heart, soul, mind, and strength
If pressed for a definition of God, or how one can know that God works in history, an ancient Hebrew would give an answer something like the one given by jazz artist Louis Armstrong, who, when asked to define jazz, replied, “Man, if you have to ask, you’ll never know.”
Hamilton, The Handbook on the Pentateuch
For my english final I was supposed to write about what I had learned throughout the course. I kind of fudged myself through the idea that life and art are a constant conversation. I wrote about how all semester we were assigned to read a poem or a short story and then we would come together and conversations poured out into the classroom; conversations that would never have happened without having experienced the poem or story. I wrote about this for a couple of pages and that was that. I turned it in.
But this idea has been floating around in my head for a few days and it resurfaced this morning.
The other day I was talking with a friend and afterward felt inspired to write. The conversation wasn’t particularly deep or anything, I just simply left the interaction wanting to create. I think there’s a reason why urban and metropolitan areas are typically more artsy. I think it’s because people inspire people.
The American Transcendentalists and the British Romantics always ran away from people and civilization out into nature looking for inspiration. I understand that. I’ve been there. It’s inspiring. But, only so much can come from that. After awhile it’s just another poem about how the sky is blue, how the grass is green, and how the clouds are white. There is so much meaningful inspiration to come from human interaction. Why would they run away when community is meant to ripple and inspire?
Why is people watching such a universal hobby? Why do we love watching television, movies, and theatrical productions? People inspire people.
I’m reminded of a poem by Walt Whitman. “I hear America singing” he said. His poem paints a picture with laborers of different trades each singing their song: “Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else.” And while each of their verses is unique and different, they join together to form a united chorus of humanity.
This past weekend I went to a swing dance workshop. One of the classes was a musicality class. We spent most of the time during this class solo freedancing with emphasis on watching the people around you for inspiration. If you felt inspired then you could grab another person and dance with them. What started as many individuals dancing by themselves became a group of people dancing together with the uniting force of the music that was playing. This is how life works. Sometimes we watch, other times we do. Inspiration comes from both. What begins as individuals living their own lives becomes communities of people loving and supporting one another. This is something I’ve been learning.
I’m learning what it is to do life in community. In the past I’ve ventured out into community occasionally, but only for short stays. This semester I’ve been living in community much more frequently, almost entirely. It’s still so new to me. I’m learning that finding yourself as a member of a community does not mean that you are done getting to know people. In fact, the forming of community is only the beginning of knowing each other.
Inspiration comes from community. It comes from others. And it comes from art. Sometimes I listen to music that makes me want to write music. Sometimes I read something that make me want to write. Living and art all all part of a conversation. No artwork stands on its own. But rather it speaks into the ideas that have come before it and leads to those that will follow. No life stands by itself either. We were meant for community. Our lives are words in a sentence, paragraphs on a page, phrases in a conversation. So listen and speak, and join the conversation. You might just inspire someone.
“The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
-Walt Whitman
“We are all pretty much what we are going to be early in our lives. Our personalities and characteristics are established, usually by the time we are five or six years old, but the lids are on. We are like boiling pots on a stove, and when we are small, the adults keep the lids on. As children, we cannot express ourselves the way we would like to, but as we grow older, the lids pop off, and the characteristics come out…”
-Charles “Sparky” Schulz
I think, sometimes, that we are like mismatched socks.
Comfortable, yet incongruent.
Dissimilar, yet still a pair.
The people who wear mismatched socks always seem to have
More personality.
More confidence.
It’s like they’re more comfortable in their own skin.
Which must be why
They don’t care about their socks.
I have decided that fall and autumn are not synonymous.
The fall is the few weeks in which snot drips from my nose and my eyes want to fall out of my head.
Autumn is the beautiful time when the air is crisp and cool, but not yet cold or frozen.
Autumn is everything good.
Autumn is the spirit — redeemed by Christ.
Fall is the flesh — broken by sin.
Autumn is something beautiful.
I do not go on the path below,
beneath, beside, or behind me.
