Reflections
About the Sonnet to the Nightingale
THAT SONNET TO THE NIGHTINGALE which I wrote yesterday is the first time I’ve put pen to paper about him. Yet, I’ve always had a special affinity to this enchanting little bird. I never before felt worthy enough to put myself among those across the centuries who have composed an ode to the Nightingale. But last night I understood why he should so take my heart. First, he flies across the Sahara every April. Then, immediately after choosing a place to be in Europe, he sings out his soul in a tree while a succession of females comes nearby and tunes in to sample his song. After trying out the dulcet tones of several males, she makes her choice. In other words, she chooses the father of her children based on the quality of his song. Oh blessed tears! That is just so beautiful. But then my mind got working. What if there is one guy who doesn’t pass the audition. What happens to him? The average life-span of the songsmithing Nightingale is just two years; so half his life is wasted if he doesn’t get the girl one year. That is quite shocking when you think that scavenging baby-killers such as the Magpie can live up to thirty years! I can identify so well with the Nightingale. You sing from your soul in the hope some smart and gorgeous chick will hear who you are to such an extent that she will give her heart to you. But it’s a bit of a lottery. Not only may they all ignore you (yep, know that feeling too) but there simply may be no others of your species in the neighbourhood (yep, know *that* feeling too). Some years ago around midnight, I was walking down a lonely country lane at the foot of Mont Ventoux, near Orange in France, when I came upon an olive tree wherein a Nightingale was singing his seductive song. I hunkered down into the base of the tree and listened to him warble for the next hour or so. I must have been less than two metres from his beak. Yet, rather than be spooked by me, it was as if he sensed that I was paying him attention. His flourishes became increasingly intricate and so complex that I found myself cheering with delight. He didn’t flinch one bit, even though I was clapping and whooping and weeping and wowing – and his trills became more daring than ever. I swear he thought I was a female birdie and he was showing off. Under a bright, late April moon, it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I remember it as if it was yesterday. For this reason, I always long for April…
Uncle Alan’s Valentine’s Day Advice
Many will have opted out of acknowledging Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Viewing it as cheesy, corny, schmaltzy and merely sentimental (rather than truly romantic), they will choose to ignore it, claiming it’s a huge money-making racket. All those things are true…BUT… I can absolutely guarantee that if you produce a surprise gift for your spouse, partner, lover, wannabe lover or wishtheywere lover — even if they are the most hardened anti-Valentine’s Day activist in the universe — they will still be over the moon and melt at your offering. Trust me on this. And if they then feel bad that they didn’t get you a present, tell them that a passionate kiss will be just right! You don’t need to call it a Valentine’s Day present. Disguise it if you wish. You could even save it till the Moon is Full at 00.54 Central European Time on Saturday, just after midnight, only missing Valentine’s Day by less than an hour (or it’s full at midnight if you’re in a GMT zone). Avoid using tacky wrapping paper or giving custom V-Day atrocities. Give something tasteful and simple. Tell them you got a serious case of Cupiditis and couldn’t resist because you really do love them and you believed it would make them happy and you couldn’t miss out on seeing their eyes light up and their hearts quicken. Tell them you wanted to give them joy — that it pleased you to do so. Then they will know even more how much you love them, for that is absolutely what love delights in. Make it a simple gift. (A Porsche would be inappropriate in this instance 🙂 ). Just make sure you tell him or her that it is from your heart to theirs. That is the magic phrase. Then you are creating a direct line — a silver cord between you and him or her. Those silver cords are vital in this fragile world and in the midst of so many fragile relationships. The more silver cords there are, the more beauty we infuse into it. I have seen couples (and I’ve been there myself) who have made a pact to ignore the V-Day and then felt very smug, as if they had participated in a political act of great significance. But, inwardly, deep down inside, each wished the other had given them something anyway. They secretly longed for it. Truly. Trust me. Even if you don’t believe a word of what I say, try it as an experiment. You will be blown away by the result. I look forward to any feedback. With much love, from my heart to yours. ❤
My Real Interest in this Life
MY REAL INTEREST IN THIS LIFE can never be the surface, the mundane, or merely what appears to be. Graphical user interfaces are useful pointers [holograms] but they can only ever be as real as sunlight on the moon. I hanker after what is going on behind the scenes, beneath the veneer, under the hood, beyond the words, under the radar — the outer limits — on the farthest side of everything. When you look at me, I do not only see your face. When you speak to me, I do not only hear your words. When you move, I do not only see the motion. I see your nakedness in everything you are or say or do or move. This isn’t something that I’ve asked for; it’s just the way it is. Unfair? No, not at all. For I bare my soul to you, if you will only look and not enshroud your eyes like others do. Please know that I would not exploit or ridicule the hidden things I see in you or hear from you. For you — I mean the real you, with all your facets, rays and gleams, your heart’s desires and wildest dreams, beyond the world of what things merely seem — are prized beyond belief: treasured, cherished, valued and adored. Each one of us: a masterpiece connected to the unseen by a silver cord…
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© Alan Morrison, 2013
The packaging for my 14-track CD album
The packaging for my 14-track CD album, “The End of the Song”, is being designed to my specifications right now in Switzerland. Very soon, the first 1000 will be printed/duplicated by a company in Madrid and sent to me, in time for the February release concert/party here in Tarifa. The image you see here is a mosaic of Euterpe (of the nine muses, this is the one specialising in music), to whom the title track refers. To whet your appetite, here are the lyrics of that song:
I’ve used up all my words —
emptied out my heart;
there’s nothing left to feel now or to say.
And even if this tune’s been done
a thousand times before,
these thoughts still burn a hole upon the page.
The Creative Process
What a fruitful mystery is the creative process! I cannot say that I write a poem or song but that it writes me. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s not like automatic writing for I have to apply myself and instigate the momentum. But at the same time as I instigate, some other force then arrogates my mind; then words come like confetti on the wind from some uncharted place, often making me laugh with sheer joy at the flow! For this reason, no one can take the credit for anything. We are conduits, canals and watercourses, messengers and mediators from another universe. Saboteurs of mediocrity. Avatars of authenticity. Provocateurs for change.
“I’m not Worthy”. “I don’t Deserve It”
If I had a cent for every time I’ve heard someone say something like that to me — either generally in my life or in my work as a counsellor — I would be a rich man. Half the world runs around on an ego trip (narcissists, bobble-heads, gigolos, ‘princesses’, etc.) thinking they’re entitled to anything and willing to trample on anyone to get it (though in many cases that is a vain attempt to compensate for feelings of inferiority) with the other half thinking they deserve nothing or less. Both are extremes and both are destructive. If, for example, a woman says “I don’t deserve a good man”, then that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. She will repel all men who could bring her good and act as a magnet for those who will contribute to her downfall. Usually people have been brainwashed to believe such a thing. Parents and teachers bear much responsibility for influencing the thought patterns of the children gifted to pass through their hands temporarily. If a child is being put down for the best part of its childhood, then that sets up the pattern. One big-hearted woman I know who lacks much in confidence spent her entire childhood being told by her father that she was “a donkey” while her mother undermined her feelings about her appearance. This had a huge fallout in her life in terms of confidence and relationships, which she has had much difficulty in throwing off (and now, at the age of sixty, the light has gone on). Some children come into life already equipped with maturity and are savvy enough to deal with the crap their parents and teachers (and even other children!) give them (though it’s still a great lesson). But most will be crippled by the thoughtlessness or deliberate nastiness of their carers (who will doubtless have been subjected to childhood crap themselves which they then perpetuate — it’s a cycle). This means that many people choose partners who will not be good for them and work in a situation way below their true achievement level. It’s as if they deliberately choose a partner or work (and a put-down boss) which is going to confirm their poor thoughts about themselves. This can even result in an apparently wasted life (though, ultimately, nothing is totally “wasted” because all experiences are teachers in some way). This is why we, as parents and teachers, partners and friends, must examine ourselves to ensure that we give those in our hands the confidence they need to fulfil their mission in this world and to embrace life fully. So, to those who think they are not worthy or are ill-deserving of something in life, I say: “Who indoctrinated you to think like that, to have fear as your victorious friend instead of your defeated enemy?” We came into this world to grow in depth and stretch of character, to engage in adventure, to attempt the impossible, to improve ourselves and to experience joy — not to slide downhill into mental and emotional oblivion with an abusive partner or demeaning job (and jackboot boss). If you think that you are not worthy of something or don’t deserve it, then that is all the more reason to do it! In fact, that is our calling. For, as cosmic explorers, it is our place in life to prove bullshit wrong! 🙂
Some Thoughts on Sponsorship
You’re So Naïve
YOU’RE SO NAIVE! That was the title of a song I wrote on 2nd December 2008, addressed to the mesmerised masses across the world who were rejoicing at the thought of Obama being elected to the presidential office for the first time. When that happened, most of the world thought that their Messiah had come. But some of us knew it was just another cheap trick worked by behind-the-scenes strategists to make people think there had been some kind of sea-change when really it was a clever way of maintaining the status quo. Since the time of President J.F. Kennedy (who was plainly assassinated because he was prepared to stand up to the CIA and organised crime), the message has been clear: Presidents are tools and puppets of the real powerbrokers in this world (the Powers-that-Be, PTB) and have no power of their own whatsoever. As events develop now in the world as it is today, maybe many more will come to realise this too. The melody of this song resembles one of those football chants sung by crowds at matches. Here are the lyrics:So now you have a leader who is “young and black and real”
“Change we can believe in” is the mantra that you feel
But how come I am standing here with heaviness of heart?
It’s a tragedy in Grecian style and we all have a partYou’re so naïve!
The PTB are laughing up their sleeve
You’re exactly what they need
Their power-games you feed
You’re so naïve! Continue reading…
When to Open one’s Mouth
It’s quite an art in life knowing when to open one’s mouth and when to keep it wisely shut — recognising that even silence can speak with a thousand words. Never being led by one’s tongue but tethering it for when it will be useful. Never using it as an unyielding whip, idle gossiper or badmouth backbiter — knowing that words are living things which can build up the weakest heart or break down the biggest bully. Our words, as much as our eyes, are the window to our souls. Daily I tell myself: “Don’t speak because you have to say something but because you have something to say”. Some days it’s harder than others to obey myself 😉
Dark Side and the Pathway of Light
There is an easy way to tell the difference between the Dark Side and the Pathway of Light. For the Dark Side always has an affinity for acquisition and accrual. It loves to accumulate things — whether it be power or material objects. The Pathway of Light, however, involves renunciation. Acquisition and renunciation are the two diametrically-opposed qualities on which darkness and light pivot. When I see statements all over Facebook about techniques for “manifesting one’s desires” in abundance (i.e. creating wealth) I see the Dark Side. They are simply motivational get-rich-quick schemes dressed up in psychobabble and “spiritual” clothing (often involving some kind of pyramid-selling scam or getting you to attend some “energy alignment” sessions in order to become a session leader yourself and make loadsamoney — thus creating a self-perpetuating cult which sees itself as the ultimate answer to humanities ills!).
The Naked Troubadour 