Same Souls; Nouveau Outlooks
By Hakim Abdul-Ali
Happy New Year to all of the Charleston Chronicle’s loyal readership fan base and to others in the general and national public spheres. That greeting, of course, includes and is extended to all of the various multitudes of the bald eagle’s ethnically diverse population from Oregon to Georgia and places in between.
I know the upcoming Gregorian New Year also brings about some serious reflections on the parts of observant celebrants, who realized that the past year’s living process brought about many anticipated changes in their lives, including some welcomed and others, well, let’s say, unexpected.
No matter how you call it, this past year has been one for the books as life has continually unfolded so many happenings before our bewildering minds, hearts and souls. To some abstract-minded folk, life qualifies them as what I call “same souls.”
I don’t why all of a sudden that label entered my head, but, at heart, I’m an old school poet, writer and thinker, and that’s where my thoughts took me. So, since I’m there already in this rather theoretically provocative zone, I’ll continue on with my vibes of the present moment and see where it takes me.
The above mentioned “same souls” are, in reality, the ordinary Americans, of and from all ethnic backgrounds and religions, because they are “the me” and “the you” steering back us everywhere we go. All of us are “souls” who make up and are a part of the “same” what’s happening and going ons in our communities, states and nation.
We all probably are into futuristically investigating making some positive changes and productive moves in ourselves for the enhancement of our lives, especially with those in our immediate loving and caring orbits. From work to relationships, the future holds, hopefully, promises of riches and successes galore for all, if they but desire to do so.
This optimism on many of our American fellow citizens’ dream like state of wishful thinking, oftentimes, falls very short of all of those high spectrum covetous goals. In that scenario, I believe lies a inherent problem because when resolutions are made I wonder sometimes if they are only mere words, or thoughts, casually uttered to the winds of time. Think!
I hope that my vibe today brings a little sanity to your intended vows and oaths to this or that. Sometimes, I’ve got to be poetically correct when I approach your, and others’ mind-sets, about some things like your intimately expressed resolutions to this or for that wish to improve the advancement of peace, prosperity and tranquility in your life.
Think about what you said last year when said to “me, myself and I” that the three of you were going to do this or that in your life for the better. I know that it’s a personal inquiry of you, and there’s no one but you and the Most High Alone, who you know who “really” knows whether you fulfilled your verbalized promises, oaths, resolutions or vows to yourself (and others) for the better.
If you didn’t, then may I suggest to you that any vows, oaths, wishes and promises that you may make this year should be backed up with commitments and adherence to what you say you were going to do or wish to bring into being. Time waits for no one, no matter whether it’s on January 1 of any given year or the 12th of Neverary (smile).
On a serious tip, though, life is not something that your nor I should ever take for granted. It’s that serious of a deal because you could be here today and literally be gone the next one.
So, again I’m urging you, me and others that we all need to think about the changes for the better that must be made in our “same” respected norms to make personal peace and harmonic tranquility become visible in our “souls.” We need to be more “nouveau” in our approaches to the urgencies of valuing the potency of each fragile moment that’s handed to us by the Creator Alone.
Yes, there’s a need for relaxation in our lives, but with the perplexing state of today’s world, which is affecting all of our lives, I think we had better stop procrastinating like many of us having been doing for the last twelve months and longer. We need a “nouveau” understanding, or a wake-up reminder, that we must “TCB” now if we expect to accomplish anything positive in our lives.
Being “nouveau” conscious indicates an important up to date sense of awareness to the thinking, God Alone respecting soul, who knows that time is something that is far too precious to play with in a haphazard frame of mind. Some of us in our culture are the “Same Souls” but some are not hipped to the fact we must evolve progressively if we are to be “nouveau” in our optimistic outlooks about any positive current or future occurrences in our lives.
Do you get what I’m saying? It takes courage to stand up for what you believe in and to be able to weather all the storms of life, especially when everything and everyone around you seems to be against you. It’s a reoccurring theme for everyone everywhere, but I can faithfully tell you that when God Alone has your back, who cares about what others think or say?
Listen. A true believer in the magnificent powers of faithful thinking and positive action knows that happiness is the stuff that makes a soul contented. That’s very important to say and remember, so I respectfully ask you to intelligently reread that last sentence slowly to your mind, heart and soul more than a couple of times.
While on that flow, I remember something that one of the imminent heroes from the African-American culture once said which now resonates in my mind as I type. His name was James Van Der Zee and he was one of this country’s greatest photographers of the last century.
Mr. Van Der Zee once uttered that “Happiness is like perfume; you can’t pour it on someone else without getting a few drops on yourself.” That is some deep vintage righteous wisdom that’s right on “nouveau “ time today if you ask me. Just think about it.
I sincerely believe that most of the resolutions that are made are made in the spirit of emotional intensity, clearly without commitment or adherence to discipline one’s self in caring them out. Being forgetful, lazy, trifling, noncommittal, lackadaisical, or the like, in pursuing our stated oaths, vows, resolutions, promises or wishes of the present and the future leaves us unpretentious at best, or should I say at worst, in what say we want want to accomplish. Again, think about it.
Everyone of us needs to be an upwardly mobile being of “nouveau” thinking aptitude. Being able to change the course of our lives for the better lies within you and me and no one else because being unpretentious is not the way to be when you and I need to “TCB” in getting on with our lives.
Please remember that “thoughts are synonymous to actions.” It’s a reminder I say subliminally to “me, myself and I” periodically to instill the groundwork for my own personal “nouveau” outlooks to take root and become manifested realities within myself because “you are what you think you are,” hence reinforcing that “thoughts, again, are synonymous to actions.” Think.
In conclusion, you may be in the “same” skin that you’re in from last year, but this is a new day, and you don’t have to be a fool to your old unpleasant, unproductive and unpretentious ways. My words and thoughts for now only reflect that for some “Same Souls; Nouveau Outlooks” signals that a change for the better is in the air.”
Someone once said, “So as a man thinketh, so is he.” I trust that you value your existence enough to comprehend that your “nouveau” outlook depends on your actualizing your positive thoughts and actions which “will” bring about positive results into your worlds of existences. “Happy New Year.” For today and always, that’s, “As I See It.”