Fall is upon us ...

A new season, a new start, a new beginning. Summer is ending, schools are starting, a fresh start. The winds are coming in, and that is why I wanted to write this post today. A message of hope to begin your day is what this blog is all about, and now is the time for hope. Fall beginning, summer ending, a new day is dawning. Let us all strive to reach a little further, to reach out and help another, to always and never stop hoping for that day when all shall be well. A fresh start is all we need to start again, and never stop hoping, never stop believing for that day when the Master shall say "Well done thou good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things, I will now make thee ruler over many things enter into the joy of the Lord."

Some of my favorite quotes

• Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? T. S. Eliot
• "Time for you to come on out the shadows Junuh. Time for you to choose.; I cant.; Yes, you can, but you aint alone. Im right here with ya. Ive been here all along. Now play the game. Your game, the one that only you was meant to play. The one that was given to you when you come into this world. You ready? Come on, take your stance. Strike that ball Junuh, dont hold nothing back, give it everything. Nows the time, let yourself remember, remember your swing, thats right Junuh. Settle yourself, lets go. Now is the time Junuh.

Bagger Vance: The Legend of Bagger Vance

• Father Hibbert: "Before I met that young man I didn't believe in much of anything. But now I'm starting to think that one day when my time is up, God is going to ask me, George did you ever put it on the line? Did you ever not know and still jump? Did you ever just close your eyes and let go? And right now my answer would be no, I never did. So I am closing my eyes..."
• Saint Ralph
• "Because I can't. I... had an experience... I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever... A vision... of the universe, that tells us, undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how... rare, and precious we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater then ourselves, that we are *not*, that none of us are alone! I wish... I... could share that... I wish, that everyone, if only for one... moment, could feel... that awe, and humility, and hope. But... That continues to be my wish."
• Ellie Arroway: Contact 
• "Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived." 
• William Parrish: Meet Joe Black
• "Should I be afraid?"..."Not a man like you":
• Meet Joe Black
• "Lightning could Strike": 
• Meet Joe Black
• "What will your verse be?": 
• Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society, 
• Quoting Walt Whitman
• "All you experience in the course of your life, all you observe and think, all that makes you happy or unhappy, all your regrets or satisfactions, all your love or hate, all you long for or avoid, all your achievements and failures, all you brought with you into this life at birth -your temperament, abilities, inclinations etc., all are part of the region of your so called subconscious depths. There being forgotten by you, or never known to you they undergo the process of being purified of all egotism. They become feelings per se. Thus purged and transformed, they become part of the material from which your Individuality creates the psychology, the illusory "soul" of the character."
• Michael Chekhov: To the Actor

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Quotes to live by

Get busy living, or get busy dying

Life

Life is a series of doors. A decision here, a decision there, but all that really matters is that we choose. Just make a decision and if it doesn't quite work out, and then come back out and choose door number two. We have to be bold enough to just make a choice, and I promise if it doesn't work out, you'll come out the other side. The wise man is bold, and makes a decision and goes for it, the unwise man stands outside the door and waits for it to be opened. We must decide right now to open that door, and jump into the deep end, and start swimming. There is no two ways about it, keep going into the deep end, and I promise eventually you will be a better person because you decided to take a chance on this crazy journey we call life.

Sincerely yours,

Brian Gardner

Begin Again

Life springs eternal. Hope is alive and well. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. Live fearlessly, live hopefully, always remembering that everything will be made alright in the end, and if it is not the end then it is not alright. Always know things work out in mysterious ways. But also know according to Einstein the simplest answer tends to be the truth. This blog is about hope, and that is my message for today. No matter how bad things get always know they will get better. I promise you from the bottom of my heart. There are hard things, and there are easy things, but again back to Einstein who said all we have to do is ask ourselves is this a friendly universe? And the answer of course is yes! We hope, we live, we yearn, and we seek again to believe in this ever growing future of this wonderful universe!

Thank you!

B-ri

My hero

I have one person to thank for my life: and that is my dad. I cannot say enough good things about him. I owe him everything. I could go on and on but all I know is this: without him I would not be alive today. He is my ultimate hero. He is the reason I am alive today. Thank you dad.

Love,

Your son,

Brian

The Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"

My favorite band to listen live has and always will be the Goo Goo Dolls. A close second being the Dave Mathews band. I am a child of the ninety's and my older sisters influenced me pretty good on those bands. The Goo Goo Dolls never cease to amaze me especially when they are singing their smash hit and classic balled "Iris." It also happens to be written as the title song for the hit movie "City of Angels," which also happens to be one of my favorite films. I love the scene when Nicolas Cage's character comes out of the shower and raises his arms and then cuts the pear, it's wonderful to see him really feeling what it is like to be alive after being on the other side for so long. The title song has always been a favorite of mine. The first stanza goes like this:

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't wanna go home right now

I don't ever want to go home after one of their concerts. The song touches me to my core because it was one of my brother's favorite songs, and I love their music because it always sends message of peace and hope. From "Better days," to "Black Balloon" to "Broadway," there music will always instill you with a sense of well being,  a sense that everything will be made alright in the end, and if it is not alright, then it definitely is not the end. Johnny Resnik is one of the greatest singer song writers of our time in my opinion. Every song has meaning, and every song can touch you to the core no matter what mood you are in, no matter what you are doing, just listen to one of their songs, and everything can and will change in an instant. As long as you believe that their is something greater than yourself out there, no matter what you believe, whether it be your own future self, or a higher power, there is nothing greater in this universe than faith. Have a little faith in yourself to see beyond yourself and always look forward to the day when everything will made alright; it may be sooner than you think. And most of the time it comes when your not thinking about or waiting for it, but not always. There is a time and a place for everything. A time to happy, a time to live and a time to love, a time to yearn, a time for peace, and a time for all suffering to end. Everything can and will change in one moment. One day, one night, one morning, one hope, one anything that will make you will help you to put the past behind you and start to live your dreams. Speaking of Nicolas Cage, he has been quoted as saying that music, can and will be the highest art form there is in the world. I tend to agree with him. Because music is something that can change things in that one moment, that one instant, that one fateful day when everything seems to come together, you definitely can sense a rhythm and rhyme to it, everything just seems to flow after that change in the atmosphere and it is usually when you choose to submit to that moment and learn to give in to the universe, and stop trying so hard then it just seems to flow better when you subconsciously and consciously decide to make that change in your life. Nicolas Cage has also said that for an actor or an artist it is not always about being happy or sad, it is just about succumbing to whatever you feel in that moment, and by just letting it flow and using whatever energy or feeling or atmosphere that seems to feel or fit the moment. As an actor myself I tend to agree with this notion that most artists seem to agree on, that if you are having a long day, and things are not going right, or you just tired, it's either you fake till you make it, or you just submit to the moment and just let it be, or basically just use whatever you are feeling that day or that time to make whatever you are doing or performing better. There is a moment in time when your paradigm and intention can change and things will start to feel better, or you may already be happy and living your dreams, but if your not we all know that we must make that change in our minds and in our hearts to one day stop hoping and start living, do you know when that day is? It is right now.

Thank you for listening,

Your ever faithful friend on this up and down, crazy, wonderful journey we call life.

Brian Gardner