Come Forward: April

So, let's talk about one of the secret projects that I am working on. I won't say that it is but I will say, I feel behind. Which I so odd because there is no deadline on this one project. Nothing, nadda, no pressure. The only person that even knows I am working on something, isn't hounding me to get anything done. So, why do I feel behind. 

Well, it's because I know what I am supposed to be doing and I'm not doing it. 

 

Coach Grant is the leader of the Eagles football team. He just ended this sixth year of coaching with another loosing season. He feels like he has done everything that he could, and it's not enough. On top of that, he house is falling apart, his car is breaking down, him and his wife are having trouble having a baby, and the world is falling down around him. 

He feels like he is going to throw in the towel when he decides that do the one thing that he hasn't done, give it all to God. 

Grant is a believer that hasn't be doing much of it for a little while now. The night he hits rock bottom, is the night he studies God's word and decides that he needs to get his priorities back on track. He has to put God in his life first, and then he has to have everything in his life fall in line after that. The moment that he commit to changing his life, God starts to show up. Not just in the areas of this life that he needs to be fixed but in other ways he never expected.  

Not only did his life turn around, but several members on his team's lives started to change. Several were saved, and turning their lives to God, their relationships turned toward the better, new members join and were successful in other way they never dreamed of, and the team ends up going to the the State Championships, and winning. 

I have always loved the movie! It's one that always fills me with hope, and reminds me who I belong to. Also, who isn't inspired by the death crawl scene? That scene is so good because if we have faith the voice that is telling us we can do something, and we blind our eyes to the goal we mentally set, we get farther than we ever thought was possible. I think that is how I feel now in the project. 

I took a break from my secret project, mainly because I have been very busy and not able to provide the attention that I want to give it. Also, because I needed to step back a bit and figure some things out. Listing to that voice is a good thing. God told me last year to take a break from these projects, and now I am doing so much better all around! I wasn't forcing myself to do something that I wasn't passionate about just because "it's what I have been doing the last few years". I listened the whole week when I was worried I was going to loose the moment on this project and God just said to slow down and wait. 

The reason that I was worried about the momentum? I am in a place I never thought I would be. I never thought I would get nearly as far as I have. I am in such scary and unfamiliar territory that I have no idea what to do with myself! 

I am very excited to get started again, but I know that I can't have it control my whole life and taking a step back is actually better for me in the long run. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Babe On Broadway

 See, like I said the last couple of days. I am better in the area than I have been in the last couple of years! It also helps that I finally out of a rut of movies that I wasn't too fond of. We have a very long line of musicals that are starting to take shape here!

We are continuing the rolls of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movies with Babes on Broadway!

Tommy and his trio are out for the big time on the Great White Way! However, they closest that they have gotten is the cellar of an small Italian place in New York City. They sometimes pass by Broadway on their way home. Things aren't perfect but they know they are working regularly and they hope to make it big one day. One day is sooner than they think when they meet a woman who works for a Broadway Producer! She tells them that they can't speak a work of the audition that she is going to work out for them because it will upset her boss if everyone shows up!

So, what do they do? Tell struggling actor that they know while bragging. The creates chaos during the audition because hundred of people show up! They don't get their shot, and have to come up with another idea. That is when Tommy meets Penny. 

Penny is a actress herself, but just messed up her big chance and wondering what to do next. The two start talking and Penny invites him over for dinner, and they get to talking to a neighbor about getting the kids to the country. 

Tommy later finds out that the comity falls through on their promise to the kids, and he helps to put of a show to raise the money. However, the show gets so popular that the producer gets mad that he is being shown up right down the street from where his show is going on. 

Now, I love this movie but it doesn't have the same charm for me as Babes in Arms and Strike Up the Band have. I am not sure why because the music and great, and the movie is funny. however, If I am choosing to watch one of their movies it's not likely going to be this one. However, it's one that I would still recommend for someone who loves Micky or Judy! 

The Man Behind The Curtain: April

 So, here we are again! How fast is your year going? Is it possibly as fast as mine? Faster? Well, let me tell you it has flown by so far! I have gotten to do many different things so fare this year, and so much that is still yet to come. I am not sure how I am going to do it all. However, I am feeling good on it because this time last year was not doing to hot. 

I was living a in place that I hated! I wasn't on top of anything. I became complacent in so much in my life that I still feel like I am trying to get back into gear now. What I soon found out last year is that everything can change in a matter of moths. I am now in a much better place, and much happier. Yes, I do get behind and feel like I am not a certain level that I was in years past. However, I know that sometimes that I just part of life. I am loving what I am doing, and even though I am a bit behind. I am doing way better that I was so. Life can change when you least expect it. 

I don't think there are too many characters that know this lesson better than these two, Vivian and Edward. 

If you don't know the movie Pretty Woman than you need to go and see if soon! 

Edward is a millionaire who you would think would have his life together. However, we soon learn that is had failed at yet another relationship. In a blur, he borrows his friend's car, and travels that streets of New York and meet Vivian. Vivian is a prostituted that who basically had to grow up in this life style because she didn't know of any other way to make money. She takes the "job" from Edward thinking it would be like every other normal night. However, when the hotel she is taken back to is the one for people is a tax bracket she could only dream of, she has a hard time being a professional. 

The next morning, Edward asks her to stay for the week and would pay her thousands of dollars, and lost of new clothes, for her to be his date for the week. In that time she befriends many different people to help her to pass as someone in this totally different world she has been thrown into. She handles it beautifully, all while still being true to herself. 

Vivian and Edward part ways, and see that so many people saw more protentional in her than she ever saw in herself, she takes a leap of faith and leaves her life of prostitution. She soon realized that she doesn't have to do it alone as Edward has fallen in love with her and is willing to help her in any way he can. 

This is one of those movies that I have seen many times before, but I always forget just how good it is, and how much fun it is to watch. It's witty, personable, and has great character development through the whole thing. The truth is there to that where you are now is not what we are always meant to stay. That we can be better, or worse, than where we started. That sometimes to be better you have to be worse than where you are not. The most important is, your past does not define you. 

I think we all struggle with that. We all think that we are not good enough for something, or that we aren't capable of it. That thinking that daring to think that we can be better one day is a sin. That we are only as good as our last mistake, or our last success. That's just now true. There is more to each of us in that first encounter that we have with the world. That you can only be at rock bottom, or on top of the world with no in between and that is not true. There are so many parts of use that change all though our lives that one thing can be true at one point and then be the opposite later on. 

Knowing ourselves means that we are never fully going understand ourselves. 

We are constantly learning and changing and we have to be ok with that. We are never going to look, act, feel, or the same our whole lives. Knowing that we are constantly growing and changing is how we know to be kind out ourselves and keep learning about us. Being stuck in one place for took long can become a danger to us.

I think that this is way I love doing these yearly project. Trust me when I started out they weren't meant to happen every year. It started with and idea that grew into this! 

I love that they push me forward, and give me something to think about. That I get to have something that I enjoy without anyone else interfering in them, or telling me how to do them. I can set the limits, and create the rules as I go or enforce them how I see fit. The projects help me to have something to do and look forward to, and then also makes me feel good when I push my own boundaries, and do things I never thought possible, or would ever dare try to do! 

I think it's a great way to get out of your comfort zone, without having to go nuts and go too far. It's a great way express yourself and try new things in a manageable way.

The Man Behind The Curtain: March

 So, we made it almost a fourth of the way through the year. So, time for a check in. How are you doing? Still feeling good? Think that you have gotten most of goals hit or continuing so far? I am much farther on some goals and far behind in others. I guess that is why they say success is not measured in a straight line. We have to be flexible.

That means in all areas of our lives, including our emotions. 

 Riley is a preteen living in Wisconsin having a ball in her life, or should I say puck? She loves her hockey team, family, friends, school, and everything really seems perfect. That is until her parents and her move to San Francisco due to her dad's job. 

Now, there is something everyone needs to know, our emotion have control of our mind and they are little being that are used to influence Riley and the world around her by how she feels. They are Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness. They work together to use the appropriate emotion for what is going on. 

The leader of this group, Joy, thinks that Riley needs to be happy all of the time. That whenever she is not happy that not only is she not doing her job right, but she will do everything in her life to make her happy. All of the core memories that Riley has, the stuff that makes her her, are all happy memories. However, everything that Joy knows changes when a sad core memory enters into system. Joy does everything she can to stop the memory becoming a core one, and ends up being forced out of the control room with sadness. They have to go on adventure, literally down memory lane, to get back to the control room before everything falls apart. 

So, in reality, we know that our emotions are not controlled by little beings in our head. However, I do know that our emotions are things that we can and can not choose. 

Sometimes and emotion comes so fast that you can't control it and we just have to feel it no matter what is happening. Other times the emotion slowly crawls on us over time and it engulfs us before we are aware that it's even happened. None of these are wrong, but we can make choices about our emotions, even if we don't want to admit it. 

Why am I always so happy? Why am I always full of joy? It because I choose to be. I not 100% happy all of the time, I have my bouts with anxiety, anger, fear, and every other emotion. However, I choose to be happy. I choose to no let every little thing in the world get me down. There are so many people in the world that choose to sit in their anger, fear, and they end up playing victim. People will say that happiness doesn't last and that it's pointless to be happy as often as I am. I am aware that happiness doesn't last. I am aware that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. That being happy is not permanent. Neither is sadness. Neither is fear. Neither is anger. 

No emotion lasts forever. 

You can't always choose how you feel about a moment or a person. You can't always choose how to react when unexpected things happen. You can choose to be victim to an emotion to the rest of your life. That also include happiness. If you are always trying to stay happy, if you are chasing happiness only, you will fail. That failure will hurt more than just letting the emotion that you are trying to hide.

Becoming a slave to one emotion is no way to live life. 

I choose to be happy whenever I can, and choose the other emotions to come when they do. They are all important and all need to be felt.  

Come Forward: March

Working on several projects, without saying what the projects are, is getting hard. It's much harder than I thought. The reason that I think it's harder is because I have nothing really to compare it to. The last "Secret" Project I didn't wasn't really a secret. It was something I didn't advertise the I was doing, and because I was actively doing it, people found it. I required me to physically be going somewhere. 

While, I feel like I am mostly alone in doing something like this, I know that I have God to help me. One of these projects is very much His doing. 

However, I will say that the movie that I watched this month has a very similar feeling about what I have felt like this month so far. 

The Life of Pi

Pi is a young man from India who is about to go on an adventure that is hared to believe. He was born into a loving family that supported him and his always advancing beliefs. He gets news one day that, due to the going unrest that is happening around them, they are leaving India go to go America. They pack up all of the zoo animals that have, and load them onto a Japanese boat. 

Not fitting in with the people around them, Pi finds his comfort being with the animals below deck. While he wishes that he could stay there, he has to go sleep with his family in his room. That night a massive storm haunts the boat in the middle of the ocean. Pi goes out to see the storm firsthand, and find the boat is starting to sink. Everyone is trying to get to the lifeboat, but his family is already stuck under the water in the bows of the ship. The crew tries to get Pi to get on the boat, but he is fighting them off because he wants someone to come and help him rescue his family. A good portion of the animals have escaped, and were causing problem for the rest of the humans, that were alive, to get on board. 

Due to the insanity of the animals and the boat slipping away too fast from the ship, the only being to make it out alive are: Pi, a zebra, an orangutang, a hyena, and one Bengal Tiger.

The hyena quickly takes out the orangutang and the zebra, and when he is about to take down Pi, the Tiger, whose name is Richard Parker, takes the life of the Hyena. 

Now you might be thinking, this must be a short movie because he tiger must kill Pi? Nope. Pi will be the next year or so of his life helping the tiger, and himself, survive what the sea brings them. He makes a raft for himself to be apart from the tiger, he starts to hunt the fish for the tiger to keep it from dying, and he tries to train the tiger. Although, the last bit does not work out too well for him. 

One of the things the Pi does that is remarkable is he starts to make a schedule for himself. He does everything he can to take care of them both, but to also to keep his mind entertained so he has something to do to keep him active and going. 

It is all of this that makes him successful. Pi, and the tiger, one day make it to land and are saved. However, Richard Parker goes into the nearby forest never to be seen again. 

I now understand what I have been missing. The movie has got to be one of the most beautiful movies that I have ever seen in my life. I don't even know how they were able to make the sky, the sea, the storm, the stars, and the endless amounts of water look as beautiful as a dream. It really makes me wonder if the the sky could ever look that beautiful in real life. 

None of that would be nearly as impressive if the one lone actor of the whole movie was not good. Suraj Sharma delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen. Granted, he is not the only actor but he rally is the only one for most of the movie since almost the whole thing is him being lost at sea with a tiger. To act against no one for the amount of time has got to be hard. 

Really, watching the move does tell you a lot about motivation. At any point, Pi could have just given up. He could have said that there is was no way out, no one was looking for him, and that he could just sink to the bottom of the ocean and be with the rest of his family. To spend nearly a year at sea surviving with a tiger, you have to keep motivated. He would literally die if he did not stay motivated. Like I also mentioned, he started make plans and having somewhat of a routine. In reality, a routine is really a lot of mini deadlines to meet. 

I have always had a deadline of a year for all of the projects that I have done. Usually I break everything up into a month, so there are several deadlines in a year to make sure I get everything I want done done. 

So, I made a deadline for a project and I completed it. Since I have never done anything like this before, I didn't think that having a deadline was going to be as helpful as it was. I know that if I give myself one then it might help me to get my butt in gear when I am falling behind. I am not saying that I a going to have a crazy deadline, but if I am not keeping up with stuff then it really might be helpful and not hurtful. 

No Place Like Movies At Home: Strike Up The Band

 Ladies and Gentlemen!

It was a little bit soon than I thought it was going to be, however, we have made it to my favorite Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film: Strike Up The Band

Jimmy Connors has high hopes of making his school band into a dance band. With his would also be the once in a lifetime chance to perform in Chicago in front of Paul Whiteman, and winning his contest. His best friend, Mary, is in full support of this dream and is will to do anything and everything she can to help. When Jimmy gets smitten with the new girl, Barbara, Mary starts to largely be the one to make sure the dream comes to fruition. They have to raise $200 to get the whole band to Chicago and audition. They come up with a plan for the band to put on a show at their local theater and make some money that way. Jimmy missing the meeting to secure the location when he takes Barbra out on a date. Mary take the meeting herself and they put on a 1890's themed show for the community. They earn about $150 from the show and have to come up with another way to make more. The whole band is invited to Barbara's birthday with a surprise, Paul Whiteman and his band are performing. After securing a $50 loan from Whiteman, the band is on their way to Chicago! That is until one of the their friends finds out he is badly injured and needs emergency surgery. They need to charter a plane to get him to the right hospital in time. It costs about $200. They give the money, and all their hopes of competition, go with their friend. However, Barbara is a good friend to have. Her father heard what the kids did for their friend, and used his connection with the railroad to get the band to the competition just in time to Strike Up The Band. 

I love this movie! There are so many reason to love it but I will say just a few. 

When you are talking about some of the greatest comedic actresses of all time, Judy Garland is usually always left off that list. I learned a long time ago that Lucille Ball, hilarious actress in her own right, would say that Judy Garland was one of the funniest people that she had ever known. Watching this movie I have to agree with her. 

Ms. Garlands performance in the "Gay 90's" show is one of the funniest scenes in any movie. You can tell that she is adoring playing for fun on that stage. The one scene that comes to mind that could beat this scene is the one with Gene Kelley in The Pirate but we will get there soon enough! 

Watching this movie again, I reminds me how much I am in love with Mickey Rooney. He is an actor that most people know of without knowing they know him. He is the voice of Santa in all of the 70's cartoon tv movies, and the for the the fox in The Fox And The Hound. He is one of the most diverse and underrated actors. He was not considered this at the time, but for some reason some of the biggest, and best, stars fade over time. 

While I was hoping that I didn't have to watch the movie so soon, I am still glad to watch it. I really love reliving this movie as many times as my DVD let me. Which was a really true statement because it no longer works, and I had to buy it on streaming just to keep it in my roster. 

If you want the best the Judy and Micky have to offer, Strike Up The Band is the move you need to see next. 

Come Forward: February

So, the second month of the year. How is everyone doing with their resolutions? It's usually by the start of this month that most people feel like they have failed too much to continue with the promises they have made to themselves. Then, of course, the "season of love" is upon us and that mean hundreds of pieces of chocolate are thrown into our lives. Now, this could be because we have some who brings us chocolate, or the amount of healthy food that you have been eating feels like it's killing your soul. Chocolate fixes most of those things. Though, don't take my word for it because I am not a doctor. 

I think one of the biggest identifiers in if someone is going to stick to what they say they are going to do is if they talk about it. I know there are people out there that are all talk, but for the most part, if you discuss what you are doing to change your life with other people they normally help and support you. I am guilting of being mostly all talk this year thus far. I know that I have needed to get to the gym and really start to work out, not just go to say I went. I really need to make that a part of my lifestyle not just a box to tick off a list. While I have failed in that area, my eating out less and healthier has gotten surprisingly better. I have cut way down on the soda, and have made more meals at home. I have saved some money from this too. I know that this is because I started talking about the days I do well, and the days I don't, with friends of mine. I know that there were a few days I said "screw it" and had what I wanted when I wanted. In the past that would just give me a pass to not get back on eating better. However, I find that the next day I want the water and the healthy food back. 

Ok, so why am a talking so much about eating better, and what does this have to do with motivation?

Talking about, and getting excited about, the things you are doing in your life makes you want to continue to do them. 

Now, talking is very much one of my strong points, but when it came to Michael Oher, not was not so much the case.

 Michael Oher is a young man of very few words. With some help, he was granted admission into a private school to help him to get a better education, and a chance to get him out of the life he was in. Michael was hard to miss at his new school. Not only was he a larger young man, but it was easy to tell that he was homeless. He would do his best of keep the few clothes that he had clean, and feed himself with any food that he could find. He tried to stay under everyone's radar. That is until he met Leigh Tuohy and her family. 

Leigh had notices Michael around campus, her children also attended the same school, but never gave him much thought. Until one night after her daughters volleyball game, she noticed him walking around in the bitter cold with just a short sleeve shirt on. She prompted her husband, Sean, to stop the car and asked him where he was going. When he answered the gym, because it was warm, she knew that she could not leave him out in the cold. She put him in the car and took him home and he stayed there through the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Well, that was the original plan. 

It didn't take long for Leigh, Sean, and the rest of the family to love Michael like one of their own. They got him his own room, some more clothes, and lot of love. Leigh did everything she could to help Michael succeed in school. Once he found that he could play football very well, with the right motivation, she knew that his grades needed to improve so that he could be eligible for scholar ships for college. 

When the recruiters started coming in, they knew they need more help than what the school could provide alone. They brought in a private tutor, Ms. Sue, to help him learn how to learn, and show him that he was capable of more than what the world thought him to be. 

He made it to graduation with a 2.52 GPA and a scholarship to Old Miss. Proving that he could do anything. 

What I loved about this movie is that Michael didn't talk much. I know that sound very rude and unheard of, but give me a chance. Michael is a gentle giant. Just because he is kind and quiet doesn't mean that he can't find or defend the people that he loves. When he is pushed to the limits, he will do whatever it takes to take care of those people that he cares for most in the world. He can become scary, and unpredictable when he is pushed. However, when he does choose to ask for something, or say something, you know it's something that he has thought about for a long time. When he chooses to open up to Leigh about his childhood, you are compelled to lean in and learn about his past. When he talks about why he wants to go to Old Miss you want to hear him because it's what he truly feels about the school. Michael never talks just to say something. He speaks when he knows he needs to use his voice, and when he is excited about something he loves.

I have started on something in the last year that I have only told one person about. It's something that I still cannot believe that God has called me to do. While I don't want to go around and tell everyone I know about what I am doing, I am very thankful to the one friend that I have entrusted the secret with. She didn't judge me when I told her about it. She has asked me how the project was going, and she has encouraged me to tell her all of the steps I am taking as I am taking them. She has walked with me for a year already in the thing that I don't know when it will end. 

Talking about the things you are excited of accomplishing makes doing, whatever it is, easier and more fun. I just did a tour and few other things I needed to do to help me on this journey and my friend has been there with me this whole time. She has been just as excited, and sometime more excited, about this with me. I was planning on not telling anyone what I was working on. However, I have come to learn that if I didn't have my friend for me to talk to about everything concerning this project, I would have given up. I would have stopped because I would have no one to tell me that I could do what I was called to do, and I could do it well. 

Do I need to talk about it every single minute of every single day? No. Honestly, most of the time when she brings it up first I want to change the subject because imposter syndrome is real. However, having the space to talk about it has given me the push to do the steps that I have taken and it's gotten me this far. 

Talk about the things that you are passionate about. It could be just the motivation you need to continue with your dream.