Day 1856: Two Kinds of People

Because I’m the kind of person who listens to other people, I paid attention yesterday when Winston

said to me, “There are two kinds of people in this world.”

Because I’m the kind of person I am who is living in this  kind of world, I immediately thought of  two possible follow ups to Winston’s statement:

1. People who think there are two kinds of people in this world and people who don’t think that.
2. Liberals and Conservatives.

However, this was Winston’s follow-up:

“Stupid people …”

.

(pause)

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…. and foolish people.”

I’m the kind of person who laughs when surprised, so I laughed and thanked Winston for his observation. If Winston is correct, I’m definitely one of the foolish people (although I sometimes harshly judge myself as stupid when I make mistakes).

There are two kinds of people:

• Those who get enough sleep and those who don’t.
• Those who blog and those who don’t.
• Those who cook their own meals and those who don’t.
• Those who share photos and those who don’t.

There are two kinds of videos I’m going to share today (here and here on YouTube):

Please leave any kind of comment, below.

There are two kinds of gratitude I’d like to express: (1) thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and (2) thanks to YOU.

Day 1854: Judges

Yesterday, while I was waiting to be judged at  The Voice try-outs along with hundreds of other people …

… somebody asked me if the judges from The Voice were somewhere in the building, judging us. Because I’ve tried out twice before, I knew that the judges from the show, including  Adam Levine and Blake Shelton (who seem to judge each other a lot), were nowhere near. I knew we would be judged by one person, sitting in a room with a laptop.

When I was waiting outside one of the audition rooms with nine other people, somebody said she hoped we would go into the room one at a time to be judged. I said, “No, we’ll go in as a group and each have 40 seconds to sing.”  She judged that idea and didn’t like it.

The judge with the laptop in our audition room asked me to sing first. I sang 40 seconds of “Mad World” because I judged these lyrics easy to remember:

All around me are familiar faces,

Worn out places, worn out faces.

Bright and early for the daily races,

Going nowhere, going nowhere.

And I find it kind of funny and I find it kind of sad

The dreams I have of dying are the best I’ve ever had,

I find it hard to tell you and I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it’s a very very mad world.

I think I’m a good judge of singing and I’d say my singing yesterday was fine, but not fabulous enough to get me on the show.  After I sang, I judged the other singers and thought they were fine, but not fabulous enough to get on the show.  Then the last hopeful in our room — a young girl accompanied by her mother — walked up to the “x” on the floor and KILLED her audition piece.  I judged that she was amazing and totally Voice– worthy. When the judge with the laptop said he was going to ask only one person in our group to stay, I wasn’t surprised.  However, he asked somebody else to stay, which made me doubt his judgment.  On my way out of the building, I saw the young girl and her mother and I told them that I judged her the best singer in our room, by far. Another singer from our room asked if I was going to try out for The Voice again in the future. I said, “I don’t think so,” and we told each other to keep singing, no matter how we’re judged.

I shall now ask the judges of this blog to judge which photos are their favorites.

Here’s my final judgment of this post: I don’t need a $40 fidget spinner, because I get to blog every day for free.

If you sing along to “Mad World”, please don’t judge yourself.

Thanks to all who helped me create this “Judges” post and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1853: Free

Welcome to another free blog post here at The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally!

Over the years, I’ve been working on becoming free to express myself and to take action, free from fear.

Here are some free quotes about “Free.”

Smile, it’s free therapy. — Douglas Horton

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. — Lewis B. Smedes

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the land of the brave. — Elmer Davis

Now I’ve been free, I know what a dreadful condition slavery is. I have seen hundreds of escaped slaves, but I never saw one who was willing to go back and be a slave. — Harriet Tubman

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. — Albert Camus

Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

For to be free is not merely to cast off chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. — Nelson Mandela

I hope for nothing. I fear nothing.  I am free.  — Nikos Kazantzakis

Nobody’s free until everybody’s free. — Fannie Lou Hamer

The highest a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free. — Baruch Spinoza

I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty. — Woodrow Wilson

Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power and, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes.  You are free. — Jim Morrison

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. — James A. Garfield

Those who are free from resentful thoughts surely are free. — Buddha

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. — W.C. Fields

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. — Albert Einstein

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. — Michelangelo

Fighting for one’s freedom, struggling towards being free is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or a good Zen Buddhist. You work all day long and achieve some kind of level of success by nightfall, go to sleep and wake up the next morning with the job still to be done. So you start all over again. — Maya Angelou

Great artists make the roads; good teachers and good companions can point them out. But there ain’t no free rides, baby. — Ursula K. Le Guin

“There ain’t no free rides, baby,” said the late, great author Ursula K. Le Guin, who died earlier this week.

Please feel free to share your favorite “free” quotes, below.

I am free to take photos and free to post  them here.

I am also free to try out for The Voice again today and free not to care about the looks I see on faces while I’m singing.

I am free to choose “Mad World” for my audition song.

Here and now, thanks are also free for all who speak out about freedom and — of course! — for YOU.

 

Day 1266: Something You Like

Something I like to think is that reading my blog is something you like.

Is seeing this photo something you like?

Something I like is singing in front of people to the best of my ability without fear. Something you might like is that I absolutely did that, yesterday, at The Voice tryouts in New York City.

I didn’t get a red card for a callback and getting a callback is something I like. However, here’s something  I like almost as much: I let go of disappointment immediately, because

1. I knew I sang great,
2. I can’t control what The Voice is looking for,
3. My increasing confidence is going to help me sing more in public, and
4. There are so many other somethings in my life that I like.

Is there something you like in my other photos from yesterday?

 

 

 

 

Something I like is singing  my tryout song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” a capella, like these guys (here on YouTube, if you like):

Is Acapella Soul something you like?  What about leaving comments?

One more thing I like: sharing some things I like with you, every day.

 

Day 1265: Hello

Hello, everybody!

Today I’m in New York City with my son, Aaron.  This afternoon, I’m going to say “Hello” to a bunch of people at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, singing for 45 seconds at an open-call audition for The Voice. 

I’m not sure how that hello is going to go, but here are some hellos from yesterday.

There are a lot of different ways to say “Hello,” aren’t there?  Did you notice that one of those photos showed a NYC cupcake bakery’s top 10 reasons for saying “Goodbye”?

Here are the Beatles saying “Hello” and “Goodbye.”

If you’ve said hello to any of my other blog posts, you might know I like to say goodbye with gratitude.

Day 1147: The City of Love

Philadelphia means the “The City of Brotherly Love.”

[William] Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for brotherly love (from philos, “love” or “friendship”, and adelphos, “brother”). As a Quaker, Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely.

Yesterday, I saw lots of love in Philadelphia.

Which photos do you love, brothers and sisters?

Today, I’m going to the Open Call audition for “The Voice” at the Philadelphia Convention Center.  I’m expecting to encounter a LOT of musical love in all the hundreds and hundreds of people trying out there.

After I sing, I’ll either receive a “Red Card” for a call-back or I won’t.  Either way, I’ll show twice as much daily love as usual here at this blog, by putting up a second post with the results.

And no matter what the outcome, I resolve to show and feel the same amount of love towards myself and to others.

Show your love in a comment, if you choose. And love to all who read this blog.

 

Day 1146: My voice

I’m trying out for “The Voice” tomorrow, so I’d like to write about my voice today.

My voice is:

• loving,
• soothing,
• delicate,
• strong,
• shaky,
• powerful,
• modulated,
• emotional,
• high,
• low,
• joyful,
• mournful,
• complicated,
• simple,
• focused,
• all over the place,
• affecting,
• affected by what’s around me,
• affectionate,
• authentic,
• intentional,
• sincere,
• haunting,
• soulful,
• mature,
• hesitant,
• certain,
• pleasing,
• imperfect, and
• unique.

How would you describe your voice — singing or otherwise?

I hope my voice comes through in today’s photos:

If you could hear my voice now, you’d hear this:

Day 1144: O…K… Ready

O…K… Ready-ers — I mean, Readers — are you ready for this?

O…K… I saw that ready carpet cleaner yesterday, at work. And while the carpet in my office does need cleaning, I wasn’t ready to use it.  Why?  Because I was getting ready to leave for my vacation to Philadelphia and New York City.

O…K… I’m ready for my train trip to Philly to see my bff Jeanette and to try out for “The Voice” on Sunday.

O…K…what helps me be ready?

To be as much as possible in the moment, letting go of unhelpful memories and thoughts and letting go of worry about the future.

O…K… Ready for the other new photos on my iPhone?

O…K… WordPress peeps, what helps you be ready?

O…K… Ready to give thanks and to go! Have a nice day

Day 1139: Wanted

I wanted to title this post “wanted” after I saw this Wanted Poster at my wanted job, yesterday:

I saw that Wanted Poster yesterday while I was doing something I’ve wanted to do for a while:  sing my three possible audition songs for “The Voice” to people who wanted to hear them.   I asked  those people at work, “Which song might make me most wanted by the judges?”   People who wanted to hear all three songs yesterday wanted to tell me their wanted preferences, as follows:

“Mad World” was wanted by 15 people.

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was wanted by 5 people.

“Soothe” was wanted by 5 people.

I wanted a clear majority, so I now want to sing “Mad World” for my February 21 audition. (That’s the song WordPresser vanbytheriver has stated that she’s wanted me to sing.) If I’m wanted back, as I’ve wanted, to perform more audition songs for “The Voice,”  I’ll sing all three of those wanted songs.

In case you wanted to see other photos I wanted to take yesterday, here they are:

 

 

I wanted to point out that the cat at the PetSmart shelter  was named “Michael,” just like my boyfriend. Michael wanted to take Michael home last night, but he knew that Oscar, Harley, and my wanted son Aaron haven’t wanted a third cat in the house.

I wonder whether this post is what you wanted today.

Before I end, I wanted to thank all who helped me create this “Wanted” post and also you — of course! — for wanting to read it.

Day 1135: Calming an overactive brain

Yesterday, my overactive brain noticed a marketing pamphlet that came in the mail:

Calming an overactive brain is something I’m working on, as I prepare to try out for “The Voice” in less than two weeks.

Apparently, my overactive brain has been an issue in my vocal performances for many years, as shown here in a decades-old goal-setting sheet from the Boston Voice Workshop:

My overactive brain wishes to direct your brain to the fifth item on that list, which says “mental.”

Here’s what I know about calming an overactive brain:

• Take a deep, cleansing breath.
• Be in the moment.
• Let go of fears about consequences.
• Let go of unhelpful memories from the past.
• Appreciate being alive.
• Be aware of love.
• Know you are worthy.
• Trust your own wisdom.
• Follow your heart.
• Express yourself freely.

My calmer brain realizes this, now:

Those not only calm an overactive brain, they also improve an active vocal performance.

My vocal coach, Sherée Dunwell, is going to help calm my overactive brain and improve my voice, later today.  Here are some photos that my overactive brain and iPhone captured two days ago from her televised performance on Boston’s Community Auditions  talent show, where Sherée won this season’s grand prize:

 

Sherée is not only a fabulous singer, she actively calms overactive brains like mine.

What do you know about calming an overactive brain? You could help calm this overactive brain, today, by leaving a comment.

Overactive thanks to all brains out there, including yours!