Treasuring Friendship

Friends stay in my life forever and even when significant time has passed, a renewed connection brings us back as if it we had parted only yesterday. Every person who becomes close to us holds a bit of our essence in their hands. For those of you in my life, I want you to know that I carry a part of you with me always. The memory of you swirls in the ribbons of my dreams and the fairy dust of my days. We will always maintain a connection with each other, because that's just the way I operate.

Today I am glad to have reconnected with Nikki, who took care of my children when they were young and today has 3 young children of her own; with Terri, who traveled the path of my Xavier University Back to Business Post-Graduate Certificate program with me and last but not least, Tim- my friend from England who honored me today with a live mobile call vs. being virtual on Skype. It's always so cool to hear a British voice say, "How are you darling?" (he calls everyone darling, so no worries!!!) and know that the voice on the other end of the LG9800 really and truly wants to know how I am doing.

Friends have always meant the world to me and I treasure them greatly. Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for allowing me into your life.





Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009

Timothy: An Introspective

Continuing on in the theme of destiny and people who make a difference in our lives.... I have to say that I have truly met the most interesting people during the course of my life. I always go further, dig deeper, ask the probing question beyond, "Hi, how are you. Let's do lunch some time..." I ALWAYS want to know more about YOU. If we truly connect, then you will find that I focus completely on what you have to say, taking it all in like the smoothest of brandies, inserting the occasional question that takes you deeper than you have ever gone outside of your own consciousness.


I wrote the piece below about my friend Timothy who resides in the UK. It deals with internal demons and ... well you will figure it out for yourselves. Tim has an amazing life story, one that deals with survival of the toughest of circumstances and triumph over adversity. A book about his life would surely make the best-seller's list. I feel privileged that he has openly shared so much of his life with me. Following my piece is Tim's own writing about himself.



Timothy


A great heart in a large body
So focused on the genteel life
Chocolate trifle and fois gras with some Italian Cava
Poured liberally
Movies from the ‘40s and your Bogie-esqe hat
All that’s missing is that Cuban stogie
You so quickly had your eye upon


In your free time you pen lyrics full of schisms of all sorts
Your dream is to be recorded and your music fill the charts
You live the life of a haberdasher, yet socialism fills your veins
A quite abrupt dichotomy that’s lodged within your brain


Somehow you have become fixated upon my American life
You know my full story: mother, writer, dreamer, wife
Yet you see some spark within me that you need to ignite your days
Perhaps you want me to be your muse, in my rose-colored ways


Your life story would read like a best-selling novel
Almost too unbelievable to believe
Poverty, abandonment, self-educated genious,
Hippy mother, S&M, sex, drugs and rock & roll


Yet despite, the most bizarre of upbringings
You rose above it all
Became successful and a gentleman
You heard the call
To be all that was in your nature
To use your brilliance for the good
But beware the devil’s advocate
That seeks to pull you towards Absolut


The liquor calls your name
Like a honey-tongued young thing
Shushing and seducing you
She wants that special ring- the one that will tie you to her forever
Then she will call the shots
As you spiral down within yourself
Your memory totally lost


Don’t give in to her- please save yourself now
“Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace…”

Serenity is the answer
Don’t place your hope in me


Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009


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Absolut-ly Necessary


"In a black and white photo nostalgically nasty I was celebrating sealing the deal
Feeling like a million dollars with inflation isn't that much to feel
Streamlining thoughts in Darwinian doubles 'til I couldn't think of anything else
Making a memory out of pieces of pictures, dreading what I did to myself
I'll be so happy when I show you I can stop
I'm an escapist, I'm makeshift, I've made this mess
But I can break it, I'll make myself convalesce
You see I'm not so empty
I'd say the glass is full
You are what I want to tempt me
And I don't want my senses dull"




by T.H. 12/08

MISSING MADRID

Missing Madrid

I hope life is treating you well

As you sun in that corner café,

Eating Tapas and sipping dark, red wine

Contemplating what Picasso meant in his infamous "Le Guitariste"

Cubism vs. Web 2.0- where do you go from here?

Just continue to unleash your creative energy

And let the words & music flow....................

Complement vs. Complicate

COMPLEMENT VS. COMPLICATE



"I will be your mirror."


Sometimes it takes a fall before we are forced to confront who and what we are made up of. It is within the raising and the repairing of our bruised souls that we learn about our inner strength and ability for survival. We can rise above the ashes of our former circumstances and soar triumphant in life and love if we only give ourselves the ability to believe.

Look inward and be a voyeur into your own life. Find the power that is within you to become who you truly were meant to be. Uncomfortable with introspection, then find a good friend who can be a mirror into the depths of who you truly are. We are all meant to live up to our fullest potential. Take the time to listen carefully to what pours forth.

Bon Chance!

Tim: A Lesson in Looking Beyond the Pond

Tim says in the strictest of British accents: “My standpoint is thus: I know exactly what I am going to say, and have therefore absorbed any value it may have had, and curled my lips in quiet contentment at whichever subtle hint of wit it inevitably let slip. Whether I type it or not makes far less difference to me than absorbing the theoretically greater goodness that may come from what, by typing, I may have deterred you from typing.”

Now I have no clue what he just said, but I love reading his words and on the random chance that fate intervenes, I love listening to his voice. It sounds like he is a character straight out of a Dicken’s novel. I enjoy our ability to trade pieces of work for critique and pure enjoyment. He gets my poetry and the audio version of Dreamscape and I get the music and accompanying lyrics that he creates. He is very talented and a bit of a genious having been a child prodigy before having to succumb to the rank and file of evey day adult life. He somehow finds humor in my exuberant personality and finds the many balls that I juggle quite amusing.

If I need a bit of inspiration to get my writing going, a “fast-start” of sorts, I only have to look for a Tim-ism to get my imaginative juices flowing. No longer will I be in search of the perfect web-site to give my writing a kick- start, I can borrow beginnings like this to prime the creative pump:

Tim says: “Have you ever had one of those moments when the sheer incredulity of the world aligns with the universe as a whole, and being the first person to notice, you burst out laughing uncontrollably in a non-sequitur of hysteria?”

*******************************************************

I asked Tim the other day, what he truly thinks of me and this was his answer in perfect Tim fashion:

“I think I'm extremely lucky to have met you. You exist on such a ridiculously high level, it dwarfs virtually everyone. Talking to you is engaging and enthralling and always challenging in the best of ways.”

I would just love to bottle that admiration and pour out a bit on the days that the words just won’t come or when what I have written seems less than the sum of its parts. A rapt audience is great, but to have an audience with a true ear for subtlety and an excellent command of the language even if it is the Queen’s English is an outstanding proposition.

So thank you Tim for being the voice in my ear, the eye on my words and the gourmand of all of my literary creations. Cheers!!