Awake my Soul

 Awake My Soul

Mumford and Sons

I will never tire of this song! 

Here is a youtube link where Jon Batiste plays with Mumford and Sons 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjM6Jbd__Qc

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep, totally free

Har har, har har, har har, har har

Awake my soul
Awake my soul

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
My weakness I feel I must finally show

Har har, har har, har har, har har

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
And where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul
Awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker

Awake my soul
Awake my soul
Awake my soul
For you were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

Songwriters: Edward James Milton Dwane / Winston Aubrey Aladar Marshall / Benjamin Walter David Lovett / Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford

The Beat Goes ON

From 1967 The Beat Goes On sung by Sonny and Cher is one of those songs I loved to listen to but never really looked at the words, until I was looking for songs to sing for a duet for a Karaoke night. Although we didn't choose it (we sang John Prine - In Spite of Ourselves in case you're wondering) the music and the lyrics stick with me. I can visualize each poignant image and although the images from the sixties have morphed over the years human actions and emotions haven't. Now that I'm a grandma, when I reminisce I get tears thinking about how people still go off to war and check the baseball score and there are more and more of us are homeless and not able to feed our children while those of us who can consume on a larger scale and vehicles are still going faster and faster Everything accelerates but nothing really changes... 

The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

Charleston was once the rage, uh huh
History has turned the page, uh huh
The mini skirts, the current thing, uh huh
Teenybopper is our newborn king, uh huh

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

The grocery store's the super mart, uh huh
Little girls still break their hearts, uh huh
And men still keep on marching off to war
Electrically they keep a baseball score

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss
The cars keep going faster all the time
Bums still cry, "Hey buddy, have you got a dime?"

And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

And the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on
And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on
The beat goes on, and the beat goes onWriter/s: Sonny Bono

Two and "Three Little Birds"

 Here's a song that immediately puts a bounce in my step,

Happy Thursday everyone

Three Little Birds

Bob Marley

"Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright"
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"

Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun
Three little birds pitch by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true
Saying, "This is my message to you-ou-ou"

Singing, "Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright"
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing (Don't worry)
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"

Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun
Three little birds pitch by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true
Saying, "This is my message to you-ou-ou"

Singing, "Don't worry about a thing (Worry about a thing, oh)
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright (Don't worry)
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing (I won't worry)
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright (I won't worry)
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing (Don't worry about a thing)
'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright


Thanks to Dexter Swope for correcting these lyrics.
Play "Three Little Bird…"
on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad)
This song is one of Bob Marley's most popular songs.
Tony Gilbert, a friend of Bob Marley, explained a possible source of inspiration for this song, saying, "Bob got inspired by a lot of things around him, he observed life. I remember the three little birds. They were pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Hope Road."
Marcia Griffiths from a reggae group I Threes had her own explanation of this song's source. They did shows with Marley and she recalled, "After the song was written, Bob would always refer to us as the Three Little Birds. After a show, there would be an encore, sometimes people even wanted us to go back onstage four times. Bob would still want to go back and he would say, 'What is my Three Little Birds saying?'"
Jason Mraz used to perform this song in conjunction with his song "I'm Yours" in concerts.
Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul recorded a cover of this song for the animated film "Shark Tale" (2004).
Connie Talbot made a cover of this song as her first single from the album "Over the Rainbow" (2007). She also released a music video which was filmed in Jamaica.

AZLyrics B Bob Marley Lyrics

Where do the Children Play

 

Where Do the Children Play?

Well, I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train
Switch on summer from a slot machine
Yes, get what you want to if you want
'Cause you can get anything

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well, you roll on roads over fresh green grass
For your lorry loads pumping petrol gas
And you make them long, and you make them tough
But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off

Oh, I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well, you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
But will you keep on building higher
'Til there's no more room up there
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Cat Stevens

This video was made in 2020, fifty years after the original song came out.

https://youtu.be/nBCJhNiKhFE

Cheers

Jeanne

Under Pressure

 Relevant and sadly timeless 

Under Pressure

Mmm num ba de
Dum bum ba be
Doo buh dum ba beh beh

Pressure: pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man ask for
Under pressure that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da

That's OK

That's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends screaming
"Let me out!"

Tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people, people on streets

Day day de mm hm
Da da da ba ba
OK

Chippin' around, kick my brains 'round the floor
These are the days: it never rains but it pours

Ee do ba be
Ee da ba ba ba
Um bo bo
Be lap

People on streets
Ee da de da de
People on streets
Ee da de da de da de da

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends screaming
"Let me out!"

Tomorrow gets me higher, higher, high!
Pressure on people, people on streets

Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence, but it don't work
Keep coming up with love, but it's so slashed and torn

Why, why, why!?

Love, love, love, love, love

Insanity laughs under pressure
We're breaking

Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?

'Cause love's such an old-fashioned word
And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves

Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure

WRITERS

David Bowie, John Richard Deacon, Brian Harold May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Meddows Taylor

original video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

Freddie Mercury and Queen 1981 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN3gax_Z7tw

Cheers
Jeanne

Hello in There

 "You know that old trees just grow stronger

And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
"Hello in there, hello"

So if you're walkin' down the street sometime
And spot some hollow, ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care
Say, "Hello in there, hello""

John Prine

https://www.thehellointherefoundation.org

He Ain't Heavy

 

Hi everyone,

I've loved my ritual of sharing a quote each Thursday with you over the years (a couple decades for some of you). 

Now old songs and lyrics are calling me, I hear them echo through the years...when will we ever learn?

So, in 2026 I will be sharing song lyrics as much as quotes.

Stay well and Try to Love One Another right now

He Ain't Heavy He's my Brother

"… The road is long

With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where, who knows where
But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

… So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there

… For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

… If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another

… It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share?

… And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

… He's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother"

Songwriters: Bob Russell / Bobby Scott
Song by The Hollies ‧ 1969

Perfection

 "Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved."

W. Somerset Maugham

Thoughts: 

I used to want to be perfect ... until I tried to determine what the heck perfection is.

And I never really got anywhere with that until I started thinking about who my heroes were;

Gilda Radner, Toni Morrison and my great aunt Edith

Angela Merkel, Barbara Streisand, and my gammy and my mom

And the qualities I admire about these women is their sincerity, faith in their own values and dreams, and their humour, empathy and caring. Their unapologetic commitment to being themselves whether they were thought different, ridiculous, wrong, egotistical, or any of those other feelings I wanted to avoid by being perfect. 

And my belief that pleasing others was the goal to strive for eroded and the weight of always trying to be perfect lifted. (Which was a big relief because it is really hard to be perfectly something that is defined by what others think)

And so continues my evolution 

Cheers

Jeanne

Meditate and learn

 "Singing is a form of meditation... apparently the only one that I have command over."

Brandi Carlile
 

"He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."
Confucius

Thoughts: 

I think the beauty of meditating is that it shuts our thinking brain off a bit and opens us to hearing different things which may lead to learning something that was not in our consciousness previously.

And how nice, we don't have to sit cross legged in a dark, quiet room and focus on our breathing to achieve this state.

9/11

 On this day in 2001, Brian Sweeney was aboard hijacked United Airlines Flight 175, moments before it would crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. In what would be his final act, he left a voicemail for his wife that continues to move us 24 years later.

“I just want you to know I absolutely love you,” Sweeney told his wife’s voicemail. “I want you to do good, go have good times. Same to my parents and everybody, and I just totally love you, and I’ll see you when you get here.”

(above excerpt from Ryan Holiday Daily Stoic message September 11th 2025)

Thoughts: To me this is the light in the dark and as long as there is a glimmer of love even in the darkest of circumstances it can be nurtured and fanned into strength by those who choose to hear beyond fear, hate and terrorist acts.

Fools

 "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool."

Richard P. Feynman

"It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn't get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man."
Richard P. Feynman

Thoughts: 

How easy to fool ourselves when we are busy trying to prove ourselves right (or left or even somewhere in between). 

Life is not about trying to prove that our view is the correct one, and yet we waste a lot of energy trying to keep our beliefs intact and protecting them from anything different. 

What you believe is your choice, and if you want to share it without trying to convince me, and with respect and curiousity, I want to hear it. That is the way I learn things outside my experience.

how much good inside a day

“How many slams in an old screen door? 

Depends how loud you shut it. 

How many slices in a bread? 

Depends how thin you cut it. 

How much good inside a day? 

Depends how good you live 'em. 

How much love inside a friend? 

Depends how much you give 'em.”

Shel Silverstein

 

Where the light gets in

 "Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything .That's how the light gets in."

Leonard Cohen

Thoughts: I'm just now learning the lyrics to some of my favourite songs, expect more!!

Shift

 Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Thoughts: 

My thoughts are expressed by Benjamin Hoff in the Tao of Pooh (referring to Winnie the Pooh)

“Within each of us there is an Owl, a Rabbit, an Eeyore, and a Pooh. For too long, we have chosen the way of Owl and Rabbit. Now, like Eeyore, we complain about the results. But that accomplishes nothing. If we are smart, we will choose the way of Pooh. As if from far away, it calls to us with the voice of a child's mind. It may be hard to hear at times, but it is important just the same, because without it, we will never find our way through the forest.”
Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

“In order to take control of our lives and accomplish something of lasting value, sooner or later we need to learn to believe. We don't need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified spiritual superman or sit around and wait for fate to come knocking on our door. We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.”

 Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

You can do it!

 “What is a master but a master student? And if that's true, then there's a responsibility on you to keep getting better and to explore avenues of your profession.”

Neil Peart

Drummer and Lyricist for the rock band Rush

Thoughts: to keep learning and practicing, almost anything, is worthwhile for the reward feeling of accomplishment at each step. 

Knowing that as we never get all the way "there" there will always be something we can get better at!!

Loving the journey is what keeps life interesting

Clint Eastwood on Power

 "Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power."

Clint Eastwood

Thoughts: Self discipline comes from self respect and having faith that our self is worth our efforts. 

Sometimes the cart can come before the horse and faith in and respect for ourselves can be learned through the practice of self discipline... 

And it really doesn't matter how or why or when ... doesn't matter where we've been on our path or how often we stray... with self respect and self discipline we hold our own power regardless of our circumstance.

Spiritual exercises

 The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."

Leo Buscaglia

“Il destino mischia le carte, ma siamo noi a giocare la partita. Destiny shuffles the cards, but we are the ones who must play the game.”
Wally Lamb, We Are Water

Thoughts:

At the risk of boring you all with my repetitious ponderings ...  how we play the game depends on what we practice (something I need continual reminding of) ... 

10,000

 "Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself."

Henry Ward Beecher

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Bruce Lee

Thoughts: It is hard to be honest about ourselves and our efforts, and a continual battle to get ego and pride out of the way when results of our efforts aren't seen or acknowledged.

No one may ever recognize what we do and why we do it. 

That's okay!!!

Cheers
Jeanne

What matters

 “What matters isn’t what a person has or doesn’t have; it is what he or she is afraid of losing.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Mosquitos

 “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

Dalai Lama

Thoughts: Nothing is nothing but little things are something!

There's a lot of strength in doing little things and not giving up; look at the bee look at the ant ... good lessons if we can relate

Part of the whole

 “It is my great hope someday, to see science and decision makers rediscover what the ancients have always known. Namely that our highest currency is respect.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Thoughts: 

Imagine if every decision was made based on respect... respect for everyone and everything. 

That each deliberation, experiment and choice was framed with the recognition that we are part of the whole, that life is a gift, that we are blessed with and not owed either our opportunities or the use of earth's resources. 

This underlying knowledge was part  of Indigenous traditions. Gratitude for food and the use of resources is a fundamental aspect of many Indigenous traditions and emphasizes respect for the natural world and the cycle of life. 

 

Imagine if this we part of decision making for large corporations and governments.

Although it is only impossible if we don't practice gratitude ourselves.. 

Cheers

Jeanne

Empathy

 Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change."

Max Carver

Thoughts:

Empathy is not something we either have or we don't. Empathy is something we can practice, anytime, anywhere. Maybe twice a day to start with to think of someone  or some group we disagree with or are angry with and look deeper until we find something they feel we can relate to .... No one is all bad ...  

Once we are accustomed to feeling empathy I think our feelings of helplessness and hopelessness start to dissipate, and it is from here we can build communities based on respect and create meaningful change

"Empathy is choosing to see ourselves in another despite our differences. It's recognizing that the same humanity - the same desire for meaning, fulfillment and security - exists in each of us, even if it's expressed uniquely"
Vivek Murthy

Cheers

Jeanne

Experience!

 "The only source of knowledge is experience."

Albert Einstein

Thoughts: There is no substitute learning other than practicing and doing... research (google) can show us a place to start and a direction to go in, but to know anything we need to experience it.

Many things I was told were true did not survive the challenge of experience. In life, in work, in parenting and painting most other things I've spent some time at. 

What stands the test is following my heart, believing in kindness above all, common sense and a conversation with myself of 'what's the worst that can happen' when I get nervous.

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
George Bernard Shaw

"Just try new things. Don't be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?"
Michelle Obama

Cheers
Jeanne

Nothing to say

 "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say."

Will Durant

Thoughts: 

What a relief!! 

The less I say,

the more I hear.

and the more the bird songs and tree whispers reach my conscious,

It's not about me,

What a relief!!

Sailing around the world

 "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."

Dalai Lama

“You can’t get to where you want to be in one day,” he says, “just like you don’t sail around the world in a day. You just look at the horizon and say, ‘I can sail that far.’ Sailing around the world is just sailing to the horizon, over and over again."
Hugh Howey

Thoughts: A little love, a little compassion, a little kindness where, perhaps, we don't feel it... can start a change that can travel around the world. Every kindness is never too late or too little to be of value.

Your Citadel

 "Why would we let someone else’s darkness cast a shadow on our own life?

When Marcus Aurelius spoke of getting revenge by “not being like that,” this was partly what he was referencing. How do you defy the depressing times you live in? By not letting them depress you. How do you strike back against a cruel and deranged leader, how do you undermine a morally bankrupt regime? By being good and feeling good. By loving your children. By loving literature and art. By smiling to your neighbor. By helping a sick animal you find on the side of the road. By laughing—at the absurdities of the regime and at the absurdities of life.

Don’t let them touch your inner-citadel. No one can steal your happiness. No one can take your joy. This is ours to keep…or give up. Guard it fiercely, nurture it daily, and never surrender it to forces beyond your control."

Ryan Holiday

dailystoic.com

Where are we going

  "The Law-of-Destination is straightforward and simple: It is not possible to arrive where we never take the time to go."

Heather K. O'Hara

 AXIS, The Song in the Center of the Soul

Thoughts: TAKE THE TIME EVERYDAY to choose where our mind takes us. It is not necessary to go far off course at the whim of every gust that comes along. 

The wind is not in our control but we can make the world better by being steadfast in our values and staying kind in the face of storms.

"You know what matters?

Hope, Kindness.

You know how that spreads?

Through you.

You are hope for others

You are kindness too.

Share that today.

Rachel Marie Martin

Terrible is??

 “Everything terrible is something that needs our love.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

Thoughts: Hate and fear don't seem to be working 

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Albert Einstein

Opportunities

 "Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."

Ann Landers

"You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost."
Francis Ford Coppola

Thoughts: A little courage and some hard work go a long way to make life interesting

Imagination

 

"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."

Mark Twain

Thoughts:

People tell me this is this and that is that, but what about everything in between? What about that is this and this is that? 

The way I see it is there is no point to staying stuck in one view point, the longer we're in one place the more we see confirmations of that view. 

Generally I'm not seeing this passive mode of thinking make us more productive or happy or motivated to change the world or any other action ... 

We don't need to be right or wrong to exercise our imagination, we don't need it to take us to a conclusion. We just need it to become a little more free, to become a little more alive, to take a few risks which open us up to a place in between the absolutes of this and that.

"The man who has no imagination has no wings."
Muhammad Ali

"Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you're doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you."
Joel Osteen

Huh

 “We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”

 Paulo Coelho

“Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”
Paulo Coelho, Brida

Thoughts: 

If I believe passionately that there is one direction we should be going and you believe passionately in another direction ... the opportunities for real dialogue and real questions and real listening abound...

Is it human nature to ignore these opportunities and entrench ourselves more deeply into our own perspective?  I wonder what it is inside that feels threatened by ideas that are different than ours?

who sees the choices? Feb 6th

 "People only see the decisions you made and not the choices you had"

Itachi Uchiha - Naruto Shippuuden

Thoughts: After reflecting on this quote I've come to think that I have restricted myself to see only limited choices for my own decisions. And having mulled this over it is now my challenge to broaden my range of choices and look for my underlying assumptions. Then maybe there will be possible decisions and options I'm missing. 

“so. tell me where should I go? to the left where nothing is right. or to the right where nothing is left.”

 Itachi Uchiha - Naruto Shippuuden