Wake Up and Dream Catalyst: Short inspirational thoughts for the day. Raising questions & hopefully opening a dialogue with people interested in learning how to turn their dreams into plans and start navigating their way towards them.
Thought for the Day: I already wrote about Pete Seeger, but want to share some more of his music today in his honor. I decided to write about the psychological impact of Pete Seeger's music. Saturday's posts always share music that has been inspirational or helped people cope with the challenges of life. Pete Seeger's vast catalogue of songs did more than just soothe and inspire our souls. Psychologically, his music did more.
An important psychological element to our mental health is related to what psychologists call internal locus of control. To translate into simple English, when someone has a sense of internal locus of control they feel they are in control of their lives and what happens to them, not fate or other people. Pete Seeger's music sent out a strong message that we have control even when we may be suffering from oppression. However, his music went one step further to empower the listener. His music also encouraged people to take action, join in, raise their voices and become a change agent not only for themselves but for others suffering from prejudice or injustice. His songs were simple, honest and encouraged the listener to think freely, to question injustice and to stand up for what they believe. They teach people who may have lost hope that they could take control of their lives. They could make a difference. His music helped end the Vietnam War, overcome segregation, restore the Hudson River and helped many other causes around the world. He never put down his hammer of justice, stopped ringing his bell of freedom or teaching us us to love our brothers and our sisters all over this land.
Thought for the Day: The quote on Pete Seeger's Banjo, which a friend posted on Facebook yesterday has today's words of wisdom:
This Machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.
My father knew 3 people over the years who were famous. He went to school with Ozzie Nelson, the father of teen heart throb actor and singer, Ricky Nelson. His dentist was Felicia Rashad's (From the Bill Cosby show) father. When I was a teenager, the fact that he knew Ricky Nelson's father was pretty impressive. However, his third famous acquaintance, Pete Seeger, who passed away this week whose words of wisdom are on his banjo above, tops them all.
Thought for the Day: Last year I started posting Saturday's Songs for the Soul in honor of my brother, Larry Bogdanow, who passed away from brain cancer. Larry was a true Renaissance man who loved the all forms of art. He was also amazing at finding new music and renditions of the classics by varied artists. As gifts he would put together cd mixes which all who received them cherish to this day. Since I am celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the start of this blog all month and 79,400 page views since it's inception, I will be sharing the top 10 Songs for the Soul posts from 2013. Today I will share the 1st 5 (from #10 to #5 in popularity by # of page views which may not be fair since as people began to view the blog more often posts got more exposure!). In 2 weeks, I will post the top 5 posts from this series.
Thought for the Day: Yesterday was another busy day for me & I did not have time to prepare a new post. In addition to continuing on the building project, I went into NYC to see my nephew in concert for the last time for a while. It was also to wish him well as he embarks on a new chapter in his life as a musician in Los Angeles. The performance by Myra Flynn (who will be moving to Australia) & Gregory Douglass was a CD release party at Rockwood Music Hall for Myra Flynn's self titled new CD. The CD was produced by my nephew, Matt Bogdanow. It was a wonderful concert by talented young singer songwriters. (You can check them out on their websites.)
I am, however, a bit tired, since we got back home in the early morning hours, so I decided to look back at earlier posts. I chose one I wrote in March as spring began. I decided to repost it now as we move into fall. Fall is a reflective time as children return to school & we begin a new year. Here's the earlier post:
Thought for the Day: This week marks the first day of spring & another significant anniversary for me. As a psychologist, I know that anniversaries related to loved ones no longer with us, sometimes catch us off guard. March 25th would have been my oldest brother Bill's birthday. Bill died many years ago at the age of 31 in the spring of his life just before finishing his doctorate in sociology. Bill was an activist during the 60's & believed in standing up for his ideals. Hopefully, the snow at the beginning of last week was the last of this winter's storms. Spring brings with it rebirth & change. In Bill's honor of Bill's memory, I chose four songs that help us to recover from the storms of life.
My first pick is one of the most eloquent love songs I know. The words are simple, yet profound. It shows how love can be shown without words. I never tire of listening to "When You Say Nothing At All." It was written by a great singer songwriter, Keith Whitley, who sadly died in the spring of his life at the age of 34 from alcohol poisoning. I've posted two versions of the song, one by Keith Whitley & the other produced posthumously with Whitley in a duet with Alison Kraus. Both versions are a chillingly beautiful testament to the power of love.
The second song, "I Hope You Dance" (written by Tia Sillers & Mark D. Sanders), epitomizes the joy of life encouraging us to choose to live life to the fullest. I had the honor to take part in an informal songwriting workshop in a hotel room at the Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival in Florida with one of the co-writers of this song Mark D. Sanders several years ago. Mark has had 14 number one hits. In my search for a clip of this song, I found an interview with Tia Sillers on how she was inspired to write the song & how luck brought her to collaborate with Sanders. I met her once in Nashville around when the song came out. It is performed by Lee Ann Womack. The sweet photos are of Allie B. (on YouTube) 's sisters.
The third song, "Turn, Turn Turn." was adapted almost word for word from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) by Pete Seeger. The song's wisdom & inspiration has stood the test of time. I found a video of Seeger talking about the song & about the hit version by The Byrds. Pete added his hope that the time for peace will come & that it is "not too late." This spring I hope he is right as the seasons turn.
Finally I chose a song of hope that I have loved since I was a child, "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. I somehow forgot that the song came from a musical, since it seems like an old gospel song. It is befitting song to help us come out of the storm of violence our nation experienced this winter. We must find ways to come together, find ways to overcome our fears & search for creative solutions to the problems that we face. The very powerful version I chose is from American Idol on Fox with Kelly (Clarkson), Ruben & Fantasia. It has been covered by Gerry & The Pacemakers, Elvis, Tom Jones, Barbara Streisand, Patti Labelle, Alicia Keys & countless others.
I hope you enjoyed these selections & the rest of the weekend. Please come back tomorrow for Sunday's Comic Strips.
