AFTER…THE SCREAMING AND THE CRYING, and, yes, I must confess using words I have never used before, it suddenly became obvious that I temporarily lost sight of the discovery. Not to learn from THE person who literally walked the talk was to ignore all the lessons.  Michael’s journey of coping with injustice spanned five decades…whether the injustice was toward those without a voice or hurled at him personally.  How did he handle it? What did he do?  The media would like us to believe he fell apart, took drugs, gave up.  Real study of the man’s life presents a completely different picture.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrmF0joul5s  That picture has been a blueprint for me. Michael’s creativity took on the layering that we see when we look up at the clouds.  This blueprint for helping me cope with injustice also takes on layers:  (Children, animals, nature) (Work) (People) (Charity)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z0biZHXnWA

CHILDREN  ANIMALS  NATURE

“When I begin to feel a little tired or burdened, children revive me.  I turn to them for new life, for new music.  Two brown eyes look at me so deeply, so innocently, and inside I murmur, ‘this child is a song.’  It is so true and direct an experience that instantly I realize again, ‘I am a song also,’ I am back to myself once more.”  DANCING THE DREAM  Michael Jackson

Michael turned to nature to refill and find inspiration, to heal. Michael turned to children.   He would visit terminally ill children in hospitals in Los Angeles.  When the 1993 false accusation began, Michael heard about it and immediately left his hotel in Moscow to visit children in an orphanage.  In fact, he spent time with children all over the globe.

Michael’s home at Neverland offered freedom… opportunities to walk in the natural world, to see beauty all around, to hear music in everything, to dance in the moonlight.  Because Michael rescued both domestic and wild animals that had been abused, his home offered that wonderment of spending time with animals.  The media painted this as strange, but Michael said he saw nothing strange in wanting to spend time with animals…”I find in animals the same thing I find so wonderful in children.  That purity, that honesty, where they don’t judge you, they just want to be your friend.  I think that is so sweet.”

“I love being around kids.  They notice everything.  They aren’t jaded.  They get excited about things we’ve forgotten to get excited about any more.  They look at everything with such fresh eyes, such open minds.  That’s part of what makes kids so creative.  they don’t worry about the rules…the picture doesn’t have to be in the center of the paper.  The sky doesn’t have to be blue.  They are accepting of people, too.  The only demand they make is to be treated fairly…and, to be loved.  I think that’s what we all want.  If I were living for no other reason than to help and please kids, that would be enough for me.  They’re amazing people…AMAZING.” Michael Jacksonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLG9uf1Op6U

So what did I take from this first layer of the blueprint?  I take from it the freedom to walk in nature.  My morning walks offer a connection.  When I see dawn and all its wonderment, I feel hopeful.  Spending time with our little pup, Casey, offers play and giggles and love.  Visiting with neighborhood children as they wait for the early school bus or play outside making snow people gives me new perspectives in my day.  I listen.  I take time to look at the sky, to see the trees and the beauty of snow.  I try to hear what nature is saying.  When I do this, I calm.  My polluted mind washes clean.  I feel better.

WORK

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When Michael was asked how he deals with the myth-making lies of the media, he replied, “I turn it into positive energy.  And I write about it; it’s in my movement, it’s in the expression on my face.  And it becomes a part of me, part of my creation.  And I try not to let it get to me.  Because if you do, you’ll go crazy.”  Joseph Vogel said in his book MAN IN THE MUSIC…Michael was able to turn the injustices in his life into astounding music.  “Somehow, in the midst of the circus that surrounded him, Michael Jackson managed to leave behind one of the most impressive catalogs in the history of music.  Rarely has an artist been so adept at communicating the vitality and vulnerability of the human condition…The music ran through him like an electric current.  He mediated it through every means at his disposal:  his voice, his body, his dance, films, costumes, technology, and performances…He was Art Incarnate.”  FEATURING MICHAEL JACKSON.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_SZbbReAGY

This layer of the blueprint for coping occupies a positive portion of my life.  Michael was a workaholic.  He truly loved to create.  He loved being in the studio.  He loved being on set.  He loved performing.  I love to write.  This opportunity I have to write a blog and send it out into cyberspace is a gift to me.  It affords me an opportunity to PAY MICHAEL FORWARD, and in doing that, I feel I am honoring this amazing life I have been gifted.  It also is an opportunity to speak up for justice.  I guess I feel like I am contributing something and that is a positive feeling.

Michael’s entire catalog speaks to humanity…love songs speak of the human condition, intimacy, young love, love that has died, betrayal, love for children.  Social justice songs speak of injustice, greed, racism, prejudice, bigotry, hatred, marginalizing, slander, lies, war, destruction of the environment, abortion, abuse, corruption.  Songs speak to charity and humanitarian efforts.  All songs speak to people loving one another and the planet.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHCN-Rs6JNo

Michael takes his audiences on a journey musically, storytelling and in performance.  That journey emotes from his heart to all that spend time with him.  I am a better person having spent time with Michael.  And, that informs my writing.

“I usually am happy.  I don’t let anything get me down, no matter what.  I like to hear the sound of water, and birds chirping and laughter, you know.  I love all the real, natural, innocent things.  I would never to go to a party or a club.  I did that when I was a kid, and I don’t care to do that anymore.  If it weren’t for my desire to help the children of the world, I would throw in the towel.  Everything I create is inspired by that kind of innocence.  And nature, it’s everything.  It has to be.  I mean, that’s it.”  Michael Jackson

The work, the drive, the mission…those are the things that drove Michael.  NEVER GIVE UP…NEVER GIVE IN.

 PEOPLEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_TFFy0BWSs

Michael was a people person.  He came from a large family.  He loved the connection to people.  He was curious about everything and everyone.  The journeys of life interested him.  He loved to collaborate.  He often said, “I love people, I really do.”  And, he truly loved his fans.  Since I have taken this journey with Michael, I have been THE LUCKY ONE.  I have connected with beautiful kindred spirits, people I have never met face to face, but, people that I feel I truly know at the soul level.  My heart has connected with so many other beautiful hearts…MICHAEL’S ARMY OF LOVE.  When the injustice becomes almost more than I think I can bear, I turn to my kindred spirit angels.  Together, we try to make sense of what is happening, we encourage one another and we inspire one another.  I am still astounded by the wonder of it all…people from all over the world joining together because of one man.  I am strengthened by that fact.

HUMANITARIANISM

 Michael’s unparalleled humanitarian efforts have sparked in me a passion to try to help make a change in the world far beyond any small efforts I might have made in the past.  Each and every time I contribute a tiny bit to a cause, I feel Michael’s heart.  There have been times when I have been listening to Michael’s music and, suddenly, I have gotten an idea which propels me out of my chair.  In fact, that is how I began my journey into Facebook and blogging.  It was Michael’s music.  “When you want to be near me, listen to my music.  The love is stored there.”  Michael Jackson  I think this is the strongest layer of the blueprint for me.  Michael’s music always, always, ALWAYS gives me hope and inspiration.

Do I believe in the statement:  Faith is nothing if untested.  I have struggled with that frequently.  Do I believe in the statement: Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have.  I have struggled with that.  “MAKE LOVE YOUR WEAPON AGAINST ANY EVIL.”  That has been my biggest struggle as injustice takes another hit.  What do I do as a Fan of Michael Jackson in this time of Conrad Murray, AEG and Wade Robson, articles supposedly about XSCAPE, turned into opportunities to call Michael a pedo, where attorneys for the estate hedge and make statements that they “hope” Michael wasn’t a child molester…people who are making a fortunate from Michael’s tireless work, who have no loyalty.  I turn to the blueprint of CHILDREN, ANIMALS, NATURE…WORK…PEOPLE…HUMANITARIANISM.  I turn to the reason I write this blog in the first place.  I TURN TO MICHAEL.

“LET US HEAL THE WORLD AND BLIGHT ITS PAIN…AND, MAY WE MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER.”  Michael Jacksonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL3XKI0yyNE

Thank you, Dear Friends, for spending this time with me. I am truly struggling today with the horrific articles coming out…excuses for dredging up myth-making media hate and lies.  Today, I truly feel that we, THE NEW MEDIA, MICHAEL’S FANS are his only hope.  I hope that Michael’s blueprint for coping with injustice resonates.  THERE’S NOTHING THAT CAN’T BE DONE IF WE RAISE OUR VOICE AS ONE.  IT’S ALL FOR LOVE.  LET’S HOLD ONTO EACH OTHER IN THE DAYS AHEAD.

Jude

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