Philosophies of a King

dancingthedream

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It is a well known fact that Michael had a unique sense of the world. One that sparked ceaseless humanitarian efforts in all aspects. From children around the globe to animals and nature, Michael put forth countless donations and backed a plethora of organizations with a goal to heal the world. This desire was only the surface of a deep understanding that most fail to pay attention to. While his music and performances will always be the icons that made the man, I find that his philosophies should also be discussed. In this thread, talk about the concepts and ideas that you have learned from Michael and his words. He thrived with lessons in everything he did. Share whatever he taught you here. It can be in regards to his humanitarianism, his work ethic in the performance world, or it can touch on the ideas of the universe that he often contemplated. "The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work."


On Life:
When I think of Michael Jackson, there are five words that come to mind. Words that came to me through his actions and his poetry. The first word being Dance. In almost every form possible, Michael was a dancer to the core. From the explosive movements on stage to the tiny atomic jig that occurred at his molecular level. Everything he did and saw was a dance. The way the sun rose and the tides rolled in. The way the moon twinkled in the sky with it's ensemble of stars. The way dolphins cavorted in the waves, dancing to the ever pulsing heartbeat of the earth. It was all a dance to him. The Dance of Life as he called it. In this dance, everything on earth and beyond played a roll. The sun, the stars, the moon, Earth's greatest lighting crew. Mountains, oceans, canyons, all elaborate set pieces to an eternal show. Humans, Animals, Plants, insects, each and every breath of life, dancers to an endless rhythm. The dance, just as life, will always carry on. In his own words, "Dancers may come and go in the twinkling of an eye, but the dance lives on." It is a fitting thought. He may have come and gone in a fragment of a lifetime, but his dance lives on, lessons carried in the hearts of the children. And just like him, we come and go in a split second of time, but life lives on.

The second word I think of when remembering the philosophies of Michael Jackson is simply the idea of Life. To him, it was an eternal force of divinity found in the eyes of a baby seal. It was a freedom of knowing found on the tips of the falcon's wings. Just as the dance can never die, neither can life. Just like the stars, "A star can never die, it just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music. The dance of Life." Life to him was the force that conquered the earth. In his poem, Baby Seal, he wrote; "I am not one baby alone. I am life, and life can never be killed. It is the power that brought me forth from the emptiness of space; it cared for me and nourished my existence against all dangers. I am safe because I am that power. And so are you. Be with me, and let us feel the power of life together, as one creature here on earth.”

One. The key word in that final phrase. It is a word that flashed before my eyes every day, but I failed to understand the depth of it until recently. Illuminated on Billboards, it titles the recent Cirque Du Soleil show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Named after a quote from the filming of This Is It, I've found it lingers in many things Michael did and said. One example in particular is the poem Heaven is Here. Two stanzas stood out to me in this poem that I find highlight the concept of One to the max. It reads; "You and I were never separate, it’s just an illusion, wrought by the magical lens of perception. There is only one Wholeness, one Mind. We are like ripples in the vast Ocean of Consciousness. Come let us dance, the Dance of Creation.[…] There was never a time when I was not or you were not. There never will be a time where we will cease to be. Infinite — Unbounded.” It’s the idea that we all exist as one entity… one source of divinity if you so choose. An entity unbounded by time and space, we exist eternally together and as one in this cosmic dance of life. As the song says, "You're just another part of me."

The fourth word that comes to mind is Magic. Michael had this wondrous ability to see the magic in everything. Especially in nature and in people. With every sunrise, he applauded the show. With every sick child that he could help, he discovered flight. Magic surrounded him, even on stage. They used to call the rhinestones on his glove dust because the way he manipulated the light with those glittering beads was a magicians act. And, everybody knows, the one true source of magic is pixie dust. He flooded Neverland with wonders that made the heart soar because "Wonder fills our hearts and the whole world abounds with magic." He always strived to see that magic in the people he met or saw, training his designers to see like he did. Michael would always drill a phrase into their heads. "Look at all the art in the room." He didn't mean the paintings or architecture. He meant the people. Each and every one of us is a work of art. Different stories making us different people. We must never forget to see the art.

The final word that embodies the ideas of Michael is Love. L-O-V-E, love. That was the force that drove everything he did. That was the center of all creation. Love. It has the power to change the world. With it, the world could rid of its endless destruction. Michael saw that and preached it in everything he did. We are obligated to carry on that torch and spread love to the ones around us. After all, we've been deemed the Soldiers of Love. It's up to us to honor that title.

On Success:
Not only was Michael a unique thinker on the methods of the universe, but he also had a rare perception of how to attain success. It is a system I have found every successful person follows. It goes as follows: Our brains function as computers. Whatever we put into them will come out. If it is something positive that we program into our brains, positivity will emerge. Thus the opposite may occur. Scribbled out on a note to himself, Michael once wrote, "I have learned that it is what you put in your mind mentally what you think and do, that makes your person. And you can put any mental object in this mind and it will bring it to reality. So this means we can program ourselves to be the people we want to be, Whatever the subject matter is, live in it By a mental physical program or system of learning and doing. Studying all the greats in that field and becoming greater."

My all time favorite quote comes from Michael's Costume designer, Michael Bush. Bush wrote, "Limitations, I learned from him, are either self imposed or are predicated by the limited vision of others." It is an idea that has stuck with me over the years. If you draw a line at limitations, how can you ever expect to surpass the ordinary. By ridding of the concept of limitations, opportunity becomes boundless. You can do anything in the world if you want it bad enough. Michael surrounded himself with a crowd of people that believed the same. If you couldn't jump the boundary of limitation, you could not keep up with him. I had the honor to meet one of those people this year.

Greg Phillinganes was Michael's keyboardist and musical director for much of his career. When I spoke with him I asked for a lesson. He thought on it for a moment, then gave me these words, "Find your talent and build on it. Really cultivate it to its highest potential. Trust yourself and trust in god." This was a lesson that mimicked those Michael often preached. He frequently spoke about the importance of believing in yourself no matter what. And to be true to yourself. It is an idea carried by the many people he worked with, leaving a legacy that will live long into the future.


"Be as crazy as you want, as wild as you want. Just believe in yourself. Don't be shy at all, and don't give up." ~Michael Jackson
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These are a mere portion of the lessons I have learned from Michael and his peers over the years. What have you learned?[/FONT]
 
Hi Dancing!! You're at it again with your beautiful poetry!

I would say I learned to be myself from him.
 
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