Work like you don’t need the money
Love like you’ve never been hurt
Dance like nobody’s watching
Sing like nobody’s listening
Live like it’s Heaven on Earth
William Purkey
When I first read this (and there are many variations of it), my attention was caught by the line about singing.
My immediate reaction was that it was a call for hedonistic living without regard for the consequences on others. I’m laughing as I write this because I realise that was purely my own stuff. In particular it brought back some painful memories of feedback I received about my singing having an unpleasant effect on the listener. Now I’m wondering if my singing would have had that effect if I’d followed the advice and sang like nobody was listening!
There’s two things I particularly like about this ‘poem’.
1 Full of optimism
At first glance it appears to be one of those ‘feel-good-but-rather-naive-and-unrealistic’ sayings written by an optimist for other optimists.
One thing I like to do to test sayings like this is to state it in the opposite and see what happens. If I have a little fun with this then it might become:
Work like you are desperate for the money
Love like you’re sure you will be hurt again
Dance like everyone’s watching and laughing at you
Sing like everyone’s listening and rolling their eyes
Live like it’s Hell on Earth
I know which version I prefer!
2 Full of life
It picks out four activities I consider essential to the human experience.
Working – Loving – Singing – Dancing
I don’t know if the author meant these as the most important elements of living but I’d be hard pressed to choose better ones.
Which activities would you choose for your ‘top 4′ elements of living?
Similar Posts:
- We each have our own song
- Something for the weekend – dancing
- The Invitation
- The Secret Of Happiness
- Mind your own business
- A Gift To The World
Loving + Singing + Dancing + Living
This is great! I love it and it’s optimistic outlook that really embraces life. If I had to pick just four elements I would have to say: loving, creating, sharing, feeling.
Great post because it made me think about something that’s been on my mind a lot lately — what are the most important things to me in life. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and considering how to narrow a bunch of ideas down and this was a great way to do it. Thank you!
Singing teachers tell me that the way singers improve is by listening to themselves.
Ian-
This is awesome. I love the quote you used by William Purkey. I have a pillow my grandmother needle pointed that says Live – Laugh – Love, I cherish it not only because it was a gift from her but a verse that has so much meaning.
Thank you for bring to my attention and allowing me to reflect on something so precious and your inspiriting article.
I’d like to add something about experiencing…taking the time to smell the roses, or feel the sun on your skin, or gazing at the moon. Something that reminds us to live presently, and fully immerse ourselves into our experiences.
I love love love this poem, only for me it was the line about “dance like no one is watching” that unleashed my heart.
I say go ahead and sing! I was watching William Hung the other night and his sheer joy in singing was more uplifting than singing that is technical perfection.
Ian, I love it! It’s all about going for it. Don’t miss out because you are afraid or embarrassed. Here’s my take – When you are on your deathbed are you going to care if someobody was watching or listening? I don’t think so.
@Crafters Nice list!
@PositivelyPresent I’m happy this was useful to you! I find it helpful to know what’s most important as a way to check priorities.
@Evan Hmmmm … that would mean recording myself then listening back to the recording! Sounds painful.
@Bunny Live – Laugh – Love. Beautiful. Someone told me that life is about crying all your tears of joy and all your tears of sadness.
@Jay Couldn’t agree more. There’s so many experiences to enjoy and never enough of actually experiencing them.
@Hayden Oh yes. I’d listen to someone singing with passion over technical expertise any day!
@Stephen And wouldn’t it be a shame to wait until we get to our deathbed to realise that?
To all .. I’m a bit behind with responding to comments, reading blogs and all the other stuff that gets put to one side. Partly it’s because of an apartment move, and partly because I’m still in shock that I’m going to be a father again.
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