Category: Words To Live By

I decided to take on a slightly different spin with today’s entry solely because of the latest craze, which seems to be taking the world quite literally by storm. So what is this craze? Two words. One Direction.

The first time I ever heard of the name One Direction and found out what it was all about was during last season’s X Factor show. It’s one of the two reality based shows I allow myself to watch and that’s only because I respect Simon Cowell’s musical opinions as he seems to have a knack for finding real singing talent. And during last season, he spoke often of this boy band group he discovered. After doing some research on the Internet, I learned that the five boys who made up this group had appeared as solo artists on the 2010-11 season from the UK Version of X Factor. Each had failed to make it on their own to a round that would have brought them to the judges home. But based upon a suggestion from one of the other X Factor judges, they were brought back to compete as a group and ended up making it to the finals where they placed third overall by the end of that seventh season. Shortly thereafter, Niall Horan, Zyn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson signed their band One Direction with Simon Cowell’s Syco Records.

Since January 2011, their fame has risen rapidly. First a book licensed by them entitled One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story) was published and topped a best seller list. Next, their debut single “What Makes You Beautiful”, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and then became the most pre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history. The band subsequently signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America and their debut single here hit number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and later sold over 4 millions copies. Their first studio album Up All Night was released in early 2012 and became the UK’s fastest-selling debut album and toped the charts in sixteen countries. The same album bowed atop the US Billboard 200 chart, making them the first British group in US chart history to enter at number one with their debut album. As a result, they were inducted into the Guinness World Records. The album also became the first by a boy band to sell 500,000 digital copies in the US and by August of 2012, had sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Their second album, Take Me Home, was released in November of 2012 and it’s first single “Live While We’re Young”, reached the top ten in almost ever country it charted in. The album itself sold 540,000 copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and topped charts in more than thirty-four other countries. And both albums were the number three and four best-selling albums of 2012 globally, selling 4.5 million and 4.4 million units, respectively. The most startling thing I learned though about this pop group is that they already are a $50 million dollar making business. And lately, on almost every channel during each commercial break of any show I’m watching, I’m being inundated with previews of their upcoming documentary movie entitled One Direction: This is Us. What’s ironic though is that up until a few nights ago, I had never heard them perform as I’m not typically a boy band fan nor do I rarely listen to pop music. But I decided to listen to a song they performed live on the only other reality show I watch, America’s Got Talent, which had them as a guest for week 1 of the semi-finals results show.

What stood out more to me than anything as I watched them perform, was actually not their background music, their voices, or even them, all of which seemed pretty good. Instead, it was all the screaming girls in the audience that the cameras panned in on who were crying, shaking, and holding their arms out as if Jesus was on stage. And all of this reminded me most of the footage I watched long ago of The Beatles in a movie named A Hard Day’s Night, which chronicled a couple of days in the lives of that group. After doing some comparable research, it appears that One Direction really could be the 2013 version of The Beatles. In their heyday, The Beatles were a hip young boy band pop group that garnered millions of fans across the world, especially female, much of whom also reacted in the same way I saw on live TV with One Direction. The Beatles went on in their musical career to become the best selling band in the United States, as well as holding the most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with 20. They received 7 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, and it has also been estimated that they have had lifetime sales of their music of over one billion units. Rolling Stone even ranked them back in 2004 as the best artist of all-time.

While I really can’t say I understand why there was such a craze back then with The Beatles nor why there seems to be one now with One Direction, I can say that both have demonstrated great musical talent. While neither of their music styles are my cup of tea as I’m really more into ambient, trance, deep house, and electronica types of music these days, I do give them both credit for having pretty amazing voices, great stage presences, and knowing how to work the crowds of fans.

In regards to One Direction, they seem to be really down to earth and act just like any average goofy young boys might act with each other, especially when girls are around. And from what I read on the web, it appears most of those girls are finding all of them quite attractive like teenage girls and young women did all those years ago with The Beatles. So I’m guessing that these are just some of the main reasons for their rising notoriety. Whether they can continue to follow in The Beatle’s footsteps over time remains to be seen. For now, there are definitely striking resemblances to both group’s progression of popularity. While The Beatles went on to produce solo careers for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, making them even more of a success, I’ll be looking forward to see if the same happens to One Direction down the road. Either way, I give the group credit for their quick success story and musical talent. I just hope they remain humble, as they appear to be doing so now, and refrain from following in some of the other footsteps of famed artists who went more in the direction of producing massive egos and even worse, getting into drugs.

Regardless, I wish you well One Direction. May God bless you in all your future musical endeavors. Just don’t let success go to your heads ok?

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Cell phones are everywhere, especially now that they are like mini-computers and can do quite a bit of just about everything. With the explosion of the Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) based phones over the past six years since the original Iphone came on the market, once common based courtesies that dealt with phone communication are now rapidly disappearing. Years ago when cell phones didn’t exist, there was an unwritten form of this type of etiquette which sadly will be extinct soon it seems.

As a kid, the only phone my family had were the ones in my kitchen and my parent’s bedroom. Connected to the one in the kitchen was an answering machine that had a small cassette tape in it which could record up to a minute or two of a message. Nine times out of ten when someone called anyone in my family back then, they left a recorded message, unless of course it was a marketing call. And usually within less than 24 hours, we always called the people back who left a message on that machine. As for outside the home back then, such as in the movie theater, the only talking going on was between people, and that was often hushed very quickly. At restaurants, conversations occurred between those dining or sometimes people just ate in silence with each other while they enjoyed their food. On public transportation, people sparked up discussions with random strangers all the time or shared a newspaper with someone around them. In waiting rooms at various doctor’s offices, hospitals, and other businesses, people either read magazines, sat quietly in silence, or chatted lightly with others around them. And as for driving a car, the only thing ever in anyone’s hands as they drove back then was possibly some food, a shaver, or makeup. Sadly, all of this is changing for the worse now with so many people having cell phones that can do so much.

The first thing I’ve noticed that is changing for the worse is that I get a lot of phone calls on my cell phone where people don’t leave me messages. I see a phone number that remains on my “missed call” log but no physical message is left behind. To most of the friends and acquaintances that I know these days who have cell phones, their idea of leaving a message is that “missed call” text that appears on my phone. Unfortunately, as most people know, cell phones are not perfect technology and there are times we get in random dead zones where phone calls may appear to be ringing on the caller’s end but they’re doing nothing but remaining silent on the receiving end. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve missed important phone calls because of this.

The second thing I’ve noticed that is changing for the worse is the lack of getting returned phone calls from those I’ve left messages for. With cell phones being used all the time now, people see that I’ve called and left a message but they either don’t even listen to it and give themselves a mental reminder to call me back at some other point, or they attempt to send me a text message to let me know that they’ll call me later but never do so. With how busy people are becoming these days, and the amount of time people are using their cell phones, unless one saves the message as a reminder to call or calls back immediately, it’s rare they ever remember to call at all. And as for texting me, I don’t even have that active on my phone so unless one has an Iphone, where they can send me an “iMessage”, their words are sent out into dead air so I never even know that they were making an attempt to get back to me.

The third thing I’ve noticed that is changing for the worse deals with all those public places I mentioned earlier. At the movie theaters, people are using their cell phones to text or be on the internet during the films and each time they do, it acts as a bright flashlight that distracts all the viewers. At restaurants, I’ve seen couples eating their food with one hand and holding their cell phones with the other, all the while avoiding any real conversation with each other. On public transportation, no one really seems to be talking to each other anymore as everyone has their headphones plugged into their cell phones where they listen to music, play a game, or do something else with it. And as for those waiting rooms, many of those magazines have disappeared and the majority of people now spend their time waiting by talking on their phones very loudly to others or texting constantly with a repeated noise each time a new message comes in.

The fourth thing I’ve noticed that is changing for the worse with this explosion of cell phone usage is the worst of them all and it deals with the texting and driving at the same time. It is now estimated that close to 1.6 million accidents are occurring each year now because of this. And it’s also known that the driving behavior when one is doing this is even worse than when one is drinking and driving. More and more deaths are happening now each year because of this too.

While cell phones have made life much easier as compared to those days when the only way to make a call was at home, phone etiquette is rapidly growing worse and worse because of them. In some cases, it’s even jeopardizing and taking people’s lives from this Earth as well. It would be nice if people could go back to the time when phones weren’t so important but alas, I guess we all are having to grow with the technology. Regardless, I just hope one day soon that people will begin to place their cell phone usage second to having better phone etiquette like it once was many years ago…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Since being born in 1972, I have been alive for the Presidency’s of Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. While I may not remember much about the first few of those Presidents during the early years of my life, I do remember the majority of them since Carter. And if there’s one thing I’ve come to learn about all of them, it’s that no matter who the Head of State is at any given time, someone is always blaming them for the ills of the nation that happen during their term. But often, it’s not even the President’s fault.

Throughout my life, I have watched my grandparents, parents, my sister, both her first and second husbands, friends, partners, and other loved ones, complain time and time again about each President and how they feel the problems in our country are because of them. While some of the President’s decision making may not at times be in the best interest of the entire country at whole, it’s easy to place the blame on them for all our country’s troubles anyway. Many people look at the President as a god of some sort that is “way up there” and believe that each of them has some godly power to control and fix every single ill of society. But what most often forget about is that not only is the President just one person in a position of leadership within a large government structure, there is also a system of checks and balances for them with the Legislative and Judicial branches affecting much of what happens during their term. With the Senate, Congress, and the Supreme Court each having their own forms of control, it’s often that vetoes and decisions overrule the President’s attempts to make many of those positive changes people are seeking.

Many years ago I lived near Washington D.C. and got to see the first screening there of Michael Moore’s controversial movie entitled Fahrenheit 9/11. This was a documentary film about the events that happened during 9/11 and it showed evidence that proposed President Bush being a big cause to what happened on that tragic day. As I left the theater, there were news crews present that were interviewing people about their opinions on not only the movie but also on President Bush. One of them stopped me and ask if I felt the current President was the main problem for our country. My response was swift and to the point. I simply stated that too many of the citizens of our country are always quick to blame each and every President for every single problem. And I told them that the real work for changing our country to making it a happier, and healthier place, is done through each and every one of us. The news person was stunned and had no other questions to ask me after that.

Unfortunately, what people aren’t realizing is that if all of us could unite together with a lot more love and light, things would automatically change for the better without having to rely upon the President, or anyone else in political power for that matter. If we could just be more giving of ourselves selflessly to those less fortunate, things could move in the direction that we want the President to make them move. If we could practice greater peace making efforts with each other day to day, things could move in the direction that we want the President to make them move. If we could focus on unity rather than division, things could move in the direction that we want the President to make them move. And if we could work on integrating all walks of life together and embracing total equality, instead of using religious and other various platforms to segregate, things could move in the direction that we want the President to make them move. But instead, too many of us just sit back and point the fingers at the President, and do nothing more than continue to be selfish and self-centered in life which only makes our country a lot less loving of a place to be in.

The reality is that each of us have to do our part to making this country and this world a better place. The President is not the total cause of all the problems that revolve around our countries issues with drugs, poverty, the economy, job availability, gay marriage, health care, gun violence, and more. The finger pointing at others, especially the President really needs to end and instead be pointed directly back at oneself because that’s where the changes truly need to begin.

So the next time you might find yourself wanting to chastise the President to someone around you because of something bad happening in the country or the world, I encourage you to take a moment, breathe, and realize the President is not the person to blame. There are many others in political power affecting all of the unfortunate conditions in society who have just as much of a say. And if you are like me and not one of those in any position of political power, the changes you want to see the President make can still begin with you. Seek a Higher Guidance and begin practicing loving yourself and all others a lot more unconditionally and I’m sure you’ll not only start seeing the President in a very different light, you’ll probably stop blaming them for every problem too.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson