movement

Episode 16: Be Extraordinary

Podcast

Okay, so the name of this episode (and the opening song) remind me a bit of Bill & Ted’s ‘Be excellent to one another’ but I suppose there’s nothing really wrong with that, is there?! And in the vein of the would-be Wyld Stallyns today’s musical adventures is full of fun rock with a little bit of this and that mixed in for good measure.

Be Extraordinary—Justin Honaman
Never Drive Faster Than Your Angels Can Fly—Miles Partridge and HipSlack
Bunny Boiler—Pablo Eskimo
Medicine—Brad Hammonds
Incoherent—Josh Woodward
I’m Taking It Back. I’m Taking Them All Back—Chasing Claymores
Heartburn—The Great Underground Empire
Wild Party People—JayJay
High Spirits—DJ Enso and Louis
Hands Up—Bree Rose
The Worst In Me—The Upset Victory
Run Rabbit Run—Supraluxe
Love, Drugs, & Bombs—O Sweet Static
Swimming The Witch—I Am The Icarus
Full Moon on a Friday Night—Dahlia Wakefield

Are you a lyrics listener or do you just concentrate on the overall sound of a song? I’m very into lyrics (even though I’m not a big “poetry” fan, go figure) and love to puzzle out references in songs, the more esoteric the better. And, back before the Internet, sometimes it was a matter of figuring out the words before you could ever get close to deciphering their meanings (lotta play-pause-rewind going on back in the day).

At the very least I hope you at least caught the refrain from our opening song:

I’m gonna be extraordinary
No sacrifice, no victory
Gonna crush mediocrity
I’m gonna be extraordinary

What can you do right now to be extraordinary?

(and I swear I didn’t plan the Bill & Ted’s references; it’s just one of those things that happens and you run with it *air guitar*)

Dance Like No One’s Watching

64 Arts
*this begins our rambling into the 3rd of the 64 Arts: dancing*

“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.”
~Japanese Proverb

Have you ever caught yourself swaying to some music or tapping your feet or fingers without knowing it? That’s the power that music has over us.

But we spend most of our days so tightly wound (at least the average adult) that music, with all it’s power, can only affect a few small sections of us. When we’re stressed, even less. But when we’re happy, well-rested and really and truly enjoying life, music can compel our bodies to move more. Arms swing wide, shoulders rock, hips gyrate, feet move in time to the music.

We dance.

The title of this post comes from a familiar saw that boils down to: live life to it’s fullest. It’s about having the confidence to live your life your way.

Children dance with utter exuberance for life evident in every step, every movement of every limb, and with supreme joy etched across their faces.

Where does it say, then, that when we “grow up” that we lose that ability? Whether it’s because we learn there are “right” and “wrong” ways to dance or become disheartened by those who may be more talented than us or even just self-conscious about our bodies, our movements, our feelings–whatever it is, we lose that abandon.

If that proverb is true (and I think there’s something to it) then we’re going to look ridiculous one way or another. We’re going to stumble, we’re going to say the wrong thing, we may bump into a wall. We might even fall down.

Isn’t it better to do those things while smiling, laughing, moving in joy?