Being Ourselves

In the Summer of 1968 I asked my new roommate what I could or should do after arriving on the Lower East Side of New York to do social work. He simply said "Be yourself." All these years later those two words continue to resonate in many ways on many levels. On one level: be our genuine self. Too often we get caught up in playing a part or trying to please or act a certain way to meet other's expectations. We share an image of ourselves on Social Media. Then there are those situations when we want so much to do something but all we can do is to be. 

In the 1968 Podcast Part Two I talk about going to an island off Bermuda with a planeload of kids from New York. I was asked to provide music for the week. None of the kids knew much of anything about folk music. The first evening I was nervous and the kids were restless. The next evening less so. By the end of the week we had somehow made a connection that I felt when we all got back to New York. 

It was an important lesson in being myself that I think about and practice to this day.

There's a song I am working on called Enough Simply To Be. I would invite you to download the home recording of this "song in progress."

Here is a copy of the lyrics...

Lot’s of times when I want to know there’s something I can do

Yet often all that I can see’s the only thing to do is be

Chorus

Those times all we can do is be sit with someone quietly

It’s often all somebody needs enough simply to be

Don’t get me wrong that doesn’t mean there won’t be times roll our sleeves

When there is plenty we can do but there are times that’s just not true

Chorus

Those times all we can do is be sit with someone quietly

It’s often all somebody needs enough simply to be

Bridge

So sit it with me I’ll sit with you when that is all that we can do

Those times all we need to know is that we are not alone

Chorus

Those times all we can do is be sit with someone quietly

That’s often all somebody needs enough simply to be

©Copyright 2024 Love Gives More Music

Here's a link to the Podcast 1968 Part Two 

Here's a link to the Song with Story When Johnny Comes Marchin' Home