Instead, I tread on the path ahead
So whatever I seek may find me.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:9-12)
Anyone who knows Carole-Marie and I knows that we’re at least a little different. You know, she’s a sporty cowgirl who listens to country music and I’m an artsy poet who plays guitar. With any relationship it’s inevitable that people are going to be different (it’d be pretty boring if everyone were the same). Carole-Marie and I had a conversation last week where we talked about our differences. We talked about how the cowgirl in her and the artist in me feel sort of neglected in our relationship. So we decided to spend the rest of the summer getting to know the “different” sides of each other. The parts of each other that we don’t know as well because we don’t relate as well. This is a song I wrote reflecting on the conversation we had.
You And Me
You ride horses
And I write songs.
You like to dance,
I’d rather sing along.
But, you and I
Stand side by side
As we explore
This thing called life.
—
You’re so outgoing
While I sit back and watch.
You like to play those crazy games,
I’d rather sit and talk.
But, you and I
Are hand in hand
As we stretch ourselves out
And explore new and different lands.
—
And I know we’re different people,
And I know we’re still so young,
And I know that there’s so many things
That we haven’t done.
But, no matter how much it may seem
That we are far apart,
We’re here together
And we’re holding one another’s hearts.
—
You love Jesus
And so do I.
We’ll worship together
As we sing by and by.
We’ve had some amazing times
These 14 months or so.
And I know that we’re going to have
So many more.
—
I’m ready to change.
I’m ready to grow.
I’m ready to hold you tight
And never let go.
I’m ready to learn.
I’m ready to see.
I wanna know you so much more.
I’m ready to be
—
Not so different people
Who have grown, grown, grown, grown,
Who have done so much together
That we’ve come to know
That no matter how much it may seem
That we are far apart,
We’re here together
And we’re holding one another’s hearts.
I’ve been realizing a lot of things about my personality lately. One thing is that all my life I’ve pretty much been like a kid who wouldn’t eat his greens. There’s a couple reasons why a kid won’t eat his greens. One would be that maybe his parents never made him eat them, or never even ate any themselves. Another reason would be that perhaps the kid was just stubborn and refused to try new foods or any foods that fit into a particular category (e.g. greens). My problem comes from a little bit of both of these.
I’ve never been a sporty kid. I’ve always fallen more into the “artsy” category. But I don’t know whether that was because I actually disliked the sporty things or because I just wanted to be in the “artsy” category. Like a kid who will only eat hamburgers and french fries and no greens, I refused to take part in the sporty stuff. Then there was always the random kid who ate his burger with lettuce that always frustrated me. You know, the guy who played football, played baseball, and played the guitar. This sort of thing frustrated me because I had been living in the idea that the two were mutually exclusive. A person couldn’t do both and I had simply chosen the one that I preferred. But, this idea, it turns out, is completely ridiculous. This is one of those things in life that simply isn’t an either/or decision, but rather a both/and kind of thing.
Another scene I’ve never fit into is the whole cowboy, country, go get ‘em kind of scene. This is ridiculous because I’ve lived in Texas all my life. I blame my parents for this one. I have Carole-Marie to thank for bringing me into the light though. She gave me some country music recently and it’s kind of like the first time I ever tried sweet tea. Until this past year I had never experienced it and then I took a sip of this absolutely wondrous drink and can hardly stop drinking it.
So, now I’m here poking my fork at the greens on my plate. I’ve been jogging every morning for the past week and jammin’ to country music when I drive around town. I don’t know if you’ve ever refused to eat your greens, but you really shouldn’t. You should try them. Come on, try them at least once or twice. Maybe you actually don’t like them, but you won’t be mature until you’ve at least tried them.
Hi everyone. My blog has been somewhat lonely lately. Mostly because I’ve been neglecting it.
Here’s the deal: My summer has started to become boring. But, you can help. I need some stuff to do in all my spare time. So, I was thinking maybe it would be fun to record some music. I haven’t been writing tons of music lately, so why not cover stuff? Do you see where this is going yet?
I want you to leave a comment on this blog post of a song that you would like for me to cover. Any song at all. Leave the name of the song and the artist. If it’s an obscure song then it’d be nice for you to send a recording of it to me (drewdixonmusic@gmail.com).
Got it? Ready. Set. Go!
