Each moment is yours

Each moment is yours for the taking whether it's good or bad. It's yours to have fully and completely or half heartedly and not even. It's funny how easily we take happy moments with open arms and refrain when events are even remotely less than enjoyable (aka does not go our way).

Today I had a conversation with some musicians. We shared stories about our worse gigs which involved having terrible sound/soundguys, fainting on stage, guitar straps falling off resulting in dysfunctional guitar sounds and so forth. Things happen and as we are talk about these experiences, we laugh about it. It's interesting amidst all the chaos and disappointments from these experiences, there was plenty good that happened. In some instances, more fans reached out to my friend and it became a memorable night for him even if fainting wasn't on the set list. :) If you own everything that happens on stage, it will be good. Mistakes and all. Just own it. Too many people are afraid to do that. They try to appear like they have it altogether when such behavior contradicts our very nature.

Later I had a beautiful conversation with a close friend. She is working with a new horse and teaching it how to ride and learn tricks. Today when she was trying to get up on the horse, the saddle would not cooperate. The horse got startled and reared up sending my friend to the ground. They are both fine. However it was a traumatic experience for both. After the fall, she got on top of the horse to try again and they had the most beautiful ride ever.  Funny how things work out like that?

She then went to an eatery and ordered coffee. The waitress wrote my friend's name out in chocolate and drew a heart above it. My friend was absolutely touched. How beautifully she received that small act of kindness. My friend inspired me that no matter what, we are blessed with the power to find happiness in the littlest things. There are so many opportunities we miss every second to smile and be thankful for. So remember to own those too, my friends.

Sometimes kindness, joy, tragedy, frustrations and disappointments happen. They just do. Just remember to own it and move on. It makes for a rich journey in this life.

Peace,
C

Be sure to check out my song I wrote to benefit The Little Rose shelter for girls in Vietnam.

Eternal

Eternal

by Casie Luong

For the joy of, there is an understanding in me for you.

For the fullness of, there is a void that gropes with anguish and desire.

For the satisfaction of, the struggle is never enough but it’s the only sweetness I know.

For the more and for the less,

The work and the sweat,

I give,

I do,

All day and all night.

This is how I survive,

Filled and empty again.

God have mercy that my thirst may find sweetness.

New Sky

Early bright morning skies sift above my head.
Fog caps faintly rest atop Austin sky-rises.

Windows down, car in motion, I blush and breathe in the scent of 7 o'clock air.
There's something, a memory, a freshness that only comes at this time,
and I catch it like I will never catch it again.

In the midst of savor, the morning invites me to start all over again.
I ponder my reception while memories, concerns, plans and possibilities
begin to set in motion.

Sunlit rays catch my pondering like a lover's touch steering me upwards into a new start, a new sky.

My Brilliance

August 31, 2013

I would burn through a million suns for you,

Stare until time collapsed,

For I would be closer.

We would be and nothing more.

There's no need for we are filled to the brim. 

From top to bottom, roots exposed,

There is nothing to hide,

To give all and be all.  

Brilliant and living,

The truth entirely.

We burn brilliantly.

Turn the page and the story goes,

My love, my rose,

My brilliance and me.

Song Lyrics

"and if I fall, would you lend a hand,
if nothing else, would you please just stand,
all I need is your loving heart to grace my broken parts..."

"You remind me just how much I need,
you will always be exactly what I need."

"You know where to put your coat cause you've been here more than most,
baby, please stay, please."

"Lonely one, what are you fighting for, what are you dying for these days?
Lonely one, I see you crying more and now you're done for these days.
You look me in the eye and you can't hide anymore.
I see your lonely lines inside.
Hold your head up high, I see the light in side."

"If I'm honest with myself, these pictures of you I want to pour out of my head,
but instead they solidify in me with appetites I continually feed."

Yours truly,
C

Love Sonata

Love Sonata in Red

2/12/13

by Casie Luong

I. Andante

Is this really about us? You? Me?

How much am I worth?

How much do you see?

How much do I want?

How much do you need?

A stamp to my forehead,

We passed with flying colors of red,

superior markings of errors and praise.

Validation meets Satisfaction.

A matrimonial union is made.

II. Allegretto dolce

I have a name and you said it.

I have a heart and you bear it.

I have arms that make you fall deeper than the floor.

I have lines and sing-song melodies that float upward outlining birds in the sky.

Hi-hi, hey-hey

Hum-da-dum

Hi-hi, Ha-hey, ha-hey

You have a freckle and I pinch it.

You wince but I like it.

You have eyes that send me through the ceiling,

Sighing and singing, fluttering and feeling,

Hi-hi, hey-hey

Hum-da-hum

Hi-hi, Ha-hey, ha-hey

III. Lento assai solenne

Trenches darkened trenches masqueraded by flowered feelings.

A celebration or a time of mourning?

Either way, he’s left or she’s left yearning.

Luminous, ominous doubting.

Does he love me? Do I love him?

Carnivorous questions eating through my skin,

pushing through to make a home in my chambers,

the deepest parts of me

and

I. cave. in.

I fear in loss.

Holes and emptiness hang like moss,

An abandoned ravine that once had youth and possibilities.

Love, where are your markings of errors and praise?

I’ve lost my name, my sing-song phrase, phrase, phrase.

IV. Allegro con bravura

When a storm has passed,

morning birds, remind us to wake again.

To us, you, me, quiet, talkative, bashful he and she,

forgetting the wants and forgetting the needs,

abandoning taking and learning to give.

The winds die down and up we fly on a sing-song high,

rapidly boasting our colors melding in the sky:

pinks, reds, blues, yellow, greens, oranges and white,

The deepest night of darkness is behind.

Yes--the Deepest Night of Darkness is Behind.

Let us stamp the ground!

Stamp hard into the ground:

Mistakes, Misery, Misfortune and brothers of the same sound.

Let us seize the light of day!

Make new what was made!

Morning birds, remind us to wake again!

Yes, remind us to wake again!

The Blues

I'm a pebbled lyric textured in smoke,
if only I drank grace more often, I'd be smoother,
I'd have a shine that gave the moon its proper reflection.

I float from the lips of someone troubled and perplexed by the plate they were served.
What else did they expect? Something better than the blues?

I'm many different shades of melancholy,
no one knows what kind yet everyone understands.
Nighttime is my best time.
It's when it is ok to be naked.

When I'm left hanging in the air,
someone grabs ahold of me and invites into their memories.
I come and sit with them there, be with them there.

I sound lonesome but I have many friends,
they inhale pieces of pebbled feelings that I have to offer.
It rounds them out.
Someone's always singing the blues.