I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Month: October 2022
As the morning calls out, I choose to blink, wipe stiff sleep from mine eyes and soak up the sun, rather than shielding my pupils from the pain of past days.
Meaningful motion begins the day.
There is purposeful thought in understanding that nothing will be cured or conquered by staying still. Each day, in fact each moment of the day, is a tactile, tangible exercise in stepping forward past your faults, flaws, and the forgotten lessons that have guided your way to this point.
Even the sleep you have just survived prepares you for possibilities, if only to give you enough rest. Silence, however long it lasts, is a prayer that says far more than you can comprehend at least, all at once.
It could take all day to figure it out.
Some days it is a struggle, yes, but aren’t most things you deem worthwhile? If it were too easy it would provide no effort, and exertion is required for any form of motion.
Even doing nothing involves some sort of inertia.
It is a responsibility to make use of even the stillness, even in the quietest moments. Morning is only a start. Make it meaningful.
You have hours to complete the day.
©2022 j.g. lewis
Posted on October 4, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
Some days we wander without destination in mind. There is nothing specific that needs to be accomplished during that particular day and anything, really, is possible.
The only true certainty -— attentive to the fact that nothing is truly certain — is that you will eventually arrive home, full of experience, later in the day.
We need more days like that, unplanned as they are, as hopeful as you want them to be.
Along the way, throughout the day, you may notice things that you haven’t before, or pop into an unfamiliar store to look at things you don’t really need (or be reminded of something that you do). You might even stop for lunch and nourish your body with street meat (or a sandwich) knowing the days ahead might not allow the opportunity for an impromptu picnic with time to people-watch or deal haphazardly with your thoughts.
Make sure you stop, once in a while, simply because you can. Hydrate. Refresh yourself with a couple of deep breaths.
Forget the notion that each day must have a plan, a purpose, or some sort of prosperity. Maybe time can be as well wasted as it is well spent?
You are worth the time.
It’s worth taking that time.
Wander.
It is what you do on days like these, as few and far between as you make them, when they simply happen because you made up your mind to make them happen.
As I have said before, we need more days like that (or something very similar).
Make the day a good one.
10/04/2022 j.g.l.
Posted on October 3, 2022 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
It wasn’t about age; it is still about the music.
I, and an almost-full arena, took in a spectacular concert last night as The Who played Toronto.
Augmented by a full orchestra, the timeless British band gave us two hours of absolute magic; full of the sonic glory you expect from guys who have, at several points in history, proved that rock and roll is what it is.
The Who could have spent the evening simply trotting out a career’s worth of hits, but instead opened with a string of compositions from the rock opera Tommy. Later in the night we were treated to a solid set from Quadrophenia. Both albums go well back into the ‘70s.
Of course they played, and played well, the songs that many people know more from the CSI television series, but several of the big hits where left out (they did not play I Can See For Miles my absolute favourite song ever), but that was okay. Last night was all about the music.
I’ve long considered The Who to be mostly about Pete Townshend, the guitarist who wrote much of the band’s catalogue. Now, at 77 years of age, Townshend is still in fine form. But so is lead singer and front man Roger Daltry, 78, singing and screaming in a manner that defies age.
I’ve seen the band a couple of times in my lifetime, and chances are I will not have the opportunity to see them again. This may be The Who’s last tour, but then Townshend said he would quit touring in 1982.
So there is hope, and there is still the music.
10/03/2022 j.g.l.
