Hello, dear readers, how are you? I hope you find ways to build your resilience because it does not look like 2021 will be much easier than 2020: The mob taking over Capital Hill in Washington, the National Health Service in the UK on the brink of breaking down, a plane crash in Indonesia and the police rounding up supposed opponents of the regime in Hongkong . And that is just the last 7 days.

I am swaying between resignation and defiance. I am swaying between thinking “it can only get worse” and “these are the signs that the old is on its way out, the new will be born”. Two posts on Instagram gave me my mojo back though: British baking queen Nadiya Hussain wrote a wonderful dedication to the future leaders of our nations:

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A post shared by Nadiya (@nadiyajhussain)

And Beth Kempton wrote inspiringly about all those who fight for our health:

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A post shared by Thoughts on living well (@bethkempton)

These two posts reminded me that life has taught me one thing: Despair doesn’t help anything. The Stoics, an ancient Greek and Roman philosophical school, thought despair and fear being lazy thinking: You need to accept what you can’t change and do what you can change. And most of all you need to learn what the difference is long before the Serenity Prayer told us that.

So I follow Churchill’s advice to keep walking when going through hell as well as remember Albert Camus and his interpretation of the Myth of Sisyphus. I know I repeat myself with that one, but isn’t that idea, that we need to have the perfect life and everything needs to make us happy, one of the reasons why people today feel so much despair? No one promised us a rose garden when we came into this life. The only things that we were promised were: we grow, change and die! What we do in between and what we believe is entirely up to us.

Because no matter how the outer circumstances are: how we react to them is in our hand and we can choose if we want to make a positive or negative impact in this life. So let’s choose and get on with it.

One side note though: I am aware that this attitude won’t help you if you suffer from depression or any other mental health issue. Then please contact health professionals or help lines. They are there for you despite the difficult situation they are all in because advice can be given via phone. This is my Pinterest board in which I have collected helplines from all over the world:

The UK has approved several vaccines against the virus and are working hard to get everybody vaccinated. However, many are sceptical about the security of these as they have come about so fast. Also, there is lots of misinformation out there and it feels more than ever difficult to decide whom to believe. Chris Smith from the Naked Scientists (no they are not naked, they just explain science in understandable terms) is often on the BBC explaining everything about COVID and I believe what he is saying. So have a look at this interview from December 2020 to see if it gives you more clarity. And if you decide to have it, then could you please follow the Humanists UK’s appeal to take a picture and share it so the misinformation can be fought?

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Thanks!

I wrote today’s post first last year before we knew how COVID would pan out. Here is another reminder how “Come Away With Me” has started:

Hello out there, is your life rocking? I very much hope so and if not hopefully here is a tune to cheer you up and encourage you!!!!

Our musical journey around the world leads us to Spain today. Two years ago a young very talented lady topped the music charts in Spain. Her name is Amaia who comes from a very musical family. Her uncle realised that she has absolute pitch when she was a child. According to Wikipedia absolute pitch ” is a rare ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone.” Please find out more about Amaia on her Wikipedia page.

I’ve chosen a song called “Miedo” by Pepe Aguilar but it was performed by different musicians over the years. “Miedo” means “Fear”

Please enjoy Amaia’s version from 2018 and if the video does not play here on the blog, follow the link underneath the video to it’s YouTube location.

Lyrics via Lyrics Translate

Miedo

Afraid

First of all

I’ll say this is the end.

I know it’s not a happy ending, #

it’s just an end,

but it seems there’s no turning back. 

I just gave you coal diamonds.

I tore your world up,

I broke your heart

and your world is making fun of me now. 

Afraid of going back to hell,

afraid that you are afraid of me,

of having to forget you 

Afraid of loving you without wanting to,

of finding you of all a sudden,

of not seeing you ever again. 

I hear your voice right before I fall asleep.

I lie next to you and

even if you’re not here in this darkness,

you are the light 

Afraid of going back to hell,

afraid that you are afraid of me,

of having to forget you 

Afraid of loving you without wanting to,

of finding you of all a sudden,

of not seeing you ever again. 

I know this is the end,

there won’t be a second part 

And I don’t know how I can blot you out. 

First of all I’ll say this is the end. 

Afraid of going back to hell,

afraid that you are afraid of me,

of having to forget you

 Afraid of loving you without wanting to,

of finding you of all a sudden,

of not seeing you ever again. 

And in the hell, here I hear your voice

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/miedo-afraid.html-0

Music Monday is a meme created by Drew from The Tattooed Book Geek where you pick a song you like and share it on a Monday. Please head over and find more brilliant music posts!

Happy Music Monday to you all!!!!”

I had the chance to go to Spain twice in the 80s and 90s. Once with my family and then with my ex-husband. It is a beautiful country full of lovely people, great culture and delicious food and of course it was hit hard by the COVID pandemic. So let’s celebrate a little virtual holiday and come away to Spain

1. Introduction to Spain

Because we have such an eventful week behind us and I feel we need some cheering up today I’ll leave out a lot of the more difficult topics that I usually cover in my country playlists and Come Away posts. Let’s just enjoy a virtual holiday and Spain is extremely interesting. Who knew its not really a country but a bunch of independent regions thrown together. I didn’t. So let’s have a look:

As always please follow the creators who I use for our virtual travels or give them a shoutout. They put a lot of effort into their work and deserve to get credit and income 🙂

2. Artists of Spain

Ok, today I go all patriarchal on you. I am a huge fan both of Picasso and Dali and I doubt they are known for their feminism. Usually, I like to find current artists and women if I can but these two are so influential for modern art and their work is incredibly inspiring to me that you have to put up with it 😉

If you have some time on your hand and love to see some 800 pictures by Picasso have a look at this video.

And here is a similar video to the one of Picasso paintings with the ones of Dali.

Ooops, I did not realise I am so much into Spanish modern artists. Here is one more: 193 paintings of Joan Miro

3. Food of Spain

I assume many of us had either had or at least heard of Paella the typical Spanish rice dish served in huge pans. But as we heard in the introduction videos Spain is a diverse country and has diverse cuisine. Let’s find out about some of it:

Wow, now I am hungry!!!!! 🙂

4. Some more musicians of Spain

If you grew up in Germany in the 70s you could not escape Julio Iglesias’s crooning. His son Enrique thankfully is a little more modern and less croony but who else makes music in Spain?

Just a few because this post had lots of videos already but feel free to discover more Spanish artists in the future.

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2021 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, January 18th, 2021

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture East into Syria. Please find musicians from Syria on the last.fm page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first week? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not always work so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part.
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2021 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2021MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2021 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Prompt List for Love Is In Da Blog 2021 “Great Love Stories”

As promised here are the prompts for “Love Is In Da Blog 2021” in February with the topic “Great Love Stories” so you can prepare if you want to take part:

1. Choose your own
2. Romeo & Juliet ~ Find a love song and/or write a Madrigal about them.
3. Casablanca ~ Find an unusual version of “As Time Goes By” and/or write an Acrostic with this song title
4. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (Taj Mahal) ~ Find a Bollywood song and/or write an Epitaph for lovers
5. Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo ~ Find a Jazz love-song and/or write a Contrapuntal poem about Rivera & Kahlo
6. Paris & Helen ~ Find a love song of war and/or write an ode to Helen & Paris
7. Bonnie & Clyde ~ Find a Blues love song and/or write a Nonet about doomed love
8. Choose your own
9. The Butterfly Lovers ~ Find a pop love song with a butterfly in it and/or write a Gu Ti poem (second form in the article)
10. Johnny Cash & June Carter ~ Find a country love song and/or write a Senryu about love
11. Tristan & Iseult ~ Find a love folk song and/or write an Ae Freislighe about love
12. Dr Zhivago & Lara ~ Find a “revolutionary” love song and/or write an Onegin Stanza about Zhivago and Lara
13. Orpheus & Eurydice ~ Find a singer/songwriter song about love and/or write an Ovillejo poem about love
14. Niulang and Zhinu (Cowherd and Weaver Girl) ~ Find a Valentine’s song and/or write a Sijo poem about love.
15. Choose your own
16. Pretty Woman ~ Find a great opera love song and/or write a Bop poem about Edwards & Vivienne’s love
17. Cleopatra & Mark Antony ~ Find a 50’s love song and/or write a Descord Poem about love
18. Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy ~ Find a love themed piece of music from the romantic era and/or write a romantic poem.
19. Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas ~ Find a chanson about love and/or write a Lai poem about Gertrude & Alice
20. Sisi & Franz ~ Find an acapella Love song and/or write a Sestina poem about Sisi & Franz
21. Lancelot & Guinevere ~ Find a love rock song and/or write a Hir a Thoddaid poem about love
22. Choose your own
23. Aragorn and Arwen ~ Find a classical love piece and/or write a poem in your own invented language (With translation please )
24. Jackie Kennedy & Aristotle Onassis ~ Find a love song from 1968 and/or write a free verse poem about love
25. Hadrian & Antinous ~ Find a metal ballad about love and/or write a Rispetto poem about their love
26. Katniss & Peeta ~ Find a love song from the “Hunger Games” films and/or write a Tricubes poem about love
27. Dante & Beatrice ~ Find an Italian love song and/or write a Palindrome poem about love
28. Clara & Esteban (House of Spirits) ~ Find an exotic love song and/or write a Katauta poem

Looking forward to hearing your chosen songs and reading your poetry!

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow some same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. So far the campaign has raised about half the amount needed: £421,666 of £800,000 (January 2021).

Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks, my dears, for staying with me until the end.

I appreciate your presence.

Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!