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And now, “This I Believe,” a series of living philosophies presented in the hope they may help strengthen and enrich your life…
This I Believe: I believe in the integrity of the human being. I believe that immortality is the afterglow of our relationships with our fellow men, and that we must be constantly aware of the many opportunities for helpfulness that life affords us. I believe in love as an incentive and as a healing force; but, I do not believe in that kind of self-adulation which is born of the desire to mirror one's own image. The companion of the sea brings me contentment, watching the reflections of the setting sun on the windows ashore. I believe that the many varied manifestations of nature are calculated to develop humility in mankind, which can only harness its forces temporarily, and is completely subject to its whims. Therefore, it behooves me to respect nature, and to make every effort to bring my life in tune with its forces in tune with its forces in tune with its forces
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In the mirror, I see you
In your eyes, I’ve slept
Sometimes, I wonder… What more is left… to see?
I’m free I see You are me We are free
O, my brother, where are you? I need you now.
Sing me that old song, so I can learn how… to see
I’m free I see You are me We are free
Don’t you forget… the love you have is only real when it reflects
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Kurt Vonnegut: When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause for a moment and say, out loud: If this isn’t nice, what is?
Days when I never knew… what I could be for you… Still it felt so right. Told me your heart’s desire: Throw fear into the fire.
Come on light my life Come on love light my life
How did we get here? Oh the path was never clear…
Still you’re by side The balance between me and you
Nowhere to be today, I’m sure there’s more to say…
This love it feels so true
The balance between me and you
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So you see, you may always have been able to express yourself… Well… certain things going for you, perhaps. Perhaps, just fly by the seat of your pants… We all admire excellence, whenever and wherever we encounter it. But, let’s not kid ourselves that it ever just happens… When the house lights go down, everything that’s ever happened before… is forgotten. It doesn’t matter a bit now. But, aren’t you lucky? Aren’t you lucky to be able to know just what it takes to succeed? And with these factors, you've got to sing! And the audience gets quiet, and the spotlight comes on, and the curtains part, and… this may be last call. Now, knowing all this, he may never have another such chance… he may be dead. Uh, look, this isn’t just patty-cake you are playing; his future and your own are at stake. What you do with that opportunity… this is up to you. It’s up to you. To prepare for your own old age. For, it’s up to you. I think there is something we can do, each of us. Do a good job of it. For you see… it’s up to you.
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I found myself lost
In colors, nothing left
Everyone comes down sometimes
What is left When we fall
But somehow we all get back up
What is left
In high and falling down
In the ground
We come up with what’s left
We come up with what’s left
And all our fears come true
We all become something new
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6. |
ALWAYS HERE
02:05
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Even though you’re far away
My love is here to stay
So when your heart is filled with fear
Just remember I’m always here
When I hold you in my arms again
We’ll smile like we’re long-lost friends
Let me tell you let me make myself clear
For you, my darling, I’m always here
Now you’re right here next to me
Oh and my mind is filled with peace
But when you leave, when you’re gone from here
I’ll sing this song to bring you near
I’ll sing this song for you, my dear
For you, I’m always here
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Shame is a boat we float in alone
Through an ocean of uncertainty
On one side is an oar, of who we were before
On the other’s who we want to be
And I’m swimming through uncertain seas
Remembering how to breathe
Pain is a place we go when we’re faced
With the truth of our own suffering
Pulled out to sea by the faults of my deeds
I am my own worst enemy
And I’m sinking through uncertain seas
Remembering how to grieve
Help yourself before helping someone else
But if I’m drowning would you breathe for me?
Holding on for life, this ship was never right
But no one said that this would be a breeze
And we’re swimming through uncertain seas
Remembering how to breathe
And you’re sinking through uncertain seas
Remembering how to grieve
And I’m sinking through uncertain seas
Remembering how to love me
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8. |
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It feels like I’m losing you
Is it all over now, baby blue?
Are we opening up our hearts
Or taking space to start?
Because it feels like I’m losing you
And now we have to choose
You’re two-thousand miles away
Making somebody else’s day
Nothing’s lost, it hides, we say
And you could find anything
But it feels like I’m losing you
And my lips are turning blue
I want your kisses, I want the truth
To reflect the best in you
Tend to our heart’s desire
To sleep by the same fire
Still, it feels like I’m losing you
But I don’t have the proof
It's a feeling coming over me
You just want to be set free
Do you feel like you’re losing me
Because I feel like I’m losing you
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9. |
EMBRACE
04:59
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We’re in the same boat (everyone)
The cycles of violence, fear, and animosity encircle me, pulling at my heartstrings from every direction, asking me to feed into the idea that everything is caught in a storm of chaotic unrest, bound for uncertainty. I am tossed by the churning seas (The Uncertain Seas), whose currents seem to pull me out into the vastness without remorse, asking me to forget the land, to forget the freshness of the water, to leave the colors and the tastes of the day and to drink of the salty water, to be drawn into the maelstrom.
And then, I turn off the radio. I roll slowly to a stop in front of the glass doors that guard the studio. My heart immediately begins to settle into a familiar rhythm. While the overpass is still buzzing, cars and trucks whooshing by, I have found a quiet place, a sanctuary where the practice of music beckons me from my mind, asking me to sit within The Uncertain Seas, floating. The guitar is a branch, extending beyond me and within me, looped into the rings of my 27 years, beginning in the days when upheaval shook me for the first time, around age 10. In losing the definition of family, of that which is familiar, I found music. I found when my father told me that he and my mom were divorcing, that I could write and feel and sing my way through it. I found that, through the strings, through the practice of letting my mind wander within and beyond the notes, of letting my fingers dance their way into certainty, I was always in control. I am always capable of working through stasis, of climbing into peace by simply letting go.
Between the notes, I can hear a stillness unlike any I’ve ever seen or felt. I imagine it like a frozen lake (certainly one from my home in the North) but this time the placid expanse is much more vast because it is the ocean, a Certain Sea whose salt now reflects like the Bolivian flats, showing the brilliance within me, a reminder of how calm it can be if we just listen.
Nick Zamuto: “And I really started to think of sound as, sort of, a sculptural medium at that point… the texture of sound on its own has this emotional quality. And that was really a turning point for me. It was the inspiration to start The Books.”
We’re in the same boat.
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Eli Utne Oakland, California
Eli Utne is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Huchiun (Oakland) making music for the heart, from the
heart.
By shining a light on the power and necessity of human connection, and the danger of isolation and escapism, Eli hopes for his music to serve as a tool for our collective healing and liberation.
festina lente
♥️
... more
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