The Carver

I have had for a long time...and I'm sure others have had too...the notion
that in each human being...there is a beautiful being...waiting to be liberated
...from blindness or backwardness...or from us human beings...sometimes...simply
having no wish...to consciously work on our personal growth. This idea...some years ago...found expression in the metaphor of the carver...chipping away at the log
before him or her...to liberate the beautiful sculpture...hidden away in the log.
Ihis metaphor...resulted in the writing of this song..."The Carver". This morning...
I'm also reminded...that under the tinsel...and "shopping to show that you care"...
that seems to be abroad in the land at this time...there is a beautiful "spirit of
the season"...that my wish is...emerges more
powerfully than ever...this time round...................Quester.

Video Making...A Good Habit

This last while has been very productive...with the videos flowing from me...one
after the other. I suppose that making videos has become a good habit. Most days...
on returning from lunch out in the world...I bite the bullet...consciously not
letting too much more time go by...before I start in. A delay in starting in could
translate into no video that day. Sometimes...I find something as simple as shaving
...is my actual starting point...as I get myself ready to face the camera. Every
time...it's getting all the bits and pieces in place...to make a video. Sometimes
I get impatient with this process of getting ready...but there is no help for it...
it's a necessary part of the whole process. I've found...for me anyway...I can't
just return home from my trip out into the world...and start the recording of a video.
Some of the preparation steps I have to do: Get a copy of the words of the song for
the day ready...and place it on a stand...I can look at if i need to. Put a cup of
water out...within reach of my singing spot. Get handy one of my big black hats...
after I change into my shirt...vest...or jacket for the day. Turn on the lights for
video making...lighting for me having turned out to be one of the tricky parts of
video making. Bring to hand the instrument i'm going to play that day...which one
depends on the song I'm going to sing. Somewhere along the way I start
sending out strange sounds...which is my version of warming up my voice. I prepare
a file in my computer to receive the recording I'm about to make. I go over the song
words a few times...hoping I finally have them memorized. The moment for clicking
the mouse and starting playing...is one I have to specially get myself up for...
because being of fuzzy mind as I start...is a recipe for doing take one...take two...
etc. As it is...I confess to making many false starts...before I find myself well
into the song...and with a good chance of sustaining my singing and playing...to the
last note. Sometimes towards the end of the song...my mind begins to roam...and I
have to pull it back firmly...but smoothly...to the task at hand. When I feel I've
succeeded in recording a "keeper"...I can feel a weight falling off my shoulders...
and I give thanks!. One more video of the work I've created...is "in the can"...and
I've completed my central artist's mission for the day. Hallelujah!.....Quester.

My New Box Of Wonders

A few days ago...I bought a keyboard...a musical one you plug into the wall. Since
then...I've been probing what it has to offer...which is more than plenty. For me...
it's a "box of wonders". I remember some years ago,,,how in some circles...it was
fashionable to "knock technology". Even back then...I knew it was a matter of how
it is used. For instance...my videos on YouTube...come out of my embracing...some
of the brilliant technology...that is now available to our world. It was my first
digital camera...with video option...that started me into making videos...and since
then...the videos keep flowing. To me...because of the terchnologies most of us in
the First World have access to...there is a grand unleashing of our human creative
potential...that everyone of us can help to make happen...if we wish to do so...and
make some slow time in our lives for it. The last few days I've been checking out
the myriad tones and options available from my new keyboard. This is already goosing
my creativity in an additional direction. Yesterday...I recorded my first keyboard
improvisation...and it is now on my main YouTube channel...which among other things
...is there to celebrate creativity. I am no keyboard player...at this point...but
I was able to "utilise creatively"...my keyboard. This way of thinking...is from
the territory of the self taught artist...not ready to surrender years to practising
scales and techniques on an instrument...but instead...going with the "creative force"
...and finding ways of making music...with what he or she...is working with. I could
go on and on about this...but I have to return shortly...to finding what other
treasures lie...in my new "box of wonders"...................Quester.