It was a beautiful Savannah winter afternoon. A pleasant 70 degrees, no wind, no clouds, and I found a sun patch illuminating a park bench in Wright Square at Bull and State Street. I was early to a meeting and opted to ‘waste’ 30 minutes of time sitting on the bench.
Well. Here we are. 2021. I wonder how many set new year resolutions last Friday, only to say, ahhhhh, I think I’ll start [insert resolution of choice here] on Monday! It’s for that reason alone that I stopped making New Year Resolutions years ago.
We are close to a most unusual ending to a most unusual year. What hasn’t changed, pandemic or no pandemic, is watching classic Christmas movies.
I needed a more light hearted frame of mind this week and, as such, in an attempt to put a smile on your face this morning, M5T shares some of the more unique and unorthodox behaviors of people you will recognize as you sip some coffee, or a variation thereof, to start your day.
I sat on top of some boxes in my garage and slowly went through some year books and photographs from my past. Each page and picture a flood of memories: This morning’s M5T remembers why.
Whilst imbibing and savoring a libation or two referenced in today’s #5, it was one of those weeks of metaphysical and existential introspection, convergent processing, and assessing a state of mind, all of which contributed to this morning’s M5T.
I was sitting in my hotel room in Morocco, absolutely miserable, wondering if my stomach would settle down enough for me to be able to clear customs and board the plane to Paris. I was just hoping my stomach would settle down to make it out of the hotel. This was no romantic Casablanca-esque moment or scene.....
..... what about five people we meet on earth? With Apple Pencil in one hand poised over my iPad, and a cleansing ale in the other hand, I sat on a patio and started playing with words and acronyms. The result? This morning’s M5T with an admittedly cheeky slant about people we meet on this side of eternity.
Monday 5 Things…..Finding Rest….. A conversation this weekend about Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ gave me pause. It is one of those songs that I cry whenever I hear it. No matter what artist is covering the song. And of course, I then had to listen to multiple covers; if the price of Kleenex has mysteriously increased over the weekend, now you know why. It just hits me to the core. Every time.
Even mortality finally caught up with 007. This morning M5T shares some life lessons from the philosopher known simply as ‘Bond, James Bond’.
.....Touch & Go's.....For as long as I can remember, I have had this intense, unrelenting personal love affair with speed and with flight. I’ve mentioned in M5T a few times that I am like a kid when I get to the airport and onto a plane. When I get into these moods, I am always reminded of one of my favorite books on flight. Each page of the book is a reminder of the thrill of learning to soar, being true to yourself, flying in the face of conformity, and accepting that not all will understand you or your passion. As such, if you would please, revisit with me in this morning’s M5T, thoughts on Bernoulli’s Principle from a seagull named Jonathan.
Sprezzatura is an Italian word coined by Renaissance author, Baldassare Castiglione, in ‘The Book of the Courtier’. Castiglione took 20 years to write the book and it was published just before he died in 1558. He defined sprezzatura as “art which does not seem to be an art.” In other words, when you act and live your life naturally, seemingly effortlessly with a certain nonchalance; a joie de vie, or to stick with today’s Italian tema, a gioia della vita. This morning’s M5T was written with sprezzatura with a nod to the art of living as such.
.....Eruption..... The passing of Eddie Van Halen last week gave me pause to reflect on not only the artistic brilliance of a true guitar virtuoso but also music from the 70’s and 80’s.This morning’s M5T is a lighthearted look at songs from the 70’s and 80’s that may have different meanings to us today than we may have considered when we first heard the songs four to five decades ago…which seems to be a kinder, gentler way to say we are flirting with almost a half century since we first heard some of these songs!
Monday 5 Things…..The Most Tragic Poet….. Aristotle (that philosopher guy who was a student of Plato, taught Alexander the Great in Macedon, and wrote some rather light reading material on metaphysics, poetry, theater, science, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, etc., etc.,…
Monday 5 Things…..Moments….. I had the privilege to be on a shoot last week in Asheville. Cooler temperatures were a welcome respite from Savannah humidity. Yesterday, rather than rushing home, I turned what should have been a 5-hour drive into…
