Gold Dust Woman -Fleetwood Mac The Dance -1997
The Chain ~Fleetwood Mac Live 1979
I learned many years ago that truth really is stranger than fiction and that the stupid and ridiculous plot lines of day time television might actually be things that could happen.
That is because people do not always act based upon logic or reason.
Sometimes our hearts go to war with our heads and we do things that make no sense. Sometimes those actions are harmless and sometimes they aren’t. There are consequences for all that we do but you often don’t know what they will be until you walk through the door.
Where Is Monty Hall?
Part of what makes life so damn interesting is that you are given the choice to take what is in the box or what lies behind door number one but no one tells you what happens when you choose one or the other.
No one tells you which choice a wise person would make and which would belong to the fool. Sometimes it doesn’t matter because the fool can choose to be the wise person and the wise person can be the fool.
That is the joy of the journey. It is the chance to walk along a road and have experiences that you can’t possibly have without taking that walk.
My kids and I talk about it.
They ask about whether it is fun or scary and I tell them it is both. I say that I don’t want a life that doesn’t have some variety because I want to feel like I am alive and to be stagnant is to die a slow death.
Peel Back The Layers
Somewhere in this blog is a post that talks about the need to feel fear when you write. It talks about the benefits of touching raw emotion and taking a chance. It is spelunking in the darker parts of your mind and exploring the things you aren’t so sure about.
Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am the only one who picks at the scabs to experience the pain that lies beneath.
Maybe I am the only one who uses that to move into a place where I write about the harder things, the darker things, the painful things.
Or maybe not.
Those two Fleetwood Mac videos touch me for a million different reasons. There are layers upon layers contained in the music, the people and the words.
I like them because when I listen I can hear everyone singing. It is not just Stevie or Lindsey.
I hear multiple voices and see evidence of the different people who make it all work.
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,” As You Like It“Life … is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.†Macbeth“Everyone can master a grief but he that has it” Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare
That was you at the other blog right? I didn’t just call someone Jack who was not you? Emotions are wonderful but they can lie to us. I’ve learned not to live there. Life for me (a stable life) has become a balance of emotion and head. Taking responsibility is often facing fear and walking through it. Head over heart.
Hi Jamie,
Yep, you found me there too. Emotions can lie to us and push us into making decisions that aren’t necessarily smart.
The challenge is trying to find the balance between those two places.
I love the idea of a little bit of fear and picking at the scab to get underneath. Wonderful!
Hi Kirsten,
I think of it as being an adventure.
I love this post. Love the Shakespeare quotes, love the Fleetwood Mac references. “Spelunking in the darker parts of your mind” – what a charged phrase for what it is we do. We have to be unafraid of those parts of ourselves, because they round us out.
Spelunking in the darker parts of our minds is just something that has to be done, at least in my world. It is not just rounding us out, but growth I see coming from there.
Every time i hit publish I feel fear. Thanks for making me feel like that is the right thing! Lots to think about from your post…
You can only write who and what you are. That’s the only thing that’ll touch a heart, right?
The best writing comes from when you write who and what you are.
The Chain is one of my all time favorite songs. I used to sing it at the top of my lungs (which is not pretty, since I can’t carry a tune). Keep picking those scabs!
Hello Stacie,
The Chain is a great song, but I am not sure if I have ever sung it at the top of my lungs. Might have to change that, a vlog could be in order.
But then again I would hate to scare all the reader so.,…
Prejudice is far worse elsewhere in the world. There’s no promised land to run to. Nor is paradise prepared for us. So the task and responsibility to make better neighborhoods, communities and nations where we are – falls squarely upon our shoulders. Our own idle hands, unfortunately, are much to blame. My own idle hands included…
Writing provides an opportunity for reflection and, sometimes, resolve and action. Sharing our written words with others provides an opportunity to give and receive beauty (or evil). Let us endeavor to share more beauty than evil for all of our sakes.
Beauty need not be happy, playful or fun, but it must always be more true and more good than less.
I gently contend that logic and reason alone are themselves a dangerous and foolish course. We must give with our heads, hearts and hands. But I could be mistaken. Or only just a little bit right.
Hi Stan,
We are responsible for ourselves and our neighbors, I firmly believe that. It is hard sometimes to muster the energy to do for ourselves, let alone others. It is easier to just pass the days, but when we take that step to do more so much good comes from it.
Instead of being just a little bit right you could be a lot too.
It’s funny…as I was getting to the end of the post I recalled the “Out, out, brief candle” bit from Macbeth and was going to share it. Then I saw you already did. Great minds, or something like that!
Hi Daniel,
I love Shakespeare, one of my all time favorites. So many good lines and stories.
I published a post today that made me cry writing it, and brought tears again when it was out in the ether. If we don’t risk growth with writing, and sharing, and don’t take chances we are actually regressing. Failure leads to success, exposure to light leads to growth. I feel better tonight about the topic I blogged about, better than I ever have.
Hi Geoff,
Your post is powerful and raw. It is clear that it wasn’t easy to write, but I am glad that you did. It should be shared.
And we are in complete agreement here. If you don’t take risks you don’t grow and that is something that I can’t abide. Life is meant to be lived and it requires taking chances.
Exposure to light does lead to growth.