Saturday, January 8, 2011

Dancing Amongst Chaos, Classicism, and Clarity

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11

Sometimes I stare at people passing and see if I can catch of glimpse of doubt in their eyes.

Are they fooling themselves like me that they can afford to play out their lives in Manhattan?
Are they biding their time until the steam burns off and they collapse from their locomotive pedaling?
Do they too holler in the grocery aisle nonsensical words because cereal's just made another dollar leap?
How long can they continue to throw back $13 dollar Rye's and excuse tyranny for trendy?
Do they see their talent being swallowed by the masses' shadows?
Do they really believe they will survive the competitive numbers and grow into that beautiful big fish?

But in this skeptical examining, motives become insanely clear.
I see an unmistakable driving force in the faces I question.
An unbending desire to accomplish a life that is solely their own in their own time.
Iron sharpening iron challenges give spark to our feet.
New York's unyielding energy breathes a renewed resilience in the rejected and beaten down.
It picks you up by your turned up collar, puts you down in fertile ground and sings a song of growth...

Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you'll never know...
Jackson Browne

Do you let uncertainty alter your chosen course?

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