One More Dawn , One Year On.........

A year ago, following the encouragement of a dear friend, I started writing a blog. It was to be a way of writing down my thoughts and musings on various themes and topics and also a way to share some of the experiences I had throughout the year. I wasn’t sure if anyone would read it, but I hoped it would help to improve my writing and give my thoughts a means to express themselves. Now approaching 8000 hits, it seems that my little blog has caught more than just the interest of a few close friends (even if the biggest search on it seems to be for pictures of Alfie Boe and his wife Sarah!) and I am thankful for the encouragement and support I’ve had to continue writing it.

As I look back over the past year I, like many others I know, can say it has truly been a rollercoaster of a ride. There have been many occasions of sadness and worry, both in my own life and in the lives of those dear to me. There have been some sad events experienced by members of my family this year; death, divorce, long term illness and redundancy being just some of them. I know of quite a few friends who will be starting the year facing difficult challenges in their lives and I’m sure we will all experience some difficulties in this New Year. However, hard as it may be, it is important to learn from these times and face the challenges head on, hoping that they will pass and leave us a stronger and better person. It’s also important to enjoy the happier times and enjoy each opportunity that comes our way. No day in our life will ever be the same and just as I said a year ago, each new dawn brings with it a new day and new opportunities and we should make the most of them. Come What May and Love It!

I have been very fortunate this past year to indulge in my passion for the arts and as I look back, I can count seeing six Shakespeare plays including Patrick Stewart in the Merchant of Venice, Dominic West in Othello, David Tennant in Much Ado About Nothing and my friend Dominic Tighe in Richard III and A Comedy of Errors.  I also attended the 447^th birthday celebrations of William Shakespeare in his home town of Stratford on Avon with my nephew Bradley & introduced him to some of the Bard’s work.

I was thrilled to see two light operas; Ruddigore and the Mikado and two operas; Carmen and Fidelio. Three of these productions were performed by the brilliant Opera North and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at both Carmen and Ruddigore through  social media networking events organised by Leeds based Emma Bearman and also to write an article for her own blog Culture Vultures. The insight I gained from these events gave me a deeper appreciation of all the work involved in putting on a production and the arts as a whole.  Seeing Fidelio, the only opera ever written by my favourite composer Beethoven was one of the hi-lights of my year and although I had been worried that the performance wouldn’t live up to my anticipation, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I was also fortunate to see Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony and Missa Solemnis performed by the wonderful Darwin Ensemble Chamber Orchestra at the beautiful Lichfield Cathedral. My other musical highlights of the year were The Classic Brit Awards, 25^th Anniversary Concert for Phantom of the Opera, A Night with the Phantom (Ramin Karimloo) and also seeing old friends Blake and Thomas Spencer Wortley in concert.  When I see the events listed like this, I realise just how many great opportunities I have had and how lucky I am to have seen them all.

I met some wonderful people in 2011 including some of my favourite West End Stars such as John Owen-Jones, Ramin Karimloo, Hadley Fraser and David Tennant. I have also made some great friends along the way through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and as ever, my friends and family are my most treasured blessings. Their unwavering support throughout the year has been a great source of strength to me and I hope that in my own way I have helped them in their own times of difficulties.

I know that things won’t always be easy but I hope that we can all endure the trials we have to face and be there to support others as they face them. My new year’s resolution is to be a better friend and better person; to tell my friends how much I love them and look for ways to make new friends from strangers. One of the books I read this year was The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F Wright. It talks about looking for opportunities in your daily life to serve and help others and by doing so change your life and the lives of those you serve in just a few seconds.

As I look ahead to this New Year, I have many hopes for my own future and for my friends. I don’t know if they will come to pass but I look with a renewed determination to do all that I can to make the most of every opportunity, to seize the day and make each day one to remember. A New Year brings with it, new beginnings, new hopes and new opportunities and it is up to us what we do with them.

Tonight’s the night, the world begins again

Tomorrow we’ll discover what our God in Heaven has in store; one more dawn, one more day, one day more!

