As I continue to research terminology including “LIGHT”, I am reminded of the Candle and other forms of light that have marked all humankind occasions of joy, including their usage by our ancestors to ward off evil spirits, and light their way to a long and happy life with their “GOD”.

The CANDLE is also symbolic as the short-lived candle and its easily extinguished flame becomes a metaphor for the solitary, aspiring human soul.

This symbolism immediately reminded me of Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a poet, a peace activist, and the best-selling author of the Heartsongs poetry series. He was a motivational speaker and the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association for three years. He appeared on Oprah, on quite a few occassions that I can recall and the forwards to his books were graced with contributions by Gary Zukav, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Carter.

He died in June 2004 at the age of thirteen from dysautonomic mitochondrail myopathy, but not before he impacted so many with his ‘Reflections of a peacemaker…’ In December of 1996, at the tender age of 5, he wrote this poem which I’ve chosen 12 heARTworks from “MIA” that accompany his words beautifully:

Light the first light of Christmas for thankfulness and prayer…

And everything you see and hear and feel and do ~

Light the second light of Christmas for happiness and joy…

And be cheerful with everyday and everyone around ~

Light the third light of Christmas for colors and music…

Gifts in people, gifts for people, gifts everywhere from God ~

Light the fourth light of Christmas for thoughtfulness and love…

And be gentle and kind to all of God’s people and animals ~

Light the fifth light of Christmas for mercy…

So we can be forgiving and forgiving like our God ~

Light the sixth light of Christmas for all miracles…

Like babies and Jesus and things that happen like magic, but they’re not ~

Light the seventh light of Christmas for understanding…

So we can have peace inside ourselves and all around the world ~

Light the eighth light of Christmas for our earth…

It’s the only planet where humans can survive ~

Light the ninth light of Christmas for Heaven and Angels…

We can keep them all around us, everywhere, with goodness ~

Light the tenth light of Christmas for life…

No matter how short or long it is, it’s a wonderful blessing from God ~

Light the eleventh light of Christmas for Spirit…

The strongest part of us that rises out of death forever ~

Light the twelfth light of Christmas for Heartsongs…

The glow inside of us that keeps the light of Christmas bright ~

And when our hearts glow with the lights of Christmas,

We will remember spirit and life and Heaven and Angels,

And Earth and understanding and miracles and mercy,

And thoughtfulness and love and colors and music,

And happiness and joy and thankfulness and prayer…

And become better people throughout the whole, entire year. Mattie J.T. Stepanek

Mattie was a ’source of light’, who ‘rose with the light’ and ‘brought to light’ the subject of PEACE ‘in a good light’ or a ‘different light’ or perspective and he ‘gave light to’ my pursuit of ’spreading the light’ by being the candle or the mirror that reflects it by example…

Many thanks to the heARTists whose work inspired these twelve lights of Christmas: Paul Stephen Dixon; Joyce Dickens; Scott Bricker; Vasile Stan; liesbeth; Jan Landers; Shanina Conway; Devine Day Dreams; Esther Johnson; Stephanie Rachel Seeley; RavenSoul; and, aspectsoftmk.

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE!!!

The staff of MIA and EMI went on a mission to search out Music Inspired Art, not just any art, but MIA’s Greatest Hits. Our criteria was simple, we factored in the concepts, the visuals, the lyrics, the quality of the music attached and if the links were working at the time. It wasn’t an easy task as there were many great features during the past in MIA. Here are our choices starting with the Number 10 Greatest MIA Hit “My Guitar Gentle Weeps” by Spiritinme

The haunting song from The Beatles was a perfect choice for the work and although she featured no link to the music she did include the lyrics. We have now put the two together to make the magic!

In the Number 9 position is “Dew Drops” by JKKimball JK used a “Rare” eclectic Bob Marley tune to accompany the work, this music is an oddity for Marley and well worth a listen.

Bob Marley – Dew Drops

At Number 8 Judi Taylor explains her image like this: ” I have searched for the place where heaven and earth meet through my eyes, my ears and in my heart. Many times my eyes cried happy tears from the breathless wonders I have seen. My ears have swelled with joy listening to the sounds of violins in heaven and their counterparts here on earth as felt the presence of Creator’s love above, below and all around me.

Please see the dream, hear the dream and feel the dream in your own heart as you view this piece and listen to Kitaro’s Heaven and Earth

“Please Open in a separate window and enjoy!”

Number 7 is pryere’s “Abbey Road” the image is fantastic and a glimpse of the famous walls of Abbey Road Studios St. Johns Wood London where employees white wash the walls once a month only to have them repainted with graffiti soon after. The famous Zebra Crossing used on the album cover is also near by, truly a Beatles Fans Mecca!

(Open Link In A Separate Window) Abbey Road

Marilyns teamed with Aerosmith and dropped in at Number 6 with thoughtful visuals and lyrics like “our hopes & dreams are out there somewhere, we wont let time pass us by… we just Fly.”

(Open Link In A Separate Window) “Fly Away From Here”

Our Number 5 choice brings back an era of Love, Peace & Serenity” A New Dawning…

The dawning of The Age of Aquarius! aspectsoftmk put together this retro art and matched it with the quintessential Fifth Dimension classic!

Our Number 4 Choice asks the question…”How Does it Feel?”

StreetSpirit did the Bob Dylan classic justice and the image is all Dylan!

We are now down to the Top Three From MIA

The Number Three music inspired work won Grammy Awards in 1996 for Record of the Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance. With its curious waltz time, lavish harmonies and epic sound proportions, this song had a very different sound and stood out on the radio, where many stations were willing to play it. In the US, it was a #1 hit on the Adult Contemporary charts for 12 weeks. Seal wrote this in tribute to Crosby Stills & Nash while living in a squat in Kensal Green, London.

The image fits so well with the song and music, it all fits like a glove.

Trudi’s Images and Seal with “Kiss From A Rose“

Music Inspired Art’s Number 2

A hard biting rock classic from The Stones. This started as a song for Keith Richard’s newborn son Marlon. It was 1969 and Keith regretted that he had to leave his son to go on tour. Mick Jagger rewrote Keith’s lyrics, keeping only the line “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” His rewrite was based on his relationship with Marianne Faithfull, which was disintegrating.

The album had very elaborate packaging. Designed by Andy Warhol, the cover photo was a close up of a man’s jeans with a real zipper on it. It was also the first time the tongue logo was used.

hickerson with “Wild Horses”

Number One

The Number One Music Inspired Art piece deals with depression. In a blog promoting her 2009 greatest hits album, Annie Lennox explained this song: “I was deeply down… Just trying to get through one day at a time, on the point of desperation on a regular basis. There was a feeling that all the color had gone… faded to black. I know the world is painful, but you have to try to work with pain so that it doesn’t destroy you. I’ve moved on now. The color came back again.”

The Number One MIA Greatest Hit gail anderson and Annie Lennox with “Pavement Cracks”

That wraps it up for this installment, I hope you enjoyed all of these classics and if this is something you might want to do join the Redbubble.com Music inspired Art Group and have a little fun!