Inspire Me - Week 7 - Art of Possibility Ch. 5

Chapter 5 of "Art of Possibility" is called "Leading From Every Chair." What I got out of it was the difference between motivating people by asserting your position over them, and motivating people by bringing the best out of them. A lot of it involves allowing them to participate in the process. It allows them to take partial ownership of the critical decisions.

There are those theater directors who tell their actors step by step, beat by beat, where to stand, what to do, and how to do it. Then, there are those who communicate to their actors what is needed in the scene, the play, the story. The actors can then find their own way to bring out their best performance to meet the needs of the work and create the desired effect.

Ben Zander accomplishes this with his orchestra by placing a white sheet of paper on everyone's music stand. The players may write comments, suggestions, criticisms, in order to communicate their needs to him. He then made a concerted effort to be conscious of those needs in rehearsal, and often the creative process is more effective because of it.

This got me thinking about inspiration. What inspires me? What inspires people I know? What do I try to do to help inspire others? I grouped it all into this song, as if it was one specific person. In truth, the inspirations mentioned in the song come from several of my friends and family members.

I thought about the song for a long time, and wrote it here and there, little by little over the course of 2 weeks. Hope you enjoy it.

Inspire Me - Words and Music by Carl J Ferrara, (c) 2013

You don't tell me what to do, you don't tell me how to do it.
You tell me what you need, and let me work through it.
I'm always showing off, trying to impress.
Don't want to let you down, that's why I do my best.

Can't you see?
You make me be all that I can be.
You open up new possibility.
You Inspire Me.

Life's spinning me around every single day.
You point me towards the audience, showing me the way.
You went ahead and did it, that's how I know I can.
I've got my own cheering section shouting, "You Da Man!"

Can't you see?
Open up the door and hand me the key.
Sparking all my creativity.
You Inspire Me.

Put obstacles in my path and watch me go around it.
See the path we leave behind is better than we found it.


Can't you see?
You make me be all that I can be.
You open up new possibility.
You Inspire Me.


Can't you see?
Open up the door and hand me the key.
Sparking all my creativity.
I'll do anything if you're right there with me.
You Inspire Me.

All I Have To Say - Week 6

I'm taking a break from the "Art of Possibility Project," to share a song I wrote, and wrote again, then wrote a third time for my wife.

My favorite rock and roll story about writer's block involves John Lennon. According to legend, he was battling a serious case of writer's block. No ideas were coming to him at all. One might ask, why didn't he turn to his writing partner, Paul McCartney, for inspiration? True Beatle fans know that the earliest Lennon/McCartney tunes were written together, but later songs were written seperately, and then the other guy would change a word or two in order to take credit for having some input.

So, John is sitting around waiting for inspiration, when finally, he decides to write ABOUT the fact that he has writer's block. He picked up his guitar (or sat at the piano, I don't know) and he started to write... "He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land...." The result was one of my all time favorite Beatles songs.

Something similar happened to me. I wanted so badly to write a love song for my girlfriend. I fancied myself a romantic bard who could express himself beautifully and melt the lady's heart. But nothing came. I found myself locked into my own need to be "real." I could write romantic things, but the truth is what I felt went deeper than that. No words could accurately express, to my mind, my true feelings of love for this woman.

So, I pulled a Lennon, and decided to write a song about how hard it was for me to write a song. I figured that the most romantic thing I could say was, "Words cannot express how much I love you." I then played around with the sentiment and BOOM a song was born.

I dedicate this song to my beloved wife, Paula, on our 14th wedding anniversary. 14 years and we never had a fight.*

*that ended in dismemberment.

All I Have To Say - Words and Music by Carl J Ferrara (c) 1989

I've been trying to write a song for you to show how much I care,
But whenever I sit down to write, the words would not be there
I tried to be poetic, like I always wanted to be,
But the most beautiful words I know can't say what you mean to me.

If I knew the words, I'd put them in a song
But now I can see, I've been going about it all wrong.

I tried keeping it simple, nice and easy from the start,
But the words to a love song should come straight from the heart.
I tried to be dynamic in my own special way...
But why should I ramble on with words,
When "I Love You" is All I Have to Say.

I tried being ironic, trying to make you smile
But the way it turned out in the end was never quite my style.
I tried playing around with the words and the rhythms to see how that would go,
But the words, when set to music would never let my feelings show.

Oh, the music I would play would be the perfect start
But words can never say what I'm feeling in my heart.

So, I've given up on writing words, I've wasted too much time.
I've run out of clever things to say, and ways to make them sound the same.
And I finally realized as I do with every passing day...
I don't have to ramble on with words,
"I Love You" is All I Have To Say.

Because of Me - Week 5 - Art of Possibility Ch. 4

When Sandy hit, I was concerned for my family, and my friends, many of whom lived on the south shore of Long Island. My instinct was to go out and help where I could; but I found that I couldn't. My neighborhood was blocked in by fallen trees and downed wires. Plus, my power went out, and stayed out for over 2 weeks. So, as much as I wanted to offer my friends and family who lost houses, or heat, or food, someplace to shower and eat and stay warm, it was impossible. I remember being especially frustrated by that. I WANTED to help, but felt crippled by my complete inability to do so. Finally, when I returned to school, we opened the school as a place for relief; charging stations, food, clothing, internet; just a place where those in the community who needed could come to get. It felt so good to FINALLY be able to do SOMETHING, no matter how small it seemed.

This is what I thought about when I read Chapter 4 of Zander, "Being a Contribution." He starts off with the tale of the woman who is throwing starfish back into the ocean that have washed up on a beach. A man sees her and tells her, "What are you doing? You'll never save them all. What you're doing doesn't matter." And she responds, as she tosses a star fish, "It mattered to THAT one." The practice of "Being a Contribution" is to set forth every day trying to contribute to the world, no matter how small or minor you may think that contribution is. It shifts your thinking from serving yourself, to serving others.

This song is the first song of the SONG A WEEK 2013 project that I actually STARTED this year. The other four songs are from 2009 or beyond. At first I wrote a song directly about my experience during Sandy, but the song was just not working. The inspiration wasn't there. The minute I abandoned that initial idea, and re-read the chapter, I had this new idea: "Let It Be Because of Me." The song then just poured out of me. I tweaked it, and refined over the course of the week, and shifted the lyrics to reflect the spirit of generosity, and trying to help others in need, rather than making "Let it Be Because of me" mean "Let me come in and save the day!" I think I succeeded. Enjoy.

Because of Me - Music and Lyrics by Carl J Ferrara, (c) 2013

A man took in his family after the tide washed out the shore
A house that was made for 2 is now home to 10 or more.
I gave him food to tie him over, even brought it to his car,
Funny how a little thing helps us move on from where we are.
                Let it be Because of Me.

My friends were feeling tension, a husband and a wife,
Their marriage being ripped apart by all the stress of life.
I volunteered to babysit so they could have a date,
They hashed it out and reconnected, they're still married to this day.
               Let it be Because of Me.

Let it be because I made a contribution
Let it be because I had something to say
Let it be because I asked, "What can I do for you today?"
               Let it be Because of Me.

A kid is being bullied, just being him is really tough
Doesn't see the point of living, and he's almost given up
But he wakes up every morning just to practice for my show
He discovered hidden talents that he didn't even know.
               Let it be Because of Me

Let it be because I reached out at that moment,
Let it be because I thought not of myself.
Let the world be that much better because I chose to help.
               Let it be Because of Me