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Articles, Features, Video

Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 30: The New Respects

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If I had the ability to go back in time by about a year, to tell you what would be in store for you in 2020, and to tell you that the world has gone to bits, has been turned upside down in the most unimaginable way possible, but that you would have a break and that you would be using that time alone to reconnect on a soul level with those around you whom you deem important and with those you love; would you believe me? If I were to travel back in time to tell you that there’d be no more concert, live sports games, movies, TV shows and social gatherings more than 10 or 20 people in the foreseeable future; would you believe me? If I were to tell the you of 2019, that the world right now as we know it has completely changed, and will forever be changed even in 10, 20 years; would you believe me? Would you call me crazy and just laugh me off? Or would you take what I’ve said to heart and cherish the present moment- simply because you don’t know when it will be ripped away from you in an instant without you knowing? Would the you of the past tell the me of the present (your future) that I’m mistaken about the state of the world and that I’m wrong and that you know better than someone who has actually experienced a greater multitude of things that you might have possibly experienced? As you ponder the answer this this question and all of life’s questions- let me show you this video which was recommended to be from YouTube that sums up everything COVID-19 related quite nicely!

Continue reading Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 30: The New Respects →

Articles, Features

Momentous Mondays: Influential artists of the next 5-10 years – Week 29: Mandy Harvey

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There once was a man who walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. After the tightrope had been fixed in place, he started gathering a crowd to watch his daring and dangerous feat. “Come one! Come all!” he shouted into his bullhorn. “Watch me walk above Niagara Falls, balancing on nothing more than this little rope!”

As people started gathering, he passed around a sample of the rope so people could see how small it was. “One little slip, and I will tumble to my death in the waters below!” he shouted. “You never know when I might fall. The rope is getting wet from the misting water. A wind is coming up the gorge. I don’t want to die, but today could be the day!”

As the crowd swelled even more, he shouted to those who had gathered, “Who believes I can walk across the falls and back without falling to my death below?”

Most of the crowd shouted that they believed he could do it. Many of them cheered him on to try it. So he climbed up onto the rope, and balanced his way across Niagara Falls. When he reached the far side, he turned around and came back. He didn’t slip. He didn’t fall. In fact, he barely wobbled or wavered. So when he returned to the safety of the shore, he motioned with his hands for the cheering crowd to quiet down.

“That was too easy!” he yelled. “That wasn’t a challenge for me at all! Let’s make it more difficult! Who believes I can do again, but this time, while pushing a wheelbarrow? If my hands are on the wheelbarrow, I will not be able to use them to balance on the rope. Shall I give it a try? Do you believe I can do it?” He motioned to a nearby wheelbarrow, which he had brought for this very purpose.

The crowd cheered their approval, which caused the number of gathering people to swell even further. So with the help of two nearby men, he lifted a wheelbarrow up onto the rope, and then started pushing it across the Falls. He went more slowly this time, and even had a few wobbles, which caused the crowd to gasp and cry out with fear, but he made it to the other side and back without any great problem. The crowd went wild.

“That was too easy!” he yelled. “Who believes I can do it again, but this time, with another person inside the wheelbarrow?” The crowd roared their approval. “I would not only be risking my own life, but also the life of the person in the wheelbarrow,” the man shouted to the crowd. “With a show of hands, let me see how many of you believe I can do this!” Almost every person in the large crowd raised their hand. It was nearly unanimous.

“Wonderful! I am so glad to see that you have such faith in me! I think I will give it a shot!” the man yelled. “Now … among all of you who raised your hand, do I have a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow?” Every hand in the large crowd went down. “What?” said the man. “You’ve seen me walk across Niagara Falls twice without any problems, once while pushing this wheelbarrow! And most of you believe I can do it with someone else in the wheelbarrow with me! But when I ask which of you wants to get into the wheelbarrow, none of you volunteer? Do you believe I can do it or not?”

But there were no takers, so the crowd did not see him push someone across Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow that day.

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