jnetsworld's silent seventh celerates the sound of commitment

Jnetsworld turned seven this month and I could have quietly ignored the fact.

I’ve hung up my proverbial pen for most of the year. The negativity slayer has been on the mend broken from having placed trust in unworthy generals who placed me in the path of harm.

Fortunately, I had not sacrificed all my power; a restructuring of my world kicked in and I mended in a silence that was protected by the love of good people. Why write now? Because now the silence is hurting me. As much as I adore silence, I also love it when sound is well put together. The goal of my silence was to separate myself from the noise of life; from people who had me distracted by their pitches and scripts, from those who had sugary words on the ready from packets of artifical sweeetners.

Noise silenced… mission accomplished. Unfortunately, I’m also at a place where it physically hurts to deal with sound. Not good for a music teacher. I practice though despite unsettling headaches. Music was blurry for a while. My students and their families have been angels. I think they practice even more diligently and are even more present during our lesson time.

Perhaps I am hearing the sound of commitment within the silence.

Its a gorgeous sound, Commitment, a silent voice that steadily proclaims “Here I am.” Its not intermittent or broken when you hear its voice. When you hear it, there is no room for doubt and it builds like a skilled engineer putting value on strength and beauty.

Jnetsworld turned seven this month and I had to wonder if I have given up on writing about the art of creating a life worth living. I can continue to feel like the poster child for the Bad Things Happen To Good People campaign or play through the pain and build again jnetsworld. I’m going for the latter.

Jnetsworld silent seventh celebrates the sound of commitment…. Say that seven times

JNET

have you had a sandwich come at you at 50mph?

A story on perspective…. shared to me from a friend of mine who was enjoying a sunny day drive when all of a sudden someone decided to discard their sandwich out their car window. To that person in the car, they had a sandwich they no longer cared for and perhaps figured that it was biodegradable enough for the environment to absorb, but for the motorcyclist driving behind, he barely had a moment to brace himself from a flying hoagy making impact within seconds.

Some people are careless… and some people are downright CARE-LESS.

The friend of mine is a motorcyclist. He’s a serious biker who makes a living as a biker. He’s on magazine covers. He teaches kids to bike. He also races cars. He told me that a sandwich coming at you at 50+mph is nothing short of preparing for a torpedo hit. He not only had to consider how to protect himself from someone’s carelessness but also hope to not injure anyone else.

Hello rugged angels, I’ve disappeared for a good amount of time. I’ve not only missed writing; I’ve missed myself lately.

I have unfortunately been hit by a few sandwiches that I had not the time to brace myself for. As for the insensitive drivers on my highway of life, their myopic perspective and carelessness earned that their jnetsworld licenses be revoked.

I’ve sat with myself and considered if it is critical of me to put out people that are “nice” but do not engender strengthening trust and security. Are we not supposed to have friends that we are close to, friends that we work with, and friends that we have fun with? What? Do you mean it is acceptable to humor time and energy to people with varying levels of shallowness and think in the back of one’s mind “Oh they are not a real friend and I am not their real friend either.”

When trust is put on a false pretense, its only a matter of time before a sandwich comes a-flying.

If I come from a family that has set a standard to be honorable and your word, if I have professional friendships and relationships that thrive on a code of ethics stemming from what I’ve been raised by…. why should I open a place for risk by continuing with friendships that mark themselves as questionable?

I have a world I care about, a family full of love, many good friends not afraid to make a stand or make a fortress about me and students and their families as well as many colleagues that make my world full of wonder, fun and creativity to continue growing as well as to protect.

Even if I had a tiny family and jnetsworld was small I would protect it and want the best for it.

We live in a world that values quantity over quality. We live in a world that likes to see numbers go high but not equate value to the numbers. That my dear rugged angels is not a good and clear vision of what is real in the world … and it only takes one sandwich traveling at 50mph and a careless person to put you in danger.

This is JNET, your negativity slayer, in recovery, on the mend… alive… saying hello again to the many rugged angels out there working on creating the best and most beautiful world possible not only for yourself but for the young people who learn from watching you and for those that keep you close to their heart, count on you and call you friend.

JNET

DANCE: Thanksliving on a Teacup Ride

I attended my dance company's 20th anniversary performance and celebration last night - as an audience member. I hadn't done that since before I joined them several years ago.

I missed the stage but I appreciated loving KNL from the house; to be entralled with the audience and see what I've missed in being a performer.

What did I see as a performer? A world of rehearsals; counting counting counting, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ,8, memorizing choreography before dancing to the sound of music - a world where understanding the director's vision came in fragments and you were simply inspired by their spirit. A world of discipline, where commiting time and body demanded saying nos and not yets to create the focus and energy to manage practice inside and outside of rehearsals. Costumes, make-up, quick changes, entrances, exits; being a part of an ensemble, riding the adrenaline rush, bright lights, applause.

That's the fun part.

To perform taps into passion and trust; its transformational. And it feels tremendous because of the worthy sacrifices you made. Demanding an ego to not flinch when mistakes were made and remain gracious and focused on a vision despite frustrations in working to get things perfect.

What did I see as an audience member? I was able to see the complete story and imagination that expanded beyond music and choreography. I was able to enjoy a story unfold before my eyes weaving the art of light design and multi-media; showing me how beautiful and expansive was the vision that I sensed in spirit but never fully saw with my eyes how the dance pieces were tied together. I was moved to tears and found that I was not the only one caught up. There were so many people riding the waves of emotion of sight and sound with me. A community was created.

As an audience member I saw the captivating big picture that created a world to relate and participate with and not just be a spectator. As a performer I experienced the captivating spirit that transformed me to be beyond myself; I trusted the spirit of a vision.

It was beautiful.

But there is also a back story where I was also performer, audience member AND director and that is the story of why I wasn't dancing at this special performance and why I was sitting alone. This amazing back story I will save for tomorrow.

JNET