[Dixielandjazz] Confession - I had no clue . . .

[BillSargentDrums at aol.com]

I have a confession to make: I had no clue. Yup. Clueless.

Up until  yesterday, I had no idea who the real Amy Winehouse was. There 
were a couple of  reasons for that.

1. I don’t bother listening to just anything that comes  down the pike. 
Most of the stuff that is mass marketed by the labels and  Hollywood currently 
is, and has been for many years now, pure junk.  Unadulterated crapola. 
Grammys and awards shows mean absolutely zippo to me. I  totally march to my own 
drummer and could care less what the “pretty people”  think about things. 
So, why bother? Why waste my time and brain? Frankly, I  don’t. Unless 
someone comes to me with a credible endorsement, I ignore all the  media hype. 
Trust me, the good stuff has an ability to get through to me, and  YES, there 
IS some good stuff. But not much.

2. In proof of my point, all  the mass media ever told me about Amy 
Winehouse was what the “tabloids” sold,  what people bought; the destruction of 
another human being, the gossip, the  torrid details, the train-wreck. The 
downfall. It is a very sad observation that  a strong percentage of our 
population buys and pays more attention to someone  else’s problems than they do 
their triumphs.

Therefore, all I ever knew  about Amy Winehouse was her train-wreck – the 
drugs, drinking, rehab, failed  comeback, etc. I saw the pics, the visual 
disaster, so why bother to listen to  her music? I have my prejudices just like 
everyone else and that vision just did  not conjure up a happy, enjoyable, 
artistic endeavor that was worth my  time.

That was, until yesterday . . . when someone posted a YouTube link.  It was 
Amy, which I would usually have passed right over, but it had a song  title 
I recognized. It wasn’t a song title I would ever have associated with a  
person like Amy . . . never. Curiosity MADE me check it out.

I was  stunned . . . absolutely blown away. Only 6 years ago. She looked 
nothing like  the tabloid images I’d seen standing at the checkout in the 
grocery store.  Visually, physically, she was no different than many of the 
youths I work with,  healthy & together.

Her singing was unlike anything I’ve heard. Her  phrasing was unique and 
had style . . . REAL style.

This girl was gifted.  She didn’t just learn this. She wasn’t trained to 
do that, because you can’t  train someone to do that which comes from down 
deep inside one’s self. It is  nothing but a gift.

Amy had the potential to live a dream life. She could  have written her own 
story. It was hers for the taking.

So that leaves me  with several questions: Why didn’t the media tout her 
good side more? Why did  all the garbage make my attention while her true 
talent didn’t make it through  the filter?

Why the downfall . . . the destruction? Yes, I know there are  a million 
enablers and contributors here. Friends don’t let friends do that,  unless 
they are on the same track. But surely, there had to be SOME people  around her 
knew better than that.

I know the answers to both the above  questions, but they are worthless 
answers to worthless questions.

HERE IS  THE IMPORTANT QUESTION:

Which of the following is more of a  waste?

1. To have a gift like Amy’s . . . use it to rise to the top of  your 
profession or avocation . . . only to waste it with self destruction. To  take it 
so for granted . . . ungrateful.

OR

2. To be gifted and  simply take it for granted and never work to develop 
your potential to the  fullest.

I know someone who is so very gifted in so very many ways, yet  is so 
cavalier about it. This person never really works to develop those gifts  to 
their fullest potential.

Yesterday, after the new of Amy broke,  someone posted on Facebook that 
they were taking the rest of the week off FB, as  they had just realized they 
were wasting away their own potential, their own  talent and life.

It has been said that who and what we are (including our  specific gifts) 
is God’s gift to us. What we do with those gifts and who we  become is our 
gift to God.

It has also been said that hell is getting to  the end of your life and 
looking back at what might have been, what could have  been.

There. Those are my questions to ponder. 
 
Here is the YouTube link that caused me to sit down and write  this:

http://youtu.be/Mql6pOhnPYw

Everybody has a gift. Everybody.  What are you doing with yours?
 
- Bill Sargent
BillSargent.com