Month: May 2026

My Musical Life 5-22-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

May 22nd, 2026

#38 Only the Strong Survive (Jerry Butler) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
I remember my first love affair.
Somehow or another the whole darn thing went wrong.
And my momma had some great advice,
So, I thought I’d put it in the words of this song.🪄
I can still hear her saying:
Boy, I see you sitting out there all alone.
Crying your eyes out
Cause the woman that you love is gone
Oh there’s gonna be, there’s gonna be
A whole lot of trouble in your life
Ah so listen to me, get up off your knees
‘Cause only the strong survive
That what she said:🪄
Only the strong survive,
Only the strong survive
Yeah, you gotta be strong
You better hold on🪄
don’t go around with your head hung down
Well, I wouldn’t let the little girl know
(wouldn’t let her know)that she made me
feel like a clown
There’s a whole lot of girls (whole lot of girls)
Looking for a good man like you
But you’ll never meet ’em
if you’ve give up now
And say your life is through
Then she said:🪄
Only the strong survive
Only the strong survive
You gotta be a man,
You gotta take a stand🪄
So I’m telling you right now:
Only the strong survive
Only the strong survive
You gotta be strong
You better hold on
Don’t worry about it
Don’t you know that things gonna change
Oh, but you gotta be a man
You gotta take a stand
Don’t ever feel that
you can’t make it, baby

My Abundant Life 5-22-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant LifeLeave a comment

May 22nd, 2026

The Home of Your Dreams

“If I were to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say; the house shelters daydreaming.”

Gaston Bachelard (French Philosopher; June 27th, 1884 to October 16th, 1962)

“It takes literally years to birth a dream, whether it’s a family, a career, a home, or a lifestyle. Dreams exact a price.”

“Take what you want, say the good God, but be prepared to pay for it.”

ancient proverb

“Dreams cost money, sweat, frustration, tears, courage, choices, perseverance, and extraordinary patience. But birthing a dream requires one more thing. Love. Only love can transform a houseful of needy, self-centered individuals into a loving, close-knit family, a passion into a livelihood, or a mere dwelling into a home that perfectly expresses your authenticity.”

“…it had a heart and soul, and eyes to see with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benedictions. We never came home from an absence that its face did not light up and speak out in eloquent welcome—and we could not enter it unmoved.”

Samuel Clemens “Mark Twain” (American Writer & Humorist; November 20th, 1885 to April 21st, 1910)

I dwell in possibility.”

Emily Dickinson (American Poet; December 10th, 1830 to May 15th, 1886)

“No matter where I have dwelled, I have taken pride in making it a sanctuary and home haven to gently hug the one inside with love, warmth a coziness.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 170 to 171 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Storied Life 5-21-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Storied LifeLeave a comment

May 21st, 2026

1969 Top 10 Highest-Grossing & Award Winning Films

“A film set in the open love timeframe of society. Crazy influence from the Esalen-style retreat and Bob and Carol choose honesty and free love within their marriage. Their friends Ted and Alice have trouble copping with this information and how it projects upon their marriage. this movie pulls at societies struggles with sex being conflated with love. I think these couples felt they were on the cutting edge of relationship and still missed the boat. I’d watch it again to try to tease out all the microaggressions and challenