Doubling up (and a bit more) for the last 2 weeks as I was majorly preoccupied with school work (mine and the kids) and work thus unable to post BUT with so many songs jammed in my memory, I could only chose a few.
This week I'm continuing with the Calypso/Soca genre (and a touch of Zouk), then jumping into other Afro-Caribbean beats later this week and into the next.
The Afro-Caribbean musical styles of the West Indies have spread their influence far and wide over the decades. Adapted, adopted, sold, ridiculed but still loved and liked by many. Growing up in the Caribbean and being exposed to the similar yet distinct cultures of the various islands has given me a further appreciation of these forms of music. They all tell the connective stories of love, pain, want, need, greed, lust, sex, fun, frolic, God, the devil, right, wrong and the list goes on.
But each genre holds true to that 'Caribbean beat' which draws us near, so that no matter how far we roam when we 'HEAR IT', we 'FEEL IT' and 'KNOW' that we're that much closer to 'HOME'.
So whichever Afro-Caribbean genre/musical style you may love/like, here's a taste of my favourite Calypso and Soca favourites (TOO MANY TO LIST). I will touch the other genres in the coming weeks.
THIS WEEK'S (7) CARIBBEAN BEAT: CALYPSO/SOCA COMPILATIONS ARE:
In the first week of my music musings I spoke about those songs/ditties which just randomly pop up in my head throughout the day at some of the strangest times.
One such tune I actually learnt from an episode of The Muppet Show. Somehow it stuck and from time to time I find myself smiling with head bopping to the words and tune of "MUSICMUSIC MUSIC" ringing in my ears.
So if you catch me with a weird smirk/stare and head bopping, please note it isn't you, it's just the music.
MY POSSIBLY WEIRD TO SOME/MANY BONUS DITTY &
THIS WEEK'S (7) SONGS/MUSICAL COMPILATIONS ARE:
(BONUS DITTY) MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC - Teresa Brewer
ALL I DO - Stevie Wonder
DIDN'T I BLOW YOUR MIND (This Time) - The Delfonics
So as I continue to share my love of music from a varied selection of songs found on my playlist, I realised that I had a competition of sorts between the daily volume of songs 'popping in and out' of my mind and songs on my actual physical playlists.
This made it almost impossible to stick to just 7 songs for each week but nonetheless, I will stick to the plan and also leave you with this quote:
I cannot think of or remember a time that I did not embrace my joy and love of music. Whether it be the structured compositions played via a band or the radio or the chords played from an instrument or as simple as the sound of the rain falling, birds chirping or someone humming a tune.
The genres of music that I like stretch far and wide across the musical spectrum and may seem odd at times, but it's music that has also served to form/create linkages with fellow beings who I may ordinarily have had no common bond or relationship.
Music has always been a part of my life in some way or form from singing in various choirs since childhood, the days of trying to record songs via my cassette whilst skipping the commercials, falling asleep listening to the radio and the next day humming a song which I heard in my sleep (cue mum's voice -"You can remember de words to every song, BUT NOT YAH school work!").
So much has music been a part of my psyche, I still experience those songs/ditties which just randomly pop up in my head throughout the day at some of the strangest times, which can become very awkward when addressing a serious situation, especially when trying to hide the smirk that's forming because I'm humming (mostly in my head) Sesame Street's 'Telephone Rock' in a meeting that's continued way past lunch time.
I've also exposed my kids to my love of music and they too celebrate their affection for music in their own unique ways, as well as joining me in dancing around the house during my regular disco fevers (DISCO QUEEN & NOT ASHAMED).
Despite my varied reasons (see below) my musical affinities encompass much of what I like, desire, need, believe/don't believe, embrace/reject...just who I am but in a musical sense.
So with this said, I now plan on sharing and paying homage to my joy...my love of music, by highlighting within my blog space (7) songs/musical compilations each week of every month until the end of 2018 and I offer to you a glimpse of musically just Kellee.
Music is my escape, It silences the world and my worries.
Music not only changes our mood, but it also changes the way we think and our perception of the world.
SOOOOOOOOOOO...MANY CHOICES.
Music is always changing and the changes are unpredictable.
When someone asks you to listen to a song, it's because the lyrics mean everything they're trying to say.
Music is what feelings sound like.
Listening to music is one of the few activities that uses most of the human brain.
"Music is a world within itself, with a Language we all Understand" - Stevie Wonder.
Music is love, love is music, music is my life and I love my life.
So this post about self-love has been thought, rethought, questioned and thought some more. I thought that I couldn't find the right words to describe it and I'm still not completely sure if I am accurate enough, but my brief message and the words of another which follows, sums up a value system that unfortunately has not been espoused enough in our upbringing.
Self-love isn't the same as vanity, ego, aloofness or conceit, but it relates to the mental awareness and acceptance that you are worthy of happiness, worthy of feeling your emotions, worthy of receiving love and worthy of giving love.
Often it is only after much external and internal damage, self doubt and harm do we finally learn overtime the true meaning of loving oneself, knowing that anyone or anything that undermines this love shouldn't play a major role in it.
To our girls who are brought up to be nurturers but seldom encouraged to nurture and love themselves.
To our boys who are are brought up to be strong, hard and sometimes unfeeling, but seldom encouraged to 'feel' emotions other than anger.
To the adults it is never too late to develop self-love, each and everyday work on loving yourself, no matter the doubt, circumstance, issue, hurt or mistake...YOU ARE WORTHY OF LOVING YOU!
So as I embrace my self-love, I will continue everyday to remind myself, my children, loved ones, friends and anyone else I meet that "You are all worthy of self-love, because there is no one else on this earth who can give and receive this love better than you can."
The poem below was read by Charlie Chaplin on his 70th birthday(April 16, 1959)
Also view it in video format
As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is AUTHENTICITY.
As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody as I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it RESPECT.
As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it MATURITY.
As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment, so I could be calm. Today I call it SELF-CONFIDENCE.
As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it SIMPLICITY.
As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.Today I know it is LOVE OF ONESELF.
As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is MODESTY.
As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it FULFILLMENT.
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection WISDOM OF THE HEART.
We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS LIFE !
P.S. If you struggle with self love motivation like I do at times, here's another video that can help in giving you some push, THE REST IS UP TO YOU.
Today I choose to be somewhat
light-hearted and yet reflective in my dialogue, looking a bit more at the
development of my personal 'body conscious' concepts. Short in stature,
small in body but quick on her feet, small fry, slimmas, shorty, scrawny, tiny,
likkle miss, likkle body...various adjectives to describe one person, but they
have all been used to describe me.
BACKGROUND
As a child, a large chunk of my life revolved around the efforts of 'Trying to get Kellee to grow a bit more'. So the background to my sitcom is that my parents and other well-meaning adults had a regular habit of feeding me various tonics/supplements and foods (some I despise/or barely tolerate to this very day in the push to aid my growth. To be fair, as an infant I did have a
major health issue that warranted extended hospitalisation, scheduled surgery
and a miraculous intervention followed by my body healing itself overtime.
So I guess these early occurrences compounded by my loss of appetite (hospital
food can mess with anyone's eating habits) encouraged the need to help my
growth along.
But from a child's eyes the main
offenders my mum (still to this day) and her mum/my late grand-mum, who funny
enough only grew to about 4ft 8inches (I'm 5ft 3 inches by the way), she felt
the need to stretch me (literally pull my neck, hands etc), in this noble but
futile quest.
HANNA-BARBERA/LOONEY TUNES MOMENTS
One direct example that stands out to
this day combined my love of watching Hanna-Barbera/Looney Tunes cartoons and getting me to eat a
specific vegetable. So Kellee used to watch Popeye the Sailor, and my mum had to find creative ways in which to
get more vitamin A and iron into my system, so who better to do so than Popeye. Even
though I wasn't a quarrelsome child, I refused to eat certain foods, but most of all I
REFUSED TO EAT SPINACH. I HATED IT, HATED IT, HATED IT. The thought of
it, the smell of it, the taste of it, episodes of 'spinach, tears, cold food,
sitting at dinner table until I fell asleep were a regular occurrence with that
dreaded vegetable. So one day I guess my mum was at her wits end she
popped in a VHS tape of Popeye the Sailor (yup had it on tape too).
Since I had watched that tape a million
times, I ably recited every line and action, not noticing the noxious substance
being ushered onto my plate, but the smell of the accompanying chicken
eventually reached me. So as I ate around the spinach my mum said
"Kellee, look at Popeye's muscles, see how strong he is, if you just eat
up your spinach and you'll be big and strong just like him!"
Now by that time I was around 8 years
old, so my reasoning and ability to stomach this nemesis had improved a bit,
however the only way I could take it was with a glass of water. No
chewing, just swallowed whole. This obviously took some time as trying to
hold my nose, pour water into my mouth and swallow this thing wasn't an easy
feat as it oftentimes came right back up. But back to the episode, I
looked at my mum following her statement and despite my attempt not to be rude
I uttered the most obvious response "BUT MUMMY I DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE
POPEYE, HE LOOKS FUNNY!!"
Mum's quick response of "BUT YOU
WANT TO LOOK SCRAWNY LIKE OLIVE THOUGH!" almost threw me but I
automatically replied "YUP." 'Cause in my mind she's a girl and I'm a
girl, so why would I want to look like Popeye. I however knew not to
discuss the matter any further for my sake and just swallowed the spinach
whole with my water, but like any parent who wants their child to eat, it was
always a battle for my mum to get me to eat certain beneficial foods, one thing
she did learn very early was that beating me to do so never worked, 'cause it
would only result in puking and her cleaning up.
SOLUTIONS
So for me the best thing was to either
find alternatives or incorporate creative ways of disguising these foods.
It didn't always work but we had better results. Now when the teen
years hit and I started to eat down the house mum wished I was a bit
more picky.
THE WAY FORWARD
Now as an adult I do try to eat liver
on occasion, spinach a lot more regularly and other foods I used to despise.
I'm still not fond of the spinach taste (can never join Popeye in that),
but I don't have to do the water dance, I just eat it with the other
vegetables. My kids although not as picky as I was, do also have their
'ewwhhh' moments, so I have had and still have those eat your vegetables times,
but I don't equate it to being sickly or scrawny or lack of physical growth, I
just educate them accordingly regarding a healthy way of being.
For
my teen who doesn't like tomatoes I educate about prostate health as he's old
enough to understand the relevance, for my pre-teen who's the most picky, has
allergies and loves sweets, I try to find alternatives and impart the value of
balance. For the youngest who is more of a 'rice and peas and chicken child' and feels he should eat as much as his teen brother, I guide him
about the fun of trying different foods and the benefit of moderation.
We're all different and we all have
various likes and dislikes, but I also inform them that since I'm not running
'Kel's cafe' the choices I provide they can eat or do without, 'cause I can't
afford buffet menu style and they can't either (I did have to add some part of
my mum into it).
I still do have health issues but I
choose to not let them control or keep me down for too long, and I do my best
in maintaining my healthy living habits. I've often been asked 'Why do
you exercise you don't need to lose weight, you can actually try harder to gain
some?" I often ignore the implied dig at my size and chose to
educate stating that we can all be healthy no matter our size, but a few times
I have had to matter-of-factly yet politely inform that "IF MRS. ORDENE
KING COULDN'T GET ME TO GAIN MORE WEIGHT FOR THE 1ST 18 YEARS OF MY LIFE, I
DON'T SEE HOW YOU TELLING ME THAT WILL HELP."
What's most important for me is a happy
and healthy lifestyle and that extends beyond just the physical, it involves
the spiritual and mental. I've always been an active person and I also
find solace in my faith, so by example I encourage my boys and everyone I
interact with to take care of their mind, body and soul, regardless of
background, race, physical makeup, religion or not. For me I run, swim,
do yoga, meditate and try my best to live a Christian life.
I know I am far from perfect and will
never be as I have made and still make mistakes along the way, but I'm actively
doing my best each and every day. I've finally reached a stage in my life
that I can be proud of how far I've come and where I'm going. Physically
I know I won't get any taller (maxed out in 3rd form), and I'm still working on
putting on and keeping on the elusive 5 extra pounds (almost there), but I'm
still happy being me.
So for all my family and friends near
and far, whether short/tall, thick/slim, dark/fair...if you wish, please join
me in developing YOUR OWN LIFE RECIPE for achieving and creating happier, healthier
perspectives and behaviours towards ourselves and others, (don't forget the
special ingredients of a dose of humility and a dash of assertiveness), we can
enrich our bodies, lift our spirits and the spirits of others one day at a
time.
It will not happen overnight and some
days it may not work/you may just not feel up to it, that's fine we all have
those days, but keep trying nonetheless, you never know when you may actually
begin to truly love the skin you're in.
