Friday 28 December 2012

Sit Still


I'll save the what-happened-this-year for my prayer journal. Suffice it to say, I have been enlightened and blessed this year. There has been quite a lot to give God thanks for. And, I do.

I also thank you for reading these posts and for the kind words in your responses - whether here, on Twitter, on FB, in an email, over the phone or in person.

A verse of scripture has been nestled in my spirit for a few weeks now.  It pretty much sums up where the end of 2012 AD finds me:

Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall...
Ruth 3:18

It's not always easy to "sit still", but I try.

This time of the year also finds me in the lines of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now and Tina Turner's version of Help.


Both Sides Now

Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

Oh but now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they tell me that I've changed
Well something's lost but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From WIN and LOSE and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

***

Help

When I was younger,
So much younger than today
I never needed anybody's 
Help in any way
But now those days have gone
I'm not so self assured
Now I find, I've changed my mind
I've opened up the doors

Help me if you can,
I'm feeling down
And I do, appreciate you being round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me

And now my life has changed
In oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
Every now and then
I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you
Like I never did before

Help me if you can,
I'm feeling down
And I do, appreciate you being round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me

***


It's good to step back or sit still - or something of that sort - and look at things from other perspectives; evaluate and, yes, even ask for help if needed. Then, act - fearlessly.

May 2013 be a truly wonderful year for you! Here's hoping that we will all find the courage to Do LIFE - Live In Faith Everyday.



Claudia 



Tuesday 18 December 2012

"I propose to you that we get married" - in movie and in song


I imagine I shall be hearing my own proposal for marriage someday. You know? That day of the week that hasn’t yet arrived? Until then, I have come across these two proposals and have found them pleasurable.

Earlier this year, one of my sis drew my attention to the lyrics of the Bob Marley song Is This Love. I’d heard it over and over, but, this time, I listened. Big chune. Wicked proposal. “I wanna love you and treat you right… I’m willing and able, So I throw my cards on your table.”

Then, the other day, I watched the movie How Do You Know (2010). Out of nowhere came this heart-felt, heart-tugging proposal. A refreshing spring of sweetness scripted off my…self. He gets her. I get it. They got me. I’m persnickety; I over-think and over-analyse (I'm a student of literature. It is what it is); considered anal (as in anal-retentive - as in too much attention to detail. Little wonder that it’s the third word in analyse); have been called a perfectionist – by my mechanic! And so on and so forth. I sometimes think some find it a turn-off. But, someday (guess that comes before Wednesday; not to be confused with gettn-some day, which would be, like, five days a week and twice on Sunday. Hallelujah!) I will be his over-thinker and...and he will love me anyway.

Is This Love

I wanna love you and treat you right
I wanna love you every day and every night
We'll be together with the roof right over our heads
We'll share the shelter of my single bed.
We'll share the same room, yeah, for Jah provide the bread.
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now.
I got to know - got to know - got to know now.

I-I-I-I-I I'm willing and able
So I throw my cards on your table.

I wanna love you - I wanna love and treat - love and treat you right
I wanna love you every day and every night
We'll be together, yeah, with a roof right over our heads
We'll share the shelter, yeah, oh yeah, of my single bed.
We'll share the same room, yeah, for Jah provides the bread.

Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'? Wo-o-o-oah
 Oh yes, I know
Yes, I know,  yes I know now
Oh yes I know, yes I know, yes, I know now

I-I-I-I I'm willing and able
So I throw my cards on your table.

See I wanna love you, I wanna love and treat you -
love and treat you right.
I wanna love you every day and every night
We'll be together, with the roof right over our heads
We'll share the shelter of my single bed.
We'll share the same room, yeah, Jah provides the bread.
We’ll share the shelter of my single bed…


How Do You Know  (The Proposal)
AlI gotta say something to you, to the two of you.  I don't want you to think that the reason that we're not married is because I think anything of anyone else. It's because I'm 40 years old and I'm a failure... The reason that I never talked marriage to you is because I couldn't stand to see you, the princess of worry, weighed down by me and my limited prospects. Because I get you worrying, Annie. I know that a lot of people think that's a bad thing about you, but I know that it's because you have a great big heart and I love you for it. And then, I started to worry... about what would happen to you and this little hulk. If you guys wound up with someone who thought that your worry was umm... you know [Annie: Neurotic.] Right. Yeah, somebody, you know, who didn't get you... Who wanted you to feel bad about yourself, wanted to make you be more normal of a person, or wanted you to change, or like yourself more. You know... who didn't love ALL of you. Who didn't wanna leave great enough alone. And I thought that I...I could do that for you. That could be a legitimate, umm, function for me... in your life. So that allows me, to propose to you that we get married. I want to marry you, Annie.



Claudia 




Saturday 8 December 2012

Some things you don't see coming

Some things you see coming - like Christmas. All things remaining constant and predictable, things like sunrise and sunsets are pretty safe bets, too. If you throw something up, it will, more often than not, come back down. Unless it's caught. But, gravity is a law.

You see someone being horrible to someone else and you think, it's just a matter of time before what goes around comes around. Some call it Karma. Same goes for good deeds - the ones that don't go unpunished, that is. You see someone doing a random act of kindness - or a planned one - and you think, a blessing awaits. Yes, some things you see coming.

Others? Not so much. And, when the bad happens, the kind that "blind sides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday",  you just gotta do what you gotta do. In those moments  you get a better understanding of the stuff of which you are made; the stuff of which you are about to be made.

Thankfully, not all unexpected occurrences are negative or adverse ones. Thank God life has its pleasant surprises; those big and little unexpected gifts of goodness and beauty that come, it seems, out of nowhere. They far outweigh the bad. They come and they fill your heart with gladness. They put a pep in your step. They make you feel like you're flying without wings. "Funny isn't it?  How one moment can change a million after it." (Movie: How she move).

Moments like falling in love.


Claudia
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