble is a game for children.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.07.10 @ 11:42 PM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
Peace Like a River
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
This is an old hymn that my father used to sing. It is playing in my head tonight.
My mind is buzzing.
My heart is a little bruised.
But it is well, it is well with my soul.
Three morals in this story:
1. Our hearts are subject to heartbreak.
2. Our minds are subject to buzz.
3. Sometimes an old hymn can soothe the soul.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 02.04.10 @ 10:24 PM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
It Was Only a Sigh
Sigh: "to draw in and exhale audibly a deep breath as an expression of weariness, despair, or relief."
I've been doing some sighing and I can't say why. But it's beginning to generate comment.
Case in point my son Cameron's facebook, where I went so far as to heave a virtual sigh in response to a post and Cameron took offense. I back peddled carefully and as quickly as I could, mindful that facebook friendship is a privilege and expression of trust - and that judgement is a sure way to have it withdrawn.
On the other hand my sigh caused Cam to sit me down and discuss the post in question, the context in which it was written and the philosophical stance he was taking by posting it. And you can't buy a conversation like that.
Three morals in this story:
1. Facebook friendship is a privilege not a right.
2. She who sighs too deeply is in danger of giving offense.
3. Courageous confrontation sometimes leads to meaningful conversation.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Darlene Russell on 01.25.10 @ 09:57 PM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]
Hard Times Come Again No More
Charmaine and I are back to walking the rail trail. It's a highlight of my week.
Charmaine's life is especially busy these days. She is a sales manager at World Vision and had staff on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake hit. Saturday night she volunteered to work the phone lines accepting donations for the relief effort. Sunday afternoon she was in the soup van, dispensing food and clothes and sleeping bags to the homeless in Hamilton.
"And on Friday night?" I asked with humility.
"On Friday night I cried," she said. "It wasn't a bad thing. It had been building up for days but I'd been too busy doing to let myself feel. Then Friday night I sat down to watch Canada for Haiti and seeing the images my tears finally came."
"It was Thursday night for me," I said, "when I heard that Kate McGarrigle died. I went online to listen to her music and found a youtube clip of her family singing Hard Times Come Again No More. It was like they were singing for all of us. I listened and cried and listened and cried some more."
"I think we need to make time to cry," Charmaine said.
Hard Times Come Again No More
(by Stephen C. Foster, 1854)
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh Hard times come again no more.
Chorus:
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.
(Chorus)
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.
(Chorus)
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.
(Chorus)
Three morals in this story:
1. While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay
2. We all sup sorrow with the poor.
3. When hard times come, the tears they bring with them may offer some release.
Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene
Hard Times Come Again No More (McGarrigles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5OiMfM3txk
Canada for Haiti
http://www.cbc.ca/haitirelief/
World Vision Donations Page for Haiti
http://www.worldvision.ca/give-a-gift/Pages/EarthquakeinHaiti.aspx
Darlene Russell on 01.24.10 @ 06:35 PM EDT [link] [Add a Comment]