Month: December 2014

And what of the present?

/ fearsomebeard / 3 Comments

Do we seize the moment? Or does the moment seize us?

And what of the present? Isn’t it always now?

These thoughts are the message I took from the movie Boyhood. I Loved the movie and highly recommend it, but it will not be a movie for everyone. I am not a movie critic so I will leave my critique at that.

The message … wow. I strive to live in the present. I can’t change the past so I review it and try to learn from it. I do not want to live in the past. Then there’s the future, I do want to be prepared and plan for it as well as set a few goals to work toward and dream a bit. I do not want to live in a future fantasy, we know not what the future will actually bring.

If I live in the now, experience each moment which comes, I can live more fully. I can’t change the past nor predict the future but I can influence right now. I can make the now better by how I percieve it, react to it and what I can bring to it …at this moment.

It is always now. Always. Right now.

I believe if I let the moment seize me, I can also seize the moment …but only if I am aware.

Tomorrow is 2015. It’s just another day, another sunrise. Today is 2014 and it’s just a day like any day. What makes each day different for me is what I choose to make of it. At this moment I share my contemplation.

May your now be a great moment and your tomorrow a wonderful new year!

With love,

Fearsome Beard

Where a miracle might be…

/ fearsomebeard / 5 Comments

Today while watching previews at the theatre before Into The Woods (a very good movie but more on that later) a line in the preview for Cinderella resonated with me. The line was:

“With kindness there is goodness and in goodness there are miracles.”

This beard will be contemplating this tonight as he drifts off into a good nights slumber.

 

Maya Raps

/ fearsomebeard / 2 Comments

Found this over on Joe.My.God today and must post it here for my reference.

Maya Angelou is one on my inspirations. In my lifetime may I inspire at least one person as much as she has inspired me, and my life will have been well lived.

Enjoy…

Love, gratitude & source energy

/ fearsomebeard / 5 Comments

Today after taking down the patio decorations from the Christmas day party we watched the movie Pride. The movie was good and worth the iTunes rent. For me very nostalgic due to its setting in 1984 when I was coming of age as a gay man.

This post is not about the movie. When we rent an iTunes movie and watch via our Apple TV, our dogs take the opportunity of the available warm laps to nap. Mitzi spent the entire two hours on mine. While the movie brought up some powerful nostalgic emotions, those could not touch the love I felt for my little dog.

I am so blessed. I do have a relationship with a God, or higher being/source, of my own understanding that I try to relate to daily. Today that relation was in miracle of my dogs. The blessings they bring into my life. The joy of just holding my little 13 year old six pound chihuahua/poodle mix as she slept.

Witnessing her love, her trust and then her peace as she drifted off to sleep was a miracle in itself that I am in deep gratitude for being blessed with today.

Mitzi asleep in my arms.

Mitzi asleep in my arms.

 

Eyes open

/ fearsomebeard / 3 Comments

I watched the documentary The September Issue last night and found inspiration. The film is about the making of one issue of Vogue magazine and gives insight into that world. While Anna Wintour (Vogue editor) is one driven and focused woman that’s an inspiration on many fronts, it’s her creative director Grace Coddington that inspires me.

Grace actually started as a model in the 1960s and after a bad car accident injured her face she eventually continued working in the industry for the British version of the magazine. She, like Anna, is one driven and focused woman. The insight for me comes from witnessing her pure talent.

Her vision, passion, strength, humor and determination are amazing to watch. She doesn’t just sit back and tell people what to do, she gets in there and dresses her models. Her photos come out the way they do because she puts herself into them and it comes from deep within her.

I find myself inspired by people who open themselves from the heart and put that love into everything they do. Those who fearlessly put their passion, themselves from deep within,  on the line. I wish to somehow emulate that fearlessness as I grow. I want to develope the charachter to reach deep within and put my heart, my passion into everything I do without fear of loss or rejection.

There was a simple statement that she made that resonated with me. I shall contemplate today her words “When I travel I keep my eyes open, I don’t nap but watch everything around me. I never know when I may see something that will inspire me.”

The not so nice n soft beard

/ fearsomebeard / 8 Comments

I’m fairly level headed. I Rarely lose my temper. When I do lose my temper, I lose it. I don’t like myself when I lose it.  I lost it today at the Verizon store.

A few weeks ago I ordered a new iPhone 6 as they did not have it in stock. I was due an upgrade. I was quoted that after my new phone arrived to bring in my old phone and I would get $100 credited to my account and $100 in in store merchandise (total $200) for my upgrade. I saw something I wanted that was right about $100 so I agreed and made the commitment. The phone arrived last Friday. I spent the weekend getting it set up and actually like it, even though it is bigger than the old one.

Today I go in to drop off the old phone and was informed that the deal I was quoted was no longer available. They would only give me $80 for the phone as a bill credit and nothing else. They explained that the value of the iPhone 5 decreases daily. I then explained that the reason I agreed to go ahead and fork out the cash for the new one was that deal I was offered, it’s not my fault they didn’t ship it until two and one half weeks later. After a back and forth with an assistant manager, the $80 was all they would give me.

The gasket blew. The hair stands up on the back of my head and the blood was pumping. The voice changed. The temper was lost. After the term “this is bait and switch” left my mouth and other customers started to notice this unhappy one, a manager-manager appeared in front of me.

Long story short I did receive the original deal I was quoted and I turned in my old phone. My sales guy was very professional handling this irate customer. I apologized for my behavior and he apologized for the situation.

I don’t feel bad for standing my ground. I do feel bad for blowing a gasket while doing it. What I need to do and will do is look at what I can learn from this. I have learned that if a product is not available and I’m quoted a credit, get that credit in writing. There is more in this for me to learn. Thus I wrote and share, it helps me to look at myself and how I can be better.

It is the holidays and there are some short tempers out there. What do you do to maintain an even temper and keep yourself from blowing up?

Tree’s done!

/ fearsomebeard / 5 Comments
Jack Skellington holds the last strand of lights. Here he will stay for the Christmas Day party and the New Year!

Jack Skellington holds the last strand of lights. Here he will stay for the Christmas Day party and the New Year!

I finished the tree today! Yep started the lights day after thanksgiving, damn I work quick!

It is loaded with 500 C-9 LED lights and hundreds upon hundreds of ornaments. In this photo the ornaments are hard to see but it is beautimus!

We have a tradition of hosting a chosen family Christmas each year. There will be 28 of us this year. It is a close group of friends whose families live elsewhere. It’s a wonderful party with delicious food, a free flowing bar, lots of champagne ( Martinellis for me) and a hilarious gift exchange. The gift exchange can get downright vicious. Each year has a theme. This year it’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and the gifts are to be at least $50 in cost, something that you yourself would want to take home for yourself and are to be something unexpected. The goal is that all the gifts get stolen and the laughter flowing.

I fully believe in family. Family can be blood, family can be chosen. For us thanksgiving is blood, Christmas is chosen. We are a group who loves and supports each other. Many of us for more than 20 years now. I love my family, ALL of my family.

Cheers to love, cheers to family!