ART SHARE

Welcome to the last Able Abe Studios Art Share of 2020. Finally got this piece completed and now onto the next. Wishing you and yours a sensational new year to come ...Let's GO!!!

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PREPARING FOR 2021 AFTER LIFE IN 2020

 

Oh shit! The year that has tested us all is finally coming to an end. 2020 was, for many, a trying year. Yet before you view this as a rehashing of things that pushed us to our limits in 2020, think again. As we go into 2021, this piece shares three things we can realistically do to prepare ourselves for the way of life to come.

Thanks for stopping in, and as I've mentioned, I will share with you three things I think are vital and realistically speaking ideal after a year like 2020 that we can do to start this new year off right. Off the bat, please give yourself a hand for making it this far. We've lived through a year that has tested each of us in one way or another, and still, some things just changed the whole game entirely. With all those things in mind, let's look at the three things we can do to prepare for 2021.

HAVE GRATITUDE = Rather than moving into the new year with a list of tired resolutions that soon becomes obsolete, or we detach from due to lack of discipline. How about we focus on being grateful for the opportunity to see another year. We've lost so much in 2020, from loved ones, our social norms. And in some ways, the connection with our fellow person. And with all of that and some more pilled on top, I believe if we come into this new year with a powerful sense of gratitude to start, again knowing what we've gotten through, the hope is this new growth in humble gratitude we will reap a harvest that will surpass anything we went through in 2020.

MAKE PLANS = From my standpoint, coming with some strong vibes of gratitude from our first step in preparing for 2021 only better helps solidifies our chances the plans we make will come to fruition. And I don't know what plans you may be thinking about, be it for yourself, your family, or business, but get crystal clear in your mind's eye what that may look like and put forth some action steps to make that happen.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY = When things began going haywire in 2020, it was easy to lose hope and probably easier to stop holding ourselves accountable for the choices we made. Yes, a lot of it seemed to not be faults of our actions or worse out of our control, like living life under quarantine. There were even some 2020 meant being in a triggered state all day every day. And as we start the New Year, there will still be some lingering effects from the year. So I ask you to pledge to hold yourself accountable for your choices and how we react to the things that may happen around us and those we love. Being mindful in this way, we can keep ourselves in check and give us a greater chance to succeed at whatever we do in 2021.

So that has been my view on three things we can do realistically to prepare as we move into 2021. I hope this list has given you some things to think about or reflect on. Ultimately, however you react to this, I'm glad you made another year, and I hope 2020 was a year we never forget, but learn from and get better. So until next time, God bless, and I will see you on the flipside ...Let's GO!!!

PREPARING FOR 2021 AFTER LIFE IN 2020

FRIDA'S BIG RACE the FILM

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #238

 

Sam (Andrew Garfield) is a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah (Riley Keough), frolicking in his apartment's swimming pool. When she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal, and conspiracy in the City of Angels. Written by A24 (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (2018) is written & directed by David Robert Mitchell and produced by Chris Bender, Michael De Luca, and Jake Weiner. This was another film recommended by a friend unfortunately or depending on how you see it fortunately I decided to take this film in.

Upon my first viewing, I found a hauntingly interesting film, but with no real reason for those feelings. I find the main character's motives engaging with a solid performance by Andrew Garfield. Yet at that point, I couldn’t tell you what the film was truly about.

Before my second viewing, I took in some youtube videos on UNDER THE SILVER LAKE explained. This time around I was better able to spot and decipher more of the coded and conspiracy content that this film is heavy in.

Along with the second viewing, I still got lost at some points but picked up more on the humor of the film making it more enjoyable. I am sure on more viewings more will be revealed to me the movie is that dense with content.

In the End: UNDER THE SILVER LAKE was a film made for multiple viewings to be able to unleash its charm. So for this film, I give it 3.5 stars of 5. 

 

ART SHARE

Welcome back to another Able Abe Studios Art Share WIP. Minimal progress from last week, but progress none the less ...Lets GO!!!

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AS IF YOUR FATHER WERE DEAD

 

In the dynamic of the father and son relationship, expectations and criticism can extend from father to son, be they unspoken or not. So in today's piece, I will speak on another chapter from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida, focusing on the chapter entitled Live as if Your Father were Dead.

The father and son dynamic can be tough to navigate as a son with your father's expectations hovering over your head or continual criticism in your ear. To that notion, I reintroduce the book The Way of the Superior Man a book, which I have reviewed on my Youtube channel that you can see here BOOK REVIEW.  But to narrow our focus, I will focus our attention on the chapter Live as if Your Father were Dead. The chapter premise is simple, stating.

"A man must love his father and yet be free of his father's expectations and criticisms in order to be a free man."

Sounds fair, I would say. So how would a son become free of his father's expectations and criticism? The chapter directs you to do this to get in the frame of mind to understand how.

"Imagine that your father has died, or remember when he did die. Are there any feelings of relief associated with his death? Now that he is dead, is any part of you happy that you need not live up to his expectations or suffer his criticisms?

The chapter goes on to further question you in this manner, asking.

"How would you have lived your life differently if you had never tried to please your father? If you never tried to show your father that you were worthy? If you never felt burdened by your father's critical eye?"

When I think of my relationship with my father and the different stages of my life, my answers will change. I am sure at different stages, and ages for other sons, the outcome to these questions would vary as well, making them great for insight. These answers or how one would view living life differently guide us in how a son becomes his own free man.

As the chapter comes to a close, it asks one more thing of us to practice in becoming free men even if we still feel fearful, limited, unworthy, or even burdened by our father's influence.

"For the next three days, do at least one activity a day that you have avoided or suppressed because of the influence of your father. In this way, practice being free of his subtle expectations, which may now reside within your own self-judgment."

My point is sharing this chapter; knowing the relationship I've had with my father helps give insight. Furthermore, I hope this may help other men gain perspective on their fathers' relations to help them become free men in their own right.

AS IF YOUR FATHER WERE DEAD a 2020 Vision Vlog

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #237

 

Slim and Queen's first date takes an unexpected turn when a policeman pulls them over for a minor traffic violation. When the situation escalates, Slim takes the officer's gun and shoots him in self-defense. Now labeled cop killers in the media, Slim and Queen feel that they have no choice but to go on the run and evade the law. When a video of the incident goes viral, the unwitting outlaws soon become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief, and pain for people all across the country Written by stmc-25959 (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

QUEEN & SLIM (2019 written by Lena Waithe, directed by Melina Matsoukas, produced by Pamela Abdy, Todd Cohen, and Lena Waithe. Having waited a good while to see this film, my anticipation level was rather high. Upon viewing the film, I was more than ready to see how this all panned out.

As I watched the film progress the relationship between the characters, it got to a point where I questioned the choices made by the main characters and how those choices would play out in reality. I felt the main characters had good chemistry on screen with a cast of other memorable characters and beautiful cinematography.

In the End: QUEEN & SLIM was a rather interesting film using a touchy topic as background for an atypical love story that, for me, came off well. So for this film, I give it 3.5 of 5 stars.

ART SHARE

Welcome to another Able Abe Studios Art Share WIP. Another week another level putting in some work on this piece excited for the final look ...Let's GO!!!

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TO LIVE WITH AN OPEN HEART

 

At some point, if you live long enough, you've been hurt to some degree. And in a world of individuals, someone is bound to take your feelings for granted, which may lead to further hurtful situations. Yet the remedy to this is not by hardening your heart not to get hurt, but quite the contrary. In today's piece, I will be reviewing a chapter from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida entitled Live with an Open Heart Even if it Hurts.

So as I have shared with you so far, the superior man must live with an open heart, even when it hurts. I have read and reviewed this book on my YouTube channel and highly recommend giving it a read. If you like to find out more, follow the link here BOOK REVIEW.

So getting back to it, I know for some of you this sounds outrageous, and you are probably thinking, "Someone hurts me, I'm hurting them right back, or be damned if I let them hurt me again." In this frame of thinking during the pain, it is a denial of man's true nature. A superior man is free in feeling and action, even amidst great pain and hurt. To better understand this, I look to this passage to explain how the pain manifests.

"Notice if there are times when you find it difficult to look into someone's eyes, or times your chest and solar plexus become tense and contracted. These are signs of an unskillful reaction to hurt."

Being this is your reaction to being hurt, you are trapped in your self-protective tension, no longer a free man. Yet, it can be controlled and through practice in this sense, as the chapter states.

"Open the front of your body, so your chest and solar plexus are not tense. Sit or stand up straight and full, opening the front of your body, softening your chest and belly, wide and free. Breathe down through your chest and solar plexus, deep into your belly. Look directly into the eyes of whomever you are with feeling your pain as well as feeling the other person."

My point here in sharing this is to, yes, give you some food for thought, and help you understand what it means to become a superior man. That said, I leave you with this.

"To act as a superior man, a samurai of relationships, you must feel the entire situation with your whole body. A closed body is unable to sense subtle cues and signals, and therefore unable to act with mastery in the situation."

Hopefully, what I've shared with you today has given you some perspective and even something to think about. I have also reviewed another chapter from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida you can find here. Well, thanks again for stopping in, and until next time have a blessed day, and I will see you on the flipside ...Let's GO!!!

TO LIVE WITH AN OPEN HEART a 2020 Vision Vlog

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #236

 

In dystopian South Korea, Jun Seok gets out of prison for a previous heist he and his friends had messed up, and the currency (the Korean won) has crashed massively, making the haul of their last job effectively worthless. Jun Seok proposes one last heist to his best friends Jang Ho and Ki Hoon for the trio to escape from their miserable situations. Their target is an illegal gambling house, which stores hefty stacks of US dollars. The trio recruits Sang-Soo, who currently works in the gambling house. After getting firearms from Bong Shik, a friend Jun Seok knew in prison, the quartet proceeds with the heist, which finishes messy but successful. They take a large sum of cash and the gambling house's surveillance hard drives, containing footage of shady dealings between the gambling house's owners and various criminals. The loss of the surveillance hard drives made the gambling house's owners unhappy. They recruit killer Han to track the quartet and retrieve the hard ... Written by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_Hunt_(film)

TIME TO HUNT (2020) is directed & written by Sung-hyun Yoon and produced by HanDae Rhee.
I took this film in off the recommendation of a Youtuber naming a list of “gems” found on Netflix. With that, I proceeded to watch a subtitled film that had me a little confused to a point as the film was to be taking place in a near-future situation, but nothing seemed that futuristic.

Furthermore, being a “heist-type-film,” the heist itself seemed to not have rational reasoning for doing it. That said, my interest wained, and as the film morphed into a revenge-for-hire to a survival-mode-film, I tuned out.

In the End: TIME TO HUNT, with its high recommendation, failed to keep my interest from numerous angles and so for this film I give it 2 stars out of five.

ART SHARE

Welcome back to another Able Abe Studios Art Share. Had to drop this new WIP on Friday and looking forward to adding some life to this space adventure ...Let's GO!!!

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STOP HOPING FOR THE END

As I get older, there are some things you can never put off. I say that because, as I have found out, there is never going to be the "perfect time" to do the things that make you feel alive. Another way to look at this would be hoping for something to end so you could then be free to go after something you have always wanted. In this case, the thinking is flawed, as there will never be the right circumstance for you to go and do something you have always wanted to do. So in my piece today, I will take you through the chapter entitled Stop Hoping for a Completion of Anything in Life from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida.

So if you are like many men or like me out there, you've grappled with either knowing what your right gift is or finding the time to do it. As I stated earlier, I will be sharing an idea from the book The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida. This book also happens to be a fascinating read, and I have read and reviewed it here on my channel; if you'd like to see that, you can find it here BOOK REVIEW.

Moving along, the chapter of my focus today in this book is the chapter entitled Stop Hoping for a Completion of Anything in Life. This chapter's simple message, in my own words, is as a man to not put off what you or your heart is nagging at you to do and do it now.

From the top, this chapter instills in us to start spending at least one hour a day doing what you feel called to do and do it right away. Of course, as a man, you may have numerous obligations from a job, family, or church, etc. Yet the case given here is that you should not let even these things impeded you. The chapter states

"Limited money and family obligations have never stopped a man who really wanted to do something, although they provide excuses for a man who is not really up to the creative challenge in the first place."

Proceeding in this manner will empower you and your gift as well as when you go to sleep, you will know you could not have lived a day with more courage, creativity, and giving.

As we continue, we as men may wrestle with our woman and wish, hope, and want things to be different. Yet as the book states, this is what we should do.

"Don't wait. Assume she's going to be; however, she is forever. If your woman's behavior or mood is truly intolerable to you, you should leave her and don't look back (since you cannot change her). However, if you find her behavior or mood is merely distasteful or a hassle, realize that she will always be this way."

Furthermore, the book goes on to state that one should.

"Learn to find humor in the unending emotional drama the feminine seems to enjoy so much. The love that you magnify may realign her behavior, but your effort to fix her and your frustration never will."

Lastly, to bring home the point of not waiting for completion home and becoming a man of substance takes time and dedication, and the willingness to see life like this.

"Men who have lived meaningful lives are men who never waited: not for money, security, ease, or woman. Feel what you want to give most as a gift to your woman and the world, and do what you can to give it today. Every moment waited is a moment wasted, and each wasted moment degrades your clarity of purpose."

STOP HOPING FOR THE END a 2020 Vision Vlog