QUOTES FROM THE COTTAGE

 QUOTES FROM THE COTTAGE
all writings by daniel w. jacobs
phototography by myrna y. jacobs

1.  Your attitude in the present can change your future – just as your attitude about the future can change your present.

2.  Conceive it, believe it, and you will see it.

3. Imagine your dream as reality – then live your dream.

4. Promises don’t deliver, people do.

5. Give others something of value in exchange for their attention.

6. Perception and reality are opposite sides of the same coin.

7. Dreams and nightmares alike are kept alive by constant attention.

8.Your own internal speedometer determines how fast you’ll get where you want to go . . . or not.

9. The past isn’t going anywhere and the future will be there when you arrive.

10. The thoughts and feelings you have right now create your future.

11. To ensure longevity, enjoy the process, not just the reward.

12. Be yourself – it’s the only you there is or ever will be.

13.  Any problem that just never seems to resolve, is being held in place – by you or someone else . . . or both.

14. Expectations are future. Whether you expect success or failure, happiness or sorrow, trust or betrayal, your expectations create and attract these things to you.

15. They’ll think you’re interesting when you think they are.

16. Sanity, happiness and power are direct consequences of living a life of simplicity, truth, and worthwhile purpose.

17. You’re as free as you’ll let yourself be . . . splurge on it.

18. The price of freedom is never too great – when the cost of indifference is so dear.

19. If you doubt your own reality, your doubts become more real and your reality less secure.

20. A steady diet of canned media chatter can lead to truth decay.

21. Your power to expand is infinite – so is your ability to limit yourself.

22.  Imagination fuels and stimulates futures.

23. Focused motivation plus applied imagination equals action and expertise.

24. The past is a has been – the future is a could be.

25.  Your creation of time, circumstances and conditions of your life determine where you have been, what you are and what you will become.

26.  The end product of doubt, worry and fear is always more doubt, greater worry and increased fear.

27.  The first step to creating a desirable future is to remove the self-imposed limits on your imagination.

28.  Once  you set up the idea that something is too painful to experience, you have at that moment allowed yourself to be harmed by that thing.

29.  Your future unfolds in minute increments with inexorable certainty.  Even a slight shift of viewpoint will often precipitate enormous positive changes in your life.

30.  You carry with you the seeds of your future, planted, nurtured, given life and sustenance by your continuing attention on them.

31.  The relationship between an individual and a group is symbiotic.  The individual is the source of power for the group – just as the group provides the unifying strength to  empower its members.

32.  Negative thoughts and feelings require constant attention to mature into serious problems . . . indifference lets them fade away.

33.  What attracts your attention can be a powerful influence on your feelings and inspire action . . . or inaction. 

34.  If happiness and success are having a hard time finding you . . .  it’s time to stop hiding.

35.  Doubts and fears & dreams and goals both require constant nurturing and attention to grow into reality.

36.  Positive expectations create a vacuum to draw opportunity toward you.

37.  In any art form, the triangle of perception, reality, and considered value are inextricably intertwined.  Any change in one of the three elements invariable affects the other two.

38.  Success can be glorious but transient. The glow of winning is temporary – but goals and dreams last forever and can keep you alive.

39.  Happiness results from being interested in life plus a demonstration of competence and confidence in moving toward your goals.

40.  You may not always be able to do the right thing, but it’s better to do something than to do nothing.

41. Justifications and rationalizations are only a way of pretending that you don’t have a conscience.

42.  Curiosity is the genus of creation. It directs attention and captures interest just as interest fuels imagination and sparks desire.

43.  Once unfettered by pretended powerlessness; free from self-denial; stripped of the limitations of pretentiousness – all that remains is what is really important . . . the real you.

44. Reassurance of affection combined with admiration can soothe the soul and quiet the twin dragons of worry and fear.

45. Trust is not a commodity that can be bought or sold, it is freely given or it doesn’t exist.

46.  Your creativity and your spirituality are forever linked in a symbiotic relationship.

47.  Sanity and reason are contagious but healthy. Pass them on.

48.  If you feel something is wrong, it is wrong, in spite of all efforts to convince yourself otherwise.

49. Ideas are senior to things.

50. Persistence, joined with a calm, knowing certainty is the keynote of all successful accomplishment.

51. To love unconditionally is the most powerful secret in the world.

52.  Others see you as you see yourself.

53.  When you start troubling yourself about a vague problem lurking around somewhere in your future, you’ve become the problem.

53.  Once free of burdensome self-criticisms, unfair comparisons of self with others, demands of perfection in an imperfect world . . . you’ll find that you are better than you think you are.

54.  Fear is the decision that something is too painful to experience. 

55. Common sense will only take you so far. To reach the next level you need curiosity, imagination, and an uncommon flair for audacity.

56.  They’ll believe in you when you believe in yourself.

57.  Those who complain incessantly about being bored are boring.  The cure is simply to be interested in life.  No cure is necessary for being interested.

58.  It takes a long time for people to forget how you made them feel . . . good or bad.

59.  The most important ingredient of winning is seeing failure as a challenge to do better.

60.  Attitude is everything.  Winners expect to win.  Losers expect to lose.

61.  Your real life begins at the moment you recognize that the outcome depends totally on you.

62.  Truth knows no boundaries, it answers to no authority and is owned by no one person.  It shines like Mars at Perihelion – - ubiquitous, undeniable, unchangeable and unstoppable.

63.  Make people feel something and you create a timeless, indelible impression that they never forget.

64. If your methods agree with your principles, then your principles empower your methods.

65.  Music is the art of the muses – a beautifully sublime language combining sounds, silences, and feelings not quite of this world.

 66. Two rules for happy living: Rule #1. Always be true to yourself. Rule #2. Refer to rule #1.

67. All change begins with an idea and those ideas begin with an individual.

68. Courage is not the absence of fear or insecurity, it is simply being willing to face what needs to be done and doing it anyway.

69. Positive expectancy thrives on attention and grows stronger the more it is used.

70. In the end, the only real competition you have is with yourself.

daniel w. jacobs
(c) 2006-2030, all rights reserved

LIFE FORCE AS AN ARTIST

FORWARD:  Sometimes something appears in my universe that is particularly relevant to my life at that time.  The piece to follow is one of those.   I was compelled to post this quote from Martha Graham and share it with those who may not have seen it before.  It is something of which any artist should be reminded.

The art work is by Brian Reso, a unique, highly acclaimed fine artist. He writes that he attempts to achieve with his images, “art which impacts the viewer sufficient to create an emotional response by the use of color, form and motion.”  His images do exactly what he intended in my opinion.  To view more see: http://www.artbyreso.com

- dan jacobs

LIFE FORCE AS AN ARTIST

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly; to keep the channel open.  You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU.  Keep the channel open . . .

No artist is pleased . . . there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

-  Martha Graham – American Dancer, Teacher and Choreographer of modern dance, 1894-1991 – in a letter to Agnes DeMille

Art by Brian Reso
http://www.artbyreso.com

WHAT IS LUCK?

You can’t buy it and you can’t sell it – and what’s more, the harder you try to hold on to it, the more likely it is that it will vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak.

Because in and of itself, luck not a thing; it’s the label we put on some good fortune after it has already happened.

So what is this thing called luck anyway?

The following story might give us some insight. It is also a real-life example about seeing opportunity in problems and expanding into the demand.

Here is the story.

If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, where to get one?t It sounds funny now, but If you wanted one that was better than most of the store watches you went to the train station. For about 500 towns across the northern United States, that’s where the best watches were found.

Why were the best watches found at the train station? Well, the railroad company wasn’t selling the watches, the telegraph operator was. Most of the time the telegraph operator was located in the railroad station because the telegraph lines followed the railroad tracks from town to town.

Most of the station agents were also skilled telegraph operators and that was the primary way that they communicated with the railroad. They would know when trains left the previous station and when they were due at their next station. And it was the telegraph operator who had the watches. As a matter of fact they sold more of them than almost all the stores combined for a period of about 9 years.

This was all arranged by “Richard”, who was a telegraph operator himself. He was on duty in the North Redwood, Minnesota train station one day when a load of watches arrived from the east. It was a huge crate of pocket watches but no one ever came to claim them.

So Richard sent a telegram to the manufacturer and asked them what they wanted to do with the watches. The manufacturer didn’t want to pay the freight back, so they wired Richard to see if he could sell them. So Richard did. He sent a wire to every agent in the system asking them if they wanted a cheap, but good, pocket watch. He sold the entire case in less than two days and at a handsome profit.

That started it all. He ordered more watches from the watch company and encouraged the telegraph operators to set up a display case in the station offering high quality watches for a cheap price to all the travelers. It worked! It didn’t take long for the word to spread and, before long, people other than travelers came to the train station to buy watches.

Richard became so busy that he had to hire a professional watch maker to help him with the orders. That was Alvah. And the rest is history as they say.

The business took off and soon expanded to many other lines of dry goods. Richard and Alvah left the train station and moved their company to Chicago — and it’s still there.

IT’S A LITTLE KNOWN FACT that for a while in the 1880′s, the biggest watch retailer in the country was at the train station.

It all started with a telegraph operator: Richard Sears and his partner Alvah Roebuck.

The company they started was called “Sears and Roebuck and Co.” and from its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous.

The moral is simple: Keep your eyes open and your powder dry. Luck will find you soon enough – if you’re also awake enough to recognize it when it shows up and take advantage of it.

daniel w. jacobs
(c) 2011-2030, all rights reserved

MIDNIGHT MASS

Once in a while someone sends me one of their own writings that surprises me. This essay by Doug Houseworth, is one of those. Frankly, I’ve rarely laughed so hard. It’s a very well written piece with brevity, sincerity and most of all, humanity.

I think you’ll enjoy it. – daniel w. jacobs

Midnight Mass In Posen Michigan

A True Christmas Story

By

Doug Houseworth

     July 1, of 1978 I married a wonderful Catholic girl from Posen Michigan.  This is a Polish community near Lake Huron in the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.  Susan came from a family of seven children and she was the only girl.  Her father had always envisioned a traditional Polish Catholic wedding for her.  Unfortunately, such plans came to an end when she fell in love with me.  Not only was I protestant but also I had been married twice before.  Even my mother felt sorry for her parents.

Our love prevailed and we were married at my house beneath a giant maple tree.  It was a most informal affair and Susan’s family attended with great reservation.  My entrance and acceptance into this good family was a fragile process.  That year there were a few summer trips to the family cottage on Grand Lake near Posen, and in the fall a Thanks Giving dinner at their home.  Things seemed to be going OK; then came Christmas.

I had only been inside a Catholic church on a few occasions and never to a midnight mass.  Of course, we were invited.  We got to my in-laws house early in the day and Susan’s father; Frank introduced me to what was apparently a Polish family tradition, one that I might add, was much to my liking.  Drinking beer and eating an inordinate amount of Polish kielbasa was my idea of an afternoon well spent.  We had a large, well-prepared dinner before Mass and if memory serves me, I would say a few more beers.  The adventure of a new experience at midnight mass was just ahead.

Around 11:00pm, I began to notice some rolling pain in my abdomen.  At first it wasn’t too bad.  By midnight it became quite intense and I began to worry.  The pressure was building.  When we got to the church it was packed.  At this point Frank became the director of seating and to my horror, not only were Susan and I separated but also our family group sat in the middle of a long church pew.  I looked to the left and to the right; there was no easy escape.  Frank and I sat next to each other in the middle of the pew.

The pain began to escalate and my thoughts turned to relief.  The unpredictable standings, kneeling and sitting didn’t help much.  At this point, the pressure was so great that I was afraid to move.  I needed a plan.  I ruled out the prospect of negotiating my way past the faithful, to the end of the pew and hopefully to the men’s room, without attracting attention to myself.  It was too late!  A process began, which I can only describe as a “farting meditation.”  Never have I been so focused or clear minded.

There were two important objectives that began to emerge.  These were silence and dryness.  Trying to control odor was not reasonable.  Besides, if odor were the only consequence, it would be impossible for one to say exactly where it came from.  I reasoned that the combination of good sphincter control and alternately tightening and loosening my gluteus maximus, would allow me to control the release of gas.  Should there be any sound, I could control it.  The issue of dryness was an unknown, but it was a risk I had to take.  There were a few intrusive thoughts of Frank telling his buddies that his new son-in-law messed his pants in church.  But I stayed focused, taking things a step at a time.

I cannot say there was the sweet smell of success, but the first two goals were accomplished.  A great volume of gas was released, with precise control, in complete silence and total dryness.  I felt a brief sense of accomplishment, which was soon shattered by an exceedingly foul odor.

I was afraid to look at Frank least he suspect me as the source of this terrible smell.  Without moving my head, I rolled my eyes in his direction.  He sat stoically, looking straight ahead, seemingly absorbed in the sermon.  The denial began to set in.  I reasoned that since gas was lighter than air, perhaps it rose from my bottom up through my sports coat on up to heaven.  Not only was it dry and silent, God and I were the only ones who smelled it.  Yeah, that must be it!

This sequence of events repeated itself several times during the service.  Each time I discretely looked at Frank and his expression never changed.  Finally, the service was over and we all went home.  Before going to bed, Susan, Frank and I were sitting in the living room.  Susan’s mom, Marge walked in and said, “Well Frank, how did you like the service?”  “Well, he said, the service was fine, but my God, that fat lady that sat in front of us, I thought I was gonna die.  I never smelled anything so bad in my life.”

I laughed so hard I could barely breathe.  Ten years later, I confessed my sin of compression to Frank.  It was OK; we both laughed.

Doug Houseworth

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT (and act upon)

Throughout history any civilization that rewards non-production and penalizes production ends up with no production from any.

This has been the downfall of every great nation that has ever existed, including our own.

To understand economics you must start with the idea that you can’t understand it. It’s too complicated, that’s what’s so simple about it. – daniel w. jacobs

Read this and pass it along to everyone you know.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never
failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That
class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor
and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on
Obama’s plan”.. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same
grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades
for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The
students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were
happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had
studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride
too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and
name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the
benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism
would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to
succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try
or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on)

Anon.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to
this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out
of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for
without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not
first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because
the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the
idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what
they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Can you think of a reason for not sharing this? Neither could I.

Author is unknown but the message should not be. Pass it on!

PLACES I’VE BEEN

I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots.  Apparently, you can’t go alone.  You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I’ve also never been in Cognito.  I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane.  They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there.  I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt.  That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I go there more often as I’m getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense!  It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart!

At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

Author Unknown

STOP BEING SO REASONABLE

Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman.

Only the “unreasonable man” – he who possesses enough audacity, boldness, and courage to put ideas into action and dreams into reality, has the chance to change his life, or the world.

Such people see how something could be better and set out to make it happen, ignoring distractions, opinions, obstacles; not seeking approval from others before they start, preferring to ask for forgiveness rather than waiting for permission.

They don’t just wish or want things to be different or only adapt to the norm. They make a deliberate, conscious decision to bring into being, what they see in their minds eye. To them, just because it’s “always been that way,” doesn’t mean that it has to stay that way.

They don’t apathetically accept things as they are, without any hope of change. Instead, they image how things could be, and begin to make it so. Their imaginative foresight is so compelling that the “norm” becomes unacceptable and that fact alone ends up propelling them into action to bring their lives in line with the one they imagine.

People with these characteristics are in fact, unreasonable (and happily so).

Now, are you ready for a change?
First, ask yourself, “What consistently bugs me?” “What gets under my skin?” “What would I like to change about myself, or my life, really?”

Then ask yourself, “Do I just accept things as they are, when I can clearly see they need to change? Or do I demand the change I know I need and want?

The change you envision must be so strong that it thoroughly engages your attention and excites your imagination. It must be so important to you personally that it is worth the sacrifice to make it so. It commonly will capture your passion so completely that there are times when you can think of nothing else except how to bring your dreams into reality.

Now, if these elements are acceptable to you, you’re ready for change and there is real hope for a bright future.

The next step is to firm up the contract you are making with yourself. Make it real. Put it in writing. And most importantly, make it specific. The words of Lily Tomlin ring true: “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.”

Get into Action
Now, ask yourself: “What would someone, who was doing what I really want to do, be doing right now?” Then ask, “What am I doing right now?”

Compare these two answers and adjust accordingly.

If not now, when?
Once you have identified exactly what needs to change to reach your objective, take a look at where you are right now. Figure out the exact next step that you must take to get started. Then take it. Momentum will soon start to build on itself and keep you moving forward even when you don’t feel like it.

Everything starts with a decision not to accept the status quo just because its always been that way. Change does not occur without a willingness to challenge the mold of tradition and become far more unreasonable and much less “reasonable.”

Don’t be so reasonable about why you can’t do something. Don’t be so accepting of the excuses, explanations and reasons why something can’t be done. Anything can be accomplished if you decide it can be – and make that decision without any doubts or reservations whatsoever.

The only reason why it isn’t done is because you took your eye off the goal and started looking for reasons why you might fail. This is, in fact, the only reason for failure. There is no other.

So, lets just knock off being so reasonable about why something can’t be done. Anything can be; if you just decide that it can be, and stop looking for reasons to explain why you failed.

Remember: “All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Lets start making some real progress for a change, okay?

daniel w. jacobs
© 2011  – 2030, all rights reserved

TRUTH IS FREEDOM

Another year has passed. A birthday arrived and it seems just as quickly, is now a memory. But, I have not forgotten my friends, who are due another gift from me on this special occasion. Deeply personal yet universal in application; short in words and long in meaning, here it is – a gift to you in celebration of my birthday, May 2011.

TRUTH IS FREEDOM

Truth is freedom

A life of truth is a life of power

Believe nothing just because a wise person said it

Believe nothing only because it is written in ancient texts

Believe nothing simply because it is claimed to be of divine origin

Believe nothing merely because “everyone else” says it is true

Believe nothing that says you can’t be, do, or have anything you decide

Believe nothing you cannot see as truth, including anything I’ve written here

Above all, believe in yourself first

Freedom is truth

daniel w. jacobs
A gift to my friends on my birthday, May 2011

ON LOVE – an essay

ON LOVE – an essay.

THE FIRST LAW OF SUCCESS

Haven’t we all seen the bright entrepreneur with the great new idea ultimately end up in bankruptcy?  Or the seemingly successful business flounder and fail for no apparent reason?  Or a supremely talented friend whose career languished when it should have flourished?

These things happen everyday, yet no one is able to tell us exactly why.  And all the justifications, explanations and reasons offered as to why this happened do nothing to help us avoid the same fate.

But one thing is as clear as a mile-high, neon sign on a jet-black night:

DON’T SHOW UP . . . and your failure is nearly guaranteed.

Which, by obvious deduction, leads us to this second undeniable fact:

THE FIRST LAW OF SUCCESS IS: JUST SHOW UP!

Why?  Because all other laws are useless unless you first SHOW UP.

What does it mean to show up?  It just means to stop hiding; show up and really be there; participate instead of being a spectator; answer your phone calls personally; be interested in people; open a conversation and make a contribution; return your phone calls; answer your letters; go to that meeting or party; accept the invitation to speak and stick around after-wards and talk to people; it’s all about just showing up and contributing.

It’s guaranteed that you’ll never sell anybody anything if you don’t show up.  It’s like getting all dressed up and heading out to a party and then not talking to anyone all night.  The more you practice showing up, the easier and more natural it becomes.  And soon, doors of opportunity open for you that you didn’t even know existed.

It’s all pretty simple once you decide to JUST SHOW UP.

One more thing.  If you’re only looking for a reason not to show up, you can ALWAYS find one. So why bother?  It’s a lot easier to just decide to show up?  You’ve got nothing to lose except your invisibility and eventual failure. You’ll be far better off to just show up, contact, engage and get into communication with people.

Even the famous director and comedian Woody Allen had it right when he said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”  But he left out the other side of the coin: “Not show up, you’ll fail at least eighty percent of the time.“

Don’t even look for reasons not to show up.  Train yourself to say YES, instead of your usual response of “maybe sometime or we’ll see.” Get off the fence.  Stop pretending.  Either you’re interested in success or you’re not.  If you are, then make it happen.  It costs you little or nothing to do so, and the potential gains are exponential.

Further, if you work at it, you will see desirable changes in every other aspect of your life. All this and more is yours, if you JUST SHOW UP.

daniel w. jacobs
(c) 2010 – 2020, all rights reserved

Quotes on Practicing

People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball. ~Sandy Koufax, Baseball player

Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. ~Martha Graham, American Dancer, Choreographer, 1894-1991

As to (practicing) methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few.  The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.  The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.  – Robert Schumann

Practice is the best of all instructors. ~Publilius Syrus, Roman author, 85-43 B.C.

Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence and whereto. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.
~Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player

When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win.~Ed Macauley, Basketball player

Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best. – Unknown

Everything you need to get that relaxed driving that brings consistency only comes with practice. ~John Surtees

The heart of a human being is no different from the soul of heaven and earth. In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang. ~Morihei Ueshiba

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, which takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. ~Arnold J. Toynbee

I have my daily priories. My main priority is to practice; my second priority is to process orders. After that, I just see what is left to do. I have a very organized day. ~Michael Schenker

You learn to see by practice. It’s just like playing tennis, you get better the more you play. The more you look around at things, the more you see. The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can’t be photographed. You just have to keep doing it. ~Eliot Porter

If someone wants to play music you do not have to get a ruler or whips to make them practice. ~Thelonious Monk

If I don’t practice the way I should, then I won’t play the way that I know I can. ~Ivan Lendl

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. – Vince Lombardi

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.  Jim Rohn

Observe, record, tabulate, communicate. Use your five senses. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert. – William Osler

If you sound great in the practice room, you’re practicing the wrong thing. –Mr. Dave Martin

I found myself being more attracted to artists who have developed through the years and become better and deeper musicians.  I believe in things that are developed through hard work.  – Bill Evans, pianist

Music is best that is deeply personal and universal at the same time. – dan jacobs

Music is one of the few ways that you can expose yourself in public and not get arrested.  – dan jacobs

Only a healthy dose of humility allows one to give music the respect it deserves. – dan jacobs

AESTHETICS OR ANAESTHETICS

Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty.

Anaesthetics (also spelled anesthetics) is a medical term for an agent causing a local or general loss of sensation or feeling.

The first one, aesthetics, creates an increase in awareness, feeling, aliveness.  Whether as a participant or a spectator, the arts are aesthetics and create space, freedom and life.

The second, anaesthetics, creates just the opposite; loss of awareness, sensation, feeling or aliveness.  Drugs are  anaesthetic and create solidity, entrapment and death.

Which would you prefer?

daniel w. jacobs
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