❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
I don't know if I will ever change, probably not, but before I can get
myself to get moving toward bed, I want a feeling, I feeling that
something moving has touched me, it can be music, mine or others, it can
be writing down some of my own heartfelt
feelings, thoughts, reading someone else's words that touch me. It is
like the day can't end even though it is very late until I feel a
connection to something deep, beautiful, soulful....So, on that search, I
found myself listening to Tom Waits (on youtube) give a speech, sing a
few songs. What I love about Tom Waits, is that there is absolutely
nothing polished about his "singing" and he apparently has no hesitation
to sing - so many of us, me included, sing and think we are not good
enough. But if we want to sing, that is all that is important. Tom
gives us permission to sing.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
My Free Spirit If you want listen to my song. Written and performed by Sandra Hammel Written July 7, 2010 on Roland FP-4 keyboard, Strings 4 I can't decide what title to give this. Originally, I named it My Free Spirit. Other titles, I have considered are Sacred Space Come Inside Inner Sanctuary Where I'm Free Safe Place
One of my weaknesses, is that I love things so much that I can't winnow things down that I love. The time-consuming effort disinterests me. Not winnowing down to a more enticing presentation however may keep others from checking what I have to say. So, in the end it is helpful.
I love this movie. And after spending much time searching youtube for the scene where the surviving son and father discuss the murdered son, I don't come up with that scene. But I come up with all of these scenes.
The line I wanted to share had to do with the son saying that he didn't know his brother other than he was a fisherman. And his father responds, "Yes, you do. You know that he was beautiful." At least that is what I remember is said.
Uploaded by nadanoslibra "At that moment, surely and clearly, I knew that I was witnessing perfection."
Go to youtube of these videos by clicking on the video here. Sometimes, it is better to go to YT to view them, as the sizes are better. The above video is one of those.
This clip includes the beginning that the second video omits. .............................................................
............................................................. Uploaded by soorajdominic
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters. "
............................................................. Uploaded by 21bam12 .............................................................
............................................................. Uploaded by MANICJGLFAN
............................................................. ............................................................. Uploaded by Geodel21 William Wordsworth Ode to Intimations of Immortality
I love to write in my journals. I only have 3 blank pages left, so journal number 21 is about to begin. I write a lot to gain clarity, process personal pain, write about social injustice, the needs of children. And my son. Many books from past years are full of relationships that now as I read those pages, I realize I tried too hard to make something work that wasn't destined to work.
Today I wrote to my son in my journal...
September 20, 2009
1:45 p.m.
A stray sentence once in a while in the times we have been together over the years, I have heard you say or merely mention your saxophone, your clarinet, heard you recently read your own poetry that you obviously felt drawn to do –
Please bear with me so I can say to you – it seems to me to be apparent that your playing music, your writing, is a way for you to feel more yourself, lets you feel your soul in a way that is uniquely you.
Be aware of this specialness. Always be aware, the gift of doing these things, where art can be a “home” for your spirit, your heart, your soul.Don’t let the busyness of life cheat you out of being in your art, whatever it is – music, writing, drawing, creating.“Being” in these art moments will bring you more joy, peace, depth of feeling than the business of life can ever mimic.
You are your destiny.The universe is unfolding you and for you.Be mindful of it.It will be a source of joy, contentment, sustenance and freedom from anxiety.
Always be listening for the destiny’s voices.The destiny happens when we let it.
In a way, it is our job to be happy, to be kind.All else is a form of waiting for these moments.
The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 4 - 8:15
At 4:13 " Eastern philosophies fundamentally say that ... human beings are stronger if they embrace their destinies. They believe that destiny is given. And therefore, your strength, your honor, your dignity, your purpose in life lies in your embracing your destiny." Shekhar Kapur, Director of The Four Feathers
I encourage my son to follow his dreams. I hope that he will.
I haven't always followed mine front and center. But I have always been nearby the dreams. Never completely off the track. I have followed my heart, confused as it has been, at times. I have been honest with myself.
Recently, I had a "SoulProfile" done. A Soul Profile lists lifetimes lived before, where my soul originated and other places I have visited and the gifts that I have gained from those places. Whether others believe in such things, is a personal thing, like other beliefs. When I was in my early twenties and taking a required course in philosophy at an extremely conservative fundamentalist Christian college, it came to me that believing is a personal thing, in that, where we choose to draw the line of what to live by is arbitrary for the most part. As someone who was raised to be a fundamental Christian, including the dos and don'ts of my parents' beliefs - I was searching for my own principles of what to live my life by.
I threw out the don'ts of don't: dance, wear make-up of any kind, go to movies, wear jewelry, conservative everything... and the limitations of what a female should and shouldn't do. The don'ts of what is acceptable got a major overhaul by me. In my family, I am the odd one out. I am okay with that because I have no other choice. I have followed my destiny. I am at "home" with my music, my writing, my creating. I am most alive at times that I am in touch with my rawest and deepest parts of my spirit. It is a time of communion with my destiny, my universe.
We are breathing energy and the fact that the universe is like a big complex energy field, makes it acceptable for me - to believe we are part of the universe of energy. And just because we are life forms as human beings, that doesn't mean that there aren't other life forms that manifest differently from our physical forms.
The centering thought for me
I think the most important thing is to be kind. Kind to ourselves and kind to others. Kindness is always welcome.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
I have found pretentious people repelling. Always.
People who are closest to being themselves are the ones I want to be in the presence of.
I like this story...
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
Excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Four Feathers is probably my favorite movie with Heath Ledger. And that is saying a lot. Although he lived a short life, he played his roles with such realness. Such authenticity. He let the characters come through him as he was their vessel. This movie's story has such depth. It is about destiny and finding yourself with the willingness to do what it takes to do so.
I highly recommendThe Four Feathersand watching its special features. Below are some of the special features uploaded byspringrose147.
The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 3- 7:58
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Embracing more than western religion
Click on post title to go to Joseph Campbell talking with Bill Moyers talking of Faith and Religion - Perspectives. Included there, is text as well as audio.
....................................................... Be As You Are - Frederick Perls Uploaded by davidtheharper
An excerpt from my current journal:
August 15, 2009 1:46 p.m.
RAW PLACES
I'm one of those who goes to the raw places, To no destination on someone else's map, But a place where I feel the most. I feel the most me. Nearer to a time-free place, It's not a place you can see with your eyes, Yet my eyes show when I'm there. But only to those who can read eyes.
Raw places, where the hurt is always fresh, pain is ageless. Raw places where the moments of wholeness are as alive as the moment it showed up.
Raw places where being real is not only okay, but welcome.
You can't come to the raw places, if you don't show up real.
I only want to be with those who come to their raw place.
Otherwise, you might as well be dead, You're just living dead anyway.
Why live dead when you can live alive?
You can show up whole there and not fear rejection.
You can bring everything and feel free to open it up. You can feel, hold it, be comforted with it. You can let it unfold, you can let it envelop you. ............................................................... ............................................................... The raw place is the altar of your soul. It's where I go when I need to feel alive. It's where I live most of the time. It's where I want to be because it's where I feel real.
It's where the universe integrates with my spirit, my soul. It's where I find refuge in myself.
All those who try so hard to never go to their raw place, live with a soul that's always hungry, starving 'til mortal death moves them through.
Those who want to go there but don't know the way, find people like me and get their soul nourished by living off my willingness to live raw.
I am pulled toward other souls who want to be fearless, who are willing to open up to all that is.
Sandra Hammel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Just You and I"
Sung by Melissa Manchester
Lyrics
When your heroes go up in a puff, There's not enough to hang on to And the ones you would count on to call They all fall down all around you
Then you've got to believe there's more It is the reason, we're put here for There's just you and I
When the legends over
And we have just begun
We can look to each other
To see us through
Just you and I
When a miracle's long overdue And there's no one who's gonna come to guide you So you keep looking up to the sky - wondering why The clouds won't hide you
At the times when you're most afraid That is the reason why dreams are made There’s just you and I
When legends all over
And we have just begun
We can look to each other
To see us through
Just you and I.
At the times when you’re most afraid
That is the reason dreams are made
There’s just you and I
When the legends over
And we have just begun We can look to each other
To see us through
Just you and I
Just you and I
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Friend, don't be a perfectionist. Perfectionism is a curse and a strain. For you tremble lest you miss the bulls-eye. You are perfect if you let be. Friend don't be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes are not sins. Mistakes are ways of doing something different, perhaps creatively new. Friend don't be sorry for your mistakes. be glad for them. You had the courage to give something of yourself. It takes years to be centered; it takes more years to understand and be now." Frederick Perls
Youtube video above, inserted in Raw Places is uploaded by ilovemylifesblog I wanted to put a portion of the video below in it, but my MAC and imovie wasn't cooperating. So this is the best I could do. I also wanted to put Heath Ledger in it, but it just didn't work out with the length of the song, as well as not blending well with the other two actors that I did use. Well, he would have blended for my way of thinking, but others probably would have been confused.
............................................................... Mrs. Carrie Watts gets to finally go back home for a visit. "The Trip to Bountiful" Part 9 of 11 Geraldine Page Oscar Performance Uploaded by tlcarpenter
If you click on this post's title it will take you to my youtube of my favorite scene in "The Trip to Bountiful"
Each of us really just wants to be "home". "Home" can mean many things. This is dedicated to my dad - who just wanted to live at home in his last year and a half of life, but he didn't.
I AM IN AWE OF THE DARINGAND SEEMINGLY FEARLESS EMOTIONAL VESSELTHAT HEATH ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BEin the choice of the diversity of the roles he chose to play.
I love Heath Ledger in The Four Feathers.A movie that apparently is accepted as a failure to many. How that can be is beyond any understanding I can summon. It is one of my favorite movies. I recommend it to everyone I know.
I have seen the collection of movies and TV roles that Heath Ledger has played, introduced to the library of his work on Youtube. Candy wasn't a movie I wanted to see because it was about drug addiction...a sad subject. But, then things changed...
Heath and his co-star Abbie Cornish are exceptional in Candy. Heath received his Oscar posthumously for The Dark Knight, but I feel both The Four Feathers and Candy show Heath's acting ability that certainly deserved an Oscar as Harry and Dan in these two roles. Oscar performances all. Simply above all the rest - Heath - in these two other movies with Heath. And I just saw Monsters Ball because of what I heard Daniel Day-Lewis said of Heath (a small role, timewise) in Monsters Ball on Youtube. And the movie that the general public does know - Brokeback Mountain - Heath got attention for his role of Ennis Del Mar. Deservedly so, but not so welcome by Heath. Another Oscar performance of Heath's.
............................................................... Candy ~ Tribute to Heath Ledger Uploaded by the giftedjopicca
This video by a Heath beloved fan - jopicca - is wonderful. Just exceptional. I love the overlapping of the videos as she did within this Youtube. Candy is a 2005 Australian romantic drama film, adapted from Luke Davies' novel entitled Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction. Candy was directed by debut film-maker Neil Armfield and stars Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.
The song Song to the Siren that is used first in this tribute stood out to me the most from Candy.All music used is from the movie.
Because of Simheona's tribute to Candy and Heath, I knew I had to see Candy and I just saw it Sunday. I continue to learn of Heath's work late.
Music: A Brave New World by The Verve and Richard Ashcroft. I love this song with this Candy tribute. It is a great companion to the story.
Lyrics
Brave New World Into the brave new world I hope I see you on the other side Of this changing world Baby when my ship pulls in I try to believe in anyone Look at the state I'm in. But for now I'm just sitting at the table Hearing songs Wishing I was able, stable nah nah nah nah nah nah I hope I see you on the other side Brother don't try to find Don't try to believe in anyone For I would change your mind Baby when my ship pulls in I try to believe in anyone Look at the state I'm in, I'm fine But for now I'm just sitting at the table Hearing songs Wishing I was able, stable nah nah nah nah nah nah I hope I see you on the other side But for now I'm just sitting at the table Hearing songs Wishing I was able, stable Brave new world nah nah nah nah nah nah I hope I see you on the other side
Amazon - Candy DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Candy-Abbie-Cornish/dp/B000LAZDPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1249950185&sr=8-1 Heath touched and continues to touch - many all over the world. I have only recently learned of Heath's work. And that was by accident, as I bought earlier this year - A Knights Tale - because Rufus Sewell was in it, then I fell in love with Heath's work. I have been quickly catching up with all of the movies available in the USA. First I see them by checking them out from the library. I have bought several so far. The diversity of roles he chose to play is overwhelming and stunning. Have you seen Heath's latest work with The Masses? ...An animation against illegal whale hunting directed by Heath and finished by those who love him. The video at We Are The Masses http://www.wearethemasses.com/videos/modest-mouse-king-rat Written tribute at We Are The Masses http://www.wearethemasses.com/
I paid no attention to Heath Ledger or his movies out of ignorance, when he was alive. So it is quite remarkable that I am having such a difficult time having him gone. Something so genuine about him, about his emotions, his vulnerability and strength within his roles that he puts in his face, his eyes, movements, timing, delivery of words.
I think Heath must know from wherever he is that the connection so many of us feel with his soul and spirit is strong and genuine.
Song to the Siren
Lyrics Performed by Paula Arundell and Paul Charlier
On the floating, shapeless oceans I did all my best to smile til your singing eyes and fingers drew me loving into your eyes.
And you sang "Sail to me, sail to me; Let me enfold you."
Here I am, here I am waiting to hold you. Did I dream you dreamed about me? Were you here when I was full sail?
Now my foolish boat is leaning, broken love lost on your rocks. For you sang, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow." Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow. I'm as puzzled as a newborn child. I'm as riddled as the tide. Should I stand amid the breakers? Or shall I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing: "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you." "Here I am. Here I am, waiting to hold you."
In the Odyssey, the Sirens sing a song so irresistible that none can hear it and escape. Circe warns Odysseus of the danger and tells him how to avoid it. He must plug up his mens' ears with beeswax, and have himself tied to the mast, if he wishes to hear it:
Square in your ship's path are Sirens, crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by; woe to the innocent who hears that sound! He will not see his lady nor his children in joy, crowding about him, home from sea; the Sirens will sing his mind away on their sweet meadow lolling. There are bones of dead men rotting in a pile beside them and flayed skins shrivel around the spot. Steer wide; keep well to seaward; plug your oarsmen's ears with beeswax kneaded soft; none of the rest should hear that song. But if you wish to listen, let the men tie you in the lugger, hand and foot, back to the mast, lashed to the mast, so you may hear those harpies' thrilling voices; shout as you will, begging to be untied, your crew must only twist more line around you and keep their stroke up, till the singers fade. (Book 12, 41-58)
.................................................... For The Good Times Al Green from his album I'm Still in Love With You - 1972 Uploaded by sunnysideupmovie
Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open 2009 Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew May 14, Thursday, 2009. Therefore, Rafa had a walk-over into the quarter finals, where he will face fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco.
The match will be at 2 p.m. USA EDT/DST Friday, May 15, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRIBUTE to EVALYN JANE HAMMEL WOHLFORD
My dad's sister, the only surviving sibling of five children, and the only girl, has retired from her beloved music - her beautiful piano playing - due to physical limitations. A day she never wanted to come. Upon her retirement after 67 years of sharing her gift of music in the church I grew up in - in Huntington, Indiana - the church is honoring her soon.
.................................................
................................................. I Surrender All - hymn Uploaded by WorshipVideo
This is a note I mailed to her recently...
May 10, 2009
Dear Evalyn,
Something dear to me is the wonderful heritage that I carry with me from the days of sitting in the old sanctuary of the East State Street Church of God (the one with the sanctuary that included the sections that could be closed off for Sunday school classes and the nursery in the balcony). The most wonderful memories that are with me today, come from the music, the beautiful “old” hymns that you played and we sang. Thank you, Evalyn, for the gift of music you developed, cherish, nourished my heart with and shared with us all. I owe you a debt that I can never repay ~ I can just be grateful and pass on the blessing.
Also, very meaningful to me were those Sunday nights that the congregation spent the whole evening just singing hymns. I remember Deeny, Stanton and Melba’s daughter, and Karen, Vic and Frieda’s daughter, singing the descants to the congregational singing of He’s the Lily of the Valley. And Vic and Stanton singing the lines to Peace Like a River. I just loved the singing! I could sit as a child, let my mind wander during the sermons, but the music is what always brought me back into the service. A verse of Just As I Am, Softly and Tenderly, I Surrender All or It is Well With My Soul touched my soul where just words never could reach. The music of these hymns still affect me in a very special way.
Please accept my appreciation and gratitude for helping bring music into my life.
With love
................................................. ................................................. Another hymn I grew up with....Softly and Tenderly Used in the movie A Trip to Bountiful - (which I recommend) Uploaded byRRRGroup2
And I sent the following to her inside a card via the church, which is honoring her on May 31, 2009:
The Gift of Music
Dedicated to Evalyn (Hammel) Wohlford
by Sandra Hammel
Music reaches places in us that words just can’t.
Ah, yes, words can lift, inspire, summon us;
But what can wash over us like music?
Enter our inner most sanctuary and become one with our being?
Permeate our mind, our heart, our spirit
and be present with us in our hour of joy,
need
or sadness?
And never fail to be there for us?
Nothing better for the hungering soul
or brimming delight is the music that is always
there for the simple taking and giving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An die musik ~ To Music Composed by Franz Schubert
Lyrics O gracious Art, in how many grey hours When life's fierce orbit encompassed me, Have you kindled my heart to warm love, And charmed me into a better world!
Oft has a sigh, issuing from your harp, A sweet, blessed chord of yours, Thrown open the heaven of better times; O gracious Art, for that I thank you!
May 10, 2009
Dear Evalyn,
You have nurtured your gift of music and shared it with so many of us. I want you to know how it touched me and helped me find my own personal relationship with the gift of music. A Chinese grandfather of one of my students once said to me, that a music teacher gives of her soul to her students. We have all been your students in a way. And we have all benefited from you as you have given of your soul to us. I can’t imagine life without the communion music provides for my best self. Music is a sacred gift and it was entrusted to you and you let it sing out beautifully.
With love and affection
.................................................
................................................. Softly and Tenderly - another version Uploaded by hoover4000
Evalyn is the girl in the middle My dad is the one holding the ball.
Ferne Wiles Hammel Mother of Evalyn, my dad, Mark, Harold, Jerald and Richard
In a portion of a tribute to her mom, Evalyn wrote this:
...Mom walked with me to Salamonie Avenue to Bessie Branstrator’s home for my piano lessons, which was about 3 ½ miles one way. (Before this, Bessie came to our house.) Mom’s day was busy, but she still took the time and would wait for me, and we returned home and she never seemed to mind the walk. She sat beside me while I practiced because I wanted her there, not because I wouldn't practice, which Mark tells folks. She played hymns, but I don’t recall her helping much with the music.
I enjoyed helping Mom wash clothes because we had a wringer washer, and it was fun sending those sheets, etc., through, but Mom was always watchful that I didn’t get my hands caught in the wringer.
Pop was busy earning a living for his family, and Mom would walk to Grandma and Grandpa Wiles’ home on Walnut Street which was about four miles, and we all walked to church, but I don’t remember minding this. But maybe, my brothers were afraid to say if they did. We had no car, and we attended revival meetings for two weeks, every night except Saturdays, and then sometimes we had church on this night, also. Church was 1.8 miles, and some nights were mighty cold or hot. One cold, cold day, Mom walked to John Tipton school with extra blankets for we kids and then while some of us got rides home, Mom walked back to our home in the frigid weather. I never understood where the other coats came from. This brings back sad memories to me, thinking how cold Mom must have been!
Mom was the buffer between we kids and Pop who was always serious; at least, this is my recollection of him. The summer before I entered high school, Mom made an appointment for me to get my pigtails cut and permed. A cab brought me back to Grandma and Grandpa Hammel’s who lived next door to our house, and as I stood on their sidewalk, Pop asked Mom who that was standing over there. I never knew what Mom told our Pop, but he never said a word to me about me shorn locks.
....our Pop ...said to me as we stood by Mom’s casket, "There lays an angel!"
I’m sure there was mental as well as physical suffering when Mom’s body was taken over by acromegaly (caused by dysfunction of the pituitary gland) which made here bones grow. She told me this happened when she was pregnant with our brother, Mark, so this was the way I always knew her...
...Mom loved to work outdoors and especially in her flower gardens. She had a beautiful variety of Iris, and I wish we still had the yellow rose bush which grew by the sidewalk in the back. She also, mowed the lawn with a push mower, and she would say she walked to Mt. Etna and back when she completed this job. I remember how she would rinse out her wet clothes and hang them on the clothesline to dry before they were laundered.
Evalyn's mom - my Grandma Hammel
On May 10, 1963, Mom had been working in her flower garden in the front of the house, and Pop had been working in his shop in the garage when he looked out and couldn’t see Mom. He found her in the house where she had laid all of the grandkids pictures down, face up. We think she had a premonition that she was not going to be here very long. Pop asked Mom if she would like to ride along to Baer Field to get some lumber. On the way Mom gasped a big breath and was gone just that quickly. Pop said he thought she was choking on her tongue so he tried to get hold of it to help her but with no success. Pop called me from Ft. Wayne with the news. I had lost my best friend and my precious Mom. Our pop was a very distraught and lost man after the death of our Mom, or Mother, as Mark always called her.
Rest In Peace Odetta December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008 When someone you don't know personally can leave a hole in you ~ you know there is something magic in the connection of our human spirits. At my post ~Failing a Child Becomes Legacy I have a video ~ Odetta which includes...
Odetta speaking from the words of the quote I have included here:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you, not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson in Return to Love I saw Odetta sing in small venues here in Newport, Rhode Island She offered her uniqueness with fearlessness. I only own one of Odetta's CDs ~ Blues Everywhere I Go and I bought it mostly for Hear Me Talkin to Ya
Odetta arrives to the 'Salute to the Blues' concert at Radio City Music Hall in this Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 file photo taken in New York. Odetta, the folk singer with the powerful voice who moved audiences and influenced fellow musicians for a half-century, died Tuesday Dec. 2, 2008. She was 77. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)
"They were liberation songs", Odetta described her folk and spirituals. "You're walking down life's road, society's foot is on your throat, every which way you turn you can't get from under that foot. And you reach a fork in the road and you can either lie down and die, or insist upon your life."
She had hoped to sing at President-elect Obama's inauguration, but on December 2, 2008 she passed away at age 77.
I will hear her liberation songs on that day; and I know I will not be alone.
December 31, 1930 - December 2, 2008
This Spadecaller Video is a tribute to Odetta, her music, and the many gifts that she contributed to the world during her vibrant lifetime. Odetta, the African-American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and human rights activists passed away on Monday. Often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement," her musical repertoire consists largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s, she was a formative influence on dozens of artists, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin.
Odetta sings 'Jim Crow Blues' at New York's Radio City Music Hall in a 2003 photo. Odetta, the deep-voiced folk singer whose ballads and songs became for many a soundtrack to the American civil rights movement, has died at age 77, her manager said on Wednesday.
Text by visionaryproject In honor of Odetta, the National Visionary Leadership Project offers this clip where Odetta speaks about her life as an activist. To see more oral history interview clips with Odetta, visit: http://www.visionaryproject.org/gordonodetta/
Odetta Gordon performs in her native home of Birmingham, Alabama, during the City Stages Music Festival, June 11, 2000.
(Photo and caption submitted by M. J. M de Oliveira)
Folk music, civil rights legend Odetta dies at 77
By POLLY ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer Polly Anderson, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 3, 1:50 pm ET
NEW YORK – Odetta's monumental voice rang out in August 1963 when she sang "I'm on My Way" at the historic March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
She had hoped to perform again in Washington next month when Barack Obama is inaugurated as the nation's first black president. But the acclaimed folk singer, who influenced generations of musicians and was an icon in the civil rights struggle, died Tuesday after battling heart disease. She was 77.
In spite of failing health, Odetta performed 60 concerts in the last two years, and her singing ability never diminished, manager Doug Yeager said.
"The power would just come out of her like people wouldn't believe," he said.
She was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital with kidney failure about three weeks ago, Yeager said in confirming her death.
With her classically trained voice and spare guitar, Odetta gave life to the songs by workingmen and slaves, farmers and miners, housewives and washerwomen, blacks and whites.
First coming to prominence in the 1950s, she influenced Harry Belafonte, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and other superstars of the folk music boom.
An Odetta record on the turntable, listeners could close their eyes and imagine themselves hearing the sounds of spirituals and blues as they rang out from a weathered back porch or around a long-vanished campfire a century before.
"What distinguished her from the start was the meticulous care with which she tried to re-create the feeling of her folk songs; to understand the emotions of a convict in a convict ditty, she once tried breaking up rocks with a sledge hammer," Time magazine wrote in 1960.
"She is a keening Irishwoman in `Foggy Dew,' a chain-gang convict in `Take This Hammer,' a deserted lover in `Lass from the Low Country,'" Time wrote.
Odetta called on her fellow blacks to "take pride in the history of the American Negro." When she sang at the March on Washington — along with Baez, Dylan, Josh White and Peter, Paul and Mary — "Odetta's great, full-throated voice carried almost to Capitol Hill," The New York Times said.
"I'm not a real folk singer," she told The Washington Post in 1983. "I don't mind people calling me that, but I'm a musical historian. I'm a city kid who has admired an area and who got into it. I've been fortunate. With folk music, I can do my teaching and preaching, my propagandizing."
While she hoped to sing at Obama's inauguration, she had not been officially invited, Yeager said. Her last big concert was on Oct. 4 at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, where she performed in front of tens of thousands at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. She also performed Oct. 25-26 in Toronto.
In 1999, she was honored with a National Medal of the Arts. Then-President Bill Clinton said her career showed "us all that songs have the power to change the heart and change the world."
She was nominated for a 1963 Grammy awards for best folk recording for "Odetta Sings Folk Songs." Two more Grammy nominations came in recent years, for her 1999 "Blues Everywhere I Go" and her 2005 album "Gonna Let It Shine."
Among her notable early works were her 1956 album "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues," which included such songs as "Muleskinner Blues" and "Jack O' Diamonds"; and her 1957 "At the Gate of Horn," which featured the popular spiritual "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Her 1965 album "Odetta Sings Dylan" included such standards as "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Masters of War" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
In a 1978 Playboy interview, Dylan said, "the first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta." He said he found "just something vital and personal" when he heard an early album of hers in a record store as a teenager. "Right then and there, I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustical guitar," he said.
Belafonte also cited her as a key influence on his hugely successful recording career, and she was a guest singer on his 1960 album, "Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall."
She continued to record in recent years; her 2001 album "Looking for a Home (Thanks to Leadbelly)" paid tribute to the great blues singer to whom she was sometimes compared.
Born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Ala., in 1930, she moved with her family to Los Angeles at age 6. Her father had died when she was young and she took her stepfather's last name, Felious. Hearing her in glee club, a junior high teacher made sure she got music lessons, but Odetta became interested in folk music in her late teens and turned away from classical studies.
She got much of her early experience at the Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles, where she sang and played occasional stage roles in the early 1950s.
"What power of characterization and projection of mood are hers, even though plainly clad and sitting or standing in half light!" a Los Angeles Times critic wrote in 1955.
Over the years, she picked up occasional acting roles. None other than famed Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper reported in 1961 that she "comes through beautifully" in the film "Sanctuary."
In The Washington Post interview, Odetta theorized that humans developed music and dance because of fear, "fear of God, fear that the sun would not come back, many things. I think it developed as a way of worship or to appease something. ... The world hasn't improved, and so there's always something to sing about."
Odetta is survived by a daughter, Michelle Esrick of New York City, and a son, Boots Jaffre, of Fort Collins, Colo. She was divorced about 40 years ago and never remarried, her manager said.
A memorial service was planned for next month, Yeager said.
Associated Press writer Cristian Salazar contributed to this report.
The video below of Odetta singing Leadbelly’s widely-known song “The Midnight Special” is remarkable because of its closeness to the original Leadbelly lyric. The popularization of “The Midnight Special” — as with the fame of Leadbelly’s “Goodnight Irene” — was due to covers created by pop groups like Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Weavers. Odetta is a bridge figure, one of those marvellous artists who does not merely do everything right, but who also imbibes in a visceral way the very essence of the original.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
................................................
Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
................................................
Spain Time
................................................
Melbourne Time
................................................
Hawaii Time
...............................................
...............................................
RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