Happy New Year!!

For A Friend

Over the last few days, I’ve noticed that a friend of mine has been suffering with various problems in their life and is naturally feeling quite upset, depressed and is unsure about what to do next. They’ve had a lot to deal with in the past year or so, redundancy, death of a parent, illness and now after settling into a new job, faces the threat of their contract not being extended and becoming unemployed again. Now I’m not going to mention any names as I don’t want to betray this person’s confidence, but, they have really given me pause for thought today about all the challenges we face in life.

Now I have known this particular friend for well over 10yrs. We worked together at one point and in fact used to joke that we saw each other more often than some of the members of our own family. In some ways you might say we became our own family and together with a few other colleagues shared so many good and bad times and talked about so many different things, that what we haven’t covered in the past ten years can’t really have been worth talking about!

When one of us is happy, we all share and celebrate that moment and when one of us hurts and is upset, the rest of us feel that hurt and upset and want to take it all away and make things better. This is of course what friendship is all about – being there for your friends through all the good time and bad times – and yet today I feel such a helpless friend. The only comfort I can give is that I know some of what they are going through at the moment, having been in similar situations myself and that things will get better, or they will become stronger through the challenges they are facing now and be better equipped to deal with other problems that come this way.

I am reminded of something that John Bytheway (yes that is his real name!), a motivational speaker once related. He talked about how he started going to a gym and his personal trainer would have him lift this bar. It was hard at first but eventually he started to get the hang of it. Then the trainer did something really mean and put weights on the end of the bar. Well he tried to lift it, but it was hard and yet his personal trainer insisted that he keep going. He explained to John that the pain he felt was his muscles being stretched almost to the point of breaking and tearing and yet when they stopped exercising, they would knit back together and become stronger and he would be able to lift more. In John’s gym there was a sign on the wall which he came to appreciate – No Pain = No Gain. Now John was more of the opinion, No Pain = Good, but he came to understand this not just in terms of exercising but also in the challenges we face in life. Some people might also relate this to the saying “That which doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger!”

It’s hard though when we’re in the middle of a trial to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or we worry that the light could just be from an oncoming train! It is difficult to see a way out and an end to all the misery we are facing and it is understandable to want to give up. Many of us when putting on our make up in the morning, put on a face to try and hide the hurt and pain we are feeling and we go out and try to pretend that nothing is wrong and just get through the day. What we really need is someone to see through the disguise and give us some comfort – even if it is just a hug or a kind word. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.
At times like these with my friend – and with others, I think of the song Safe Harbours by Michael Mclean

There are refugees among us
That are not from foreign shores;
And the battles they are waging
Are from very private wars.
And there are no correspondents
Documenting all their grief,
But these refugees among us all
Are yearning for relief.

There are refugees among us.
They don’t carry flags or signs.
They are standing right beside us
In the market checkout lines;
And the war they’ve been fighting
It will not be televised,
But the story of their need for love
Is written in their eyes.

This is a call to arms,
To reach out and to hold
The evacuees from the dark.
This is a call to arms,
To lead anguished souls
To safe harbours of the heart.

Can you see through their disguises?
Can you hear what words won’t tell?
Some are losing faith in Heaven
‘Cause their life’s a living Hell.
Is there anyone to help those
Who have nowhere else to flee?
For the only arms protecting them
belong to you and me.

Do you know of someone who needs their friends right now, this very minute? Pick up the phone, pick up a pen or even your computer and let them know that you care. I felt quite useless earlier today, thinking that all I had done was offer a listening ear and said a few words that had my friend cry even more (in a nice way this time, I hope) but then another friend reminded me that sometimes, a kind word and a listening ear are all that a person needs.

I am so very blessed in my life to have the best friends that money can’t buy. Some of them live close by, others live abroad but I know that because of them I need never feel alone, they will always be there for me and to them I say THANK-YOU. I hope that one day I can be to them the kind of friend that they have been to me in my darkest of times. That’s what friends are for after all.