(For anyone needing permission to be bold ...or ...for any Muhammad Ali fans out there) This weekend, I was bolder than usual. I went so far as to quote myself and posted about my intention to save the world with this blog. If you met me, the word bold would not come to mind. My soul, however, would tell you I am that and more. The soul loves bold. Leonard Cohen liked to say, we're all heroes in our own myth. There is no better example of someone who lived out their myth than Muhammad Ali. My early impression of Ali was an over-the-top arrogant boxer. When he said, "I'm the greatest," I heard him say he was better than everyone else. After listening more closely, I came to appreciate Ali as an artist and poet, in addition to an athlete, performer, activist and humanitarian. Aside from "fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee", he wrote poetry. I realized his greatest gift was his ability to let his soul shine through, unfiltered and unapologetic. He never asked for permission to be the hero in his own myth; he just was. By doing so, he excelled in his passion, spoke from his heart, stood up for what he believed, and embodied more compassion and purpose than most of us can imagine. If Muhammad Ali was the greatest, it's because he showed us what can happen if we tap into our own magic. He showed us how to remove barriers between our outer self and our inner self (the soul), which inevitably removes the barriers between us. As I look at Ali's face on the magazine here on my desk, and I think about his modest grave-site just 10 minutes away, I can hear him say, "I was the greatest...You are the greatest...We're all the greatest." Courtney A Brown To send this note to a friend:
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(For any Leonard Cohen "fans" out there.)
It only seems fitting that Leonard Cohen died on my birthday. We were close - very close. Our souls had a way of flowing back and forth. Where his left off, mine began. He writes about this in his poem, "The Book of Longing" "My heart will be hers Impersonally She'll step on the path She'll see what I mean..." I did see what he meant... I knew exactly what he meant. Of course I had to respond in kind, so I wrote him a poem. Having forgotten how true souls converse, I sent it by mail...to his management company...in Hollywood...before they sent me back a form letter...with an autographed 8 x 10 concert photo. Obviously, they'd mistaken me for a "fan." I wasn't one of the masses. His soul had spoken to mine,...not theirs...I had proof...dammit. That's the kind of relationship Leonard and I had. Thank you, Leonard Cohen, for conversing with our souls so that we could learn how. Courtney A. Brown To send this note to a friend: |
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