Si a todo

Danny meets Marc. Everyone loves Marc and thinks he's a brilliant guy. The happiest guy they've ever met. Marc's motto is "Si a todo" - "Yes to Everything". Danny only met Marc, because he had already been following this motto for a while. Before Danny started out on his little mission, he had been staying in most nights, finding excuses, and just wasting time. He was missing out on friendships, connections, promotions, opportunities and life, all because he was saying "No" too much. When a stranger on a bus told Danny that he should, "say yes more" he realised that this was the solution to all his problems. Say yes more, he thought. Genius.

Change-over, and counterpoint.

Elliott Smith is dead. Sometimes I forget this. Everyone knows it, but somehow I still forget it. I think it's 'cause his voice is so heartfelt, his lyrics so immediate. Everything about his life and his music cuts through the skin, the flesh and blood, and gets straight to the heart. I used to know a good deal about his life [gleaned from interviews and biographies] but I've forgotten most of it now, though I do know that he didn't like to talk about it much, and he often pushed friends away without realising it, due to his rumoured drug addictions. Many believe that he stabbed himself in the heart to prove a point - that it wasn't the drugs that were killing him, but life itself. The knife through the chest silently screaming, "this is it, I've had enough, I can't take it anymore - life has broken my heart".



Notes on the song I'm going to post: Elliott Smith said in an interview with Nic Harcourt - on a Morning Becomes Eclectic live session - that he picked this song to close his best [in my opinion] album, Either/Or, "'cause it was kinda happy". Nic suggests that it has a positive name, and Elliott laughs and says "oh yea, say yes".

Change-over, and counterpoint.

In case you didn't realise, the start of this post is the basic story behind the book, Yes Man by Danny Wallace and it's really funny. Comedic is that way that enlightened humour is; wit with a backbone of truth. It's also uplifting. To explain further: Danny decides that for about six months he will say "Yes" to every favour, request, opportunity, advert or question that comes his way. It's all about losing control [much like The Dice Man] and opening yourself up to risks and opportunities. And by the end of it he has become a much more positive person, who feels enlightened by his travels [Singapore, Barcelona, Melbourne, to name a few] and also ends up with a class wife [if i read between the lines correctly - may be just a girlfriend] by the end of it, who he probably wouldn't have had if he hadn't've said Yes.

Therefore this post, is in celebration of that book, and the idea of just throwing yourself at life and everything it offers - nevermind the risks. Danny's girl was "still around the morning after". This post is also a tribute to Elliott Smith, and the fact that the music he made during his life was beautiful, and has meant alot to many, including me. Three years is a long time. It feels like a lot less.

Elliott Smith

Say Yes (live)

There you have it, one of my favourite Elliott Smith songs. I hope you like it. You also have my post on enlightenment: self-help 101, #1: Believe in yourself. You are a unique and beautiful snowflake. Or should that be star?

Bonus:

The Frames - Star Star*

I love that song. [Star, your every word I'm heeding. Can you help me to see? 'cause I'm lost in the dark... yea]



Follow the lead of the innocent and the childish and jump at life, just like the dolphins jump at opportunities, and jump for joy.

*Additional notes for the curious: The Dice Man is a novel by Luke Rhinehart. It was a bit of a cult-hit in its day. The general plot was that this guy would assign an option to every number on the die and then roll the die. Whatever number was rolled this was what he had to do. It gets a bit crazy from what I remember... a particular scene that stands out is when he has sex with his best friend's wife just because the die told him to. However, as far as I know, The Dice Man was purely fictional, whereas Yes Man isn't. And Yes Man is amazing.