Friday, May 10, 2013

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 106 Christmas in Black and White

Just when I start wondering if I can really do this thing, I get a song in my 'inbox' to listen to and approve.  It happened again this morning.  I woke up to the song "Christmas in Black and White" in my mailbox.  It is glorious!

The song is an instrumental and is a medley of Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and What Child is This.  I arranged it on piano (the black and white ivories...thus the name) with a story in mind.  It starts slowly, demonstrating determination around the holidays to NOT get too busy or stressed THIS year.  But every year, it never seems to fail, the pace picks up and I soon find myself very busy by the time Christmas arrives.  The tempo does the same thing on the piano and moves to a hurried pace by the time we get to the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."  By the time we get to Dec. 25, we are all in need of tidings of comfort and joy.

After the hustle and bustle of God Rest Ye, we slowly move into the song What Child Is This, to remind us to slow down and enjoy the beautiful moments of the season.

The orchestration that Brian Green wrote around my piano parts are gorgeous!  As I listen, I can envision the orchestra on the stage with the grand piano playing this amazing medley.  I can't wait for you to hear it!

It's been a very busy week on top of the fact that my Mother's health has been dancing on the edge of disaster with two falls.  Fortunately, nothing is broken, but she is not able to walk on her own without a lot of pain.  When I go through this with her, it makes me wonder if I truly can sustain this pace of life if something happens to her.  It's the one thing that makes me hesitant to commit to this show.

In the meantime, I have a CD to think about and in two weeks I head to Nashville to start recording vocals.  That means I need to be rehearsing the songs and getting in shape for that.  I'm also trying to arrange a session with an image consultant who will help me pick out a wardrobe for the photo shoot in June.

Tomorrow night I do a concert for a women's event and I really need to get ready for that, plus work on the two songs we'll record in a couple of weeks.

Fortunately, I've been able to get good rest at night, rise around 5:15 a.m. and have plenty of time to start the day with prayer, scripture meditation and exercise.  It helps to keep my life in balance.

Someone recently sent me a blog post from Lance Wallnau and it was so good - I'd like to close out the week with this.  It's a good word about facing our fears when contemplating something big.

If it scares you, it simply means you are doing something you are not yet comfortable doing. That’s all. It does not mean you will get hurt and it doesn't mean you are not courageous. In fact, nobody is really courageous if they feel no fear. The courageous person is the one who does not let the fear they feel control them. In fact every time you move toward the thing you fear, you expand. Every time you do the thing you need to do in spite of fear, you redefine who you are to the one person whose opinion matters most - YOU. Every barrier you break, every fear you overcome, makes you larger on the inside.

What other people think is of little account as long as you guard the reputation you have with yourself. If the thing you are dancing around is not something that is going to cause you physical harm, you need to ask yourself - who will I become if I do this? Every reward you have in life is attached to your growth and your greatest growth comes when you risk something. And courage is not always a physical test. Some are physically courageous but timid in expressing their feelings or having that courageous conversation they have been avoiding. If it scares you - you should look at it twice and ask, "If I do this thing will it make me larger?" If the answer is yes - do it.



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