An Arcade of Possibilities

When you hit on something special, you just know. For the last week or two, I have been waiting for that "moment" when you get goosebumps. And today, I finally hit it! It's a story, an inspirational story about a little kid called Caine who, like every other child, always found the cardboard boxes more interesting than the actual toy inside. But Caine didn't just sit inside his pretend "aeroplane". Oh no...this child built an ARCADE! It begin with a simple Throw-the-ball-in-the-hoop game but progressed to include ticket machines, claw machines, prizes and even Whack-A-Mole.

The 'Caine's Arcade' story began quite dismally. A little boy, forced to spend his summer vacations at work with his father, at a Used Autoparts store. As you can imagine, business was slow - for the father. For the little boy, who sat hopefully on a little blue chair at his shop front, dreaming of just one customer, business was non-existent. That was until a struggling filmmaker Nirvan Mullick happened to be looking for a doorknob. He met Caine, and saw the cardboard arcade and, unlike so many others that had dismissed the boy's silly little game, he stopped infront of this amazing creation and bought a 'Fun Pass' which costs $2 and entitles you to 500 games. And it was the best $2 he had ever spent. Because it didn't just end there. Nirvan proceeded to organise a flashmob of customers to make Caine's dreams come true, and by filming the entire process, made his own dreams come true.

The follow up, Caine's Arcade Part 2, shows how this experience has inspired creativity, imagination and innovation amongst an entire generation. Caine's Arcade is fast-becoming an American tourist destination nd through donations and earnings, Caine has a very promising college fund waiting for him. It has also lead to the foundation of a charity, the Imagination Foundation, which was established to find, foster and fun creativity and entrepreneurship in kids.

If these videos don't make you want to grab the nearest cardboard box and start inventing, then nothing is likely to ever come close. Plus, it's a excuse to buy a new pair of shoes ;)

So get creative, have fun and keep searching!

Slave to the Music - James Morrison comes to Ireland

James Morrison came to Ireland last week on his world tour to promote his newest album 'The Awakening'. One of the gigs took place in the beautiful Killarney, in the INEC Centre and I was SO EXCITED to be there. The setting was fantastic, perfectly suited for this type of concert - intimate, yet with the crowd atmosphere. The support act, Ryan Sheridan, did a terrific job of warming up the crowd. His energy, passion and absorption in the music was absolutely spine-tingling. Ryan's percussionist Artur Graczyk, who plays the cajon, is in his own league...no drummer that I have ever seen could rival such talent.

The set-list for James Morrison included a mix of old favourites and new hits, sadly with the omission of 'You Make It Real' and 'Once When I Was Little'.

"It's a Beautiful Life"

JM Killarney 23rd August 2012

Beautiful Life

This Boy

In My Dreams

Say Something Now

I Won't Let You Go

Up

Broken Strings

All Around the World

Slave to the Music

Nothing Ever Hurt Like You

I Am A Man

Person I Should Have Been

Precious Love

You Give Me Something

Encore:

The Awakening

Wonderful World

"Let me hear you sing!"

His cover of 'I am a Man' was energetic, he got the crowd involved as much as he could, and it really let his personality shine through. Throughout the concert, he explained the stories behind some of his songs, told funny anecdotes and wasn't afraid of some self-deprecating humour. 'In My Dreams' is a song he wrote to help him with the loss of his father, which he spoke openly and frankly about, calling it "a fuckin' horrible time". In 'Say Something Now', James addresses the awkward situations where people have nothing to say, or when they are afraid to speak their mind.

Rocking it out in the Kingdom

For the encore, James and his band reappeared on stage with pints of Guinness. His enthusiasm and excitement, and his clear love for music were evident to all. Look's like James Morrison really is a 'Slave to the Music'.

Where the Hell is Matt?

I stumbled across this video on Facebook today, and I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to discover it. 'Where the Hell is Matt?' came about from a potentially mediocre adventure but is now growing more and more in popularity...probably as we speak.

The music, the dance, the people, the energy, the sense of fun...it all combines to create one truly heartwarming 5 minute clip and leaves you wishing to be a part of something so simple, but wonderful.

To read Matt's story, you can visit his website. His story will help you realise that if you embrace the opportunities you are given, anything is possible.

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” - William W. Purkey

Keep smiling, keep dancing and keep searching :)

Today's gift - Restoring your faith in humanity

Go ahead and click here to read 6 True Stories That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity. I read this today and it really did seem to brighten up what can often seem like a world that needs to sort out it's brightness:darkness ratio.

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." - Terry Pratchett.

Just remember though that without the darkness, how would we ever know what light is? How could we ever appreciate brightness if there was never any darkness? Without incidents of war, poverty, loneliness, illness, misunderstanding, loss and hopelessness, the people featured in this article would never have had the chance to shine.

So read on, and enjoy. (They also have some completely unrelated cute and funny videos, so even if the stories fail to make you smile, the videos have got it covered!)

And remember to keep searching.

It's time to start searching :)

They say every cloud has a silver lining. That without rainy days we would never have rainbows. We need opposites; we need good and bad, hot and cold, bright and dark, young and old, love and...the opposite of love.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” - Elie Wiesel.

I found this quote today, and it fits in perfectly with what I was trying to say. The opposite of life IS indifference. So we need to embrace our minutes and our hours. We need to live, to create memories and to take risks. But we also need to appreciate those days when we don't really do anything spectacular; our pyjama days, our lazy days...those rainy days when nothing really happens.

The aim of this blog is to help you realise that everyday does, in fact, have a hidden gift just laying in wait for us. And what do we have to do to discover it? It's simple: open your eyes, your mind and your heart. Understand that even the littlest, most insignificant details can brighten up your 24 hours. The song that pops up in your YouTube suggestions, the book that you've been meaning to read for so long, the awkward smile from a passer-by, the old photograph that you happen to stumble across...Gifts and presents just waiting to be opened. So unwrap them, see what's inside. It could be nothing, or it could be something magical.

Keep searching, because everyday is a new present.