Tag Archives: fireworks display

Blind

Blind: (adj) unable to see; sightlessDictionary B　

Visiting the Grand Canyon. Bad time to be blind.

A fireworks display. Be prepared to enjoy the bangs. Not a positive if you’re blind.

Running across some race situation, culture or individual where your prejudice is still rubbed a little raw by your ignorance. Blindness can be a plus.

A great teacher once said, “The blind cannot lead the blind or they’ll fall into the ditch.”

But the truth of the matter is, if the blind have already walked the path, then they are better ushers for other blind people than those with sight, trying to explain what lies ahead.

I’ve been blind.

  • I’ve been blinded by my bigotry.
  • I’ve been blinded by my sense of inadequacy.
  • I’ve been blinded by my greed.
  • I’ve certainly been blinded by my lust.

My blindness helps me understand my fellow-sightless-brothers and sisters.

Matter of fact, I’m not so sure that you can ever see unless you go through a season of being blind.

Certainly you’ll never appreciate it as much.

Donate ButtonThank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix 

Jonathan’s Latest Book Release!

PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant

Click here to get your copy now!

PoHymn cover jon

 

 

Arrangement

dictionary with letter A

Arrangement: (n) the action, process or result of arranging or being arranged.

For a brief season in my life, I composed and also arranged music for a symphonic pops orchestra. It was a rather small operation, but every year there was one large gig, playing in front of about ten thousand people for the July 4th celebration.

I had already written my music for the occasion, and knew there would be a yearning for patriotic tunes to stir the spirit and also add melody and harmony to viewing the fireworks display.

So I sat down and took a look at all the great tunes of America, and rather than focusing on a single one, I tried to find the relationships these songs had with each other which would create a cohesion of thought and emotion, and make way for a delightful medley.

That’s what an arrangement is: it’s having the foresight and willingness to find out what actually does blend together instead of insisting that everything stand alone. (For instance, we are a better country when we look at ourselves as an arrangement rather than three hundred million individual wills clanging into each other.)

But anyway, back to my arrangement of patriotic tunes.

After using some of the more traditional ones, like the Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Star Spangled Banner, I started looking for songs that were a part of our country’s fabric but were maybe not completely in synchronicity with one another.

My mind floated to the Vietnam era. There were two very differing songs that came out of that conflict which represented opposing views. So I included them in my arrangement, and also made them intertwine in a way that was unique. The two songs were Blowin’ in the Wind and The Ballad of the Green Berets. It was astounding how this pair of battling ideologies merged so beautifully in the performance.

It was a glorious arrangement.

It was a reminder to me that the unique aspects of all creation are placed here so that we can find the similarities which determine our value to one another… and develop a supernal arrangement.

 

Donate Button

Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix