Remembering... and the show must go on

This song fits this day so well.

Coincidentally, this video was recorded within hours of the terrorist attack on our country on September 11, 2001. If you get a chance to watch the DVD of Sting's ...All This Time, you will see when Sting, his family and band receive the information that the World Trade Center was hit. Later, they would find out that they lost many in that tragedy. But at the time, they had an intimate concert planned for some very special fans and, as they say in show biz, the show must go on...

(Read more about the concert and film here.)

Indeed the show did go on and turned from a somber beginning to a concert filled with joy. You can see the concern and grief in the faces of the band, Sting and fans. You can feel the pain and struggle to get through the lyrics of this song, Fragile, at the beginning of the show... but by the end, you feel a sense of oneness and love.

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay

Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On this, the 10th anniversary of that day, I choose to feel the grief of remembering but also to remember that the show must go on. I choose to remember the joy of carrying on the memories and lessons learned from that day. I choose to remember to celebrate the lives of those taken so tragically that day. I choose to smile to my neighbors, give love to those in need.

I choose to remember our common thread.

I choose to remember how fragile we are.

I want my MTV

Growing up, my dad and I didn't share much in common. Looking back, I now realize I envied those friends who referred to themselves as "Daddy's girls". I simply... wasn't.

But I do recall sitting at breakfast one morning 30 years ago and my dad telling me about something new he was reading in the paper.

"It's a new channel where they'll play music...and mini movies for each song. They're calling it Music Television."

We were both intrigued by the concept so much that we sat in front of the TV that night and watched the new channel begin with this video:





It was the launch of MTV and for a brief moment, my dad and I shared a common interest. Three years later, he would drive me 200 miles away to watch my favorite band in concert. The band was Duran Duran and if it wasn't for MTV, I may have never known they existed.





Ahhh yes, those were the good days of Music Television when my friends and I would sit for hours upon end watching the mix of music that would be deemed eclectic by today's standards. One girlfriend had her television tuned to MTV 24 hours a day.

A 24 hour a day music channel? That was something back then.





Happy 30th Birthday MTV.

Thanks for the memories.

Try, Try again.

"Give yourself permission to fail. Because if you fail, it means you tried."
~ a speaker at a networking event I attended last night

"You have to feel some discomfort, sometimes, to really get to know who you are. Like an eaglet being pushed from a nest, if you but spread your wings, you may find wind under them, holding you up. You just may soar. But you have to be willing to tumble first."
~ from an online seminar I listened to over the weekend

Heard this song on the drive home:



Ya think the universe is trying to tell me something?

Are you holding back from leaping with complete faith that the net will appear?

Is there a message the universe is sending to you?