I have been watching a TV series called “Peaky Blinders” recently.
It’s quite dark yet beautifully made — and reminds me of a similarly high-quality series called “House Of Cards” from several years ago.
Both of them explore power and how we human beings are often overtaken and damaged by it.
They also both opened my eyes to how complicated, interconnected and corrupt our human-created world can be… especially when our wounded hearts lead us astray into greed, retribution, domination and revenge.
I watched several episodes before bedtime; so it is probably not a surprise that I woke up in the middle of the night and was unable to fall back asleep…
So I got out of bed and skimmed my inbox — which these days means that I deleted inumerable emails asking for money from all sorts of political candidates and organizations — until I found two uplifting pieces of information.
1) News that Catherine Cortez Masso is projected to win her senate race here in the USA.
2) A wonderful blog post from Canada about the Japanese concept of IKIGAI which you can read by clicking here.
As Michelle explains it on her Boomer Eco Crusader blog, ikigai is similar to the French idea of raison d’être — which means “reason or justification for existence.”
And one can explore ikigai by reflecting upon four ideas/concepts/topics:
A) one’s own skills
B) the things one loves to do,
C) the things that the world needs,
and
D) activities one can be paid for.
Where all of these ideas/concepts/topics overlap is where one’s ikigai may be found.
And finding one’s ikigai can give one a reason to get up out of bed each morning…
Reading her blog post made me think immediately of a song I wrote called “A Beating Heart” — which I first shared in a blog post on April 29, 2014.
“A beating heart means you’re not dead.
A brand new start — get out of bed.
Your mission calls, and we all hope that you’ll succeed!
The time is here; the time is now.
So persevere; embrace the Tao.
Dear Lao Tse once decreed: only change is guaranteed…”
Deep breath in (like a whale…)
Deep breath out (like a whale…)
I have previously voiced a personal goal — which is to write shorter blog posts.
So I will end this blog post with a sincere hope that you, dear reader, are well on your way to finding your own ikigai!
And with thanks to Michelle for her inspiring blog.
And with thanks to the wonderful photographers and graphic artists at Pixabay.
And with thanks to Doug Hammer, for playing his Schimmel grand piano while also recording us at his terrific home studio.
And with thanks to Ashley Lieberman, who recently performed “A Beating Heart” here in the Boston area.
And with thanks to YOU for reading and listening to yet another one of my blog posts!
You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.
You can also find “A Beating Heart” on various digital music platforms by clicking here.
You can also find me singing — with Doug Hammer playing his Schimmel grand piano — on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other digital music platforms.
Any song you “like” or “heart” or add to one of your playlists will improve the algorithmic activity of my music there!
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
Very gratefully yours,
— will
amusicalifeonplanetearth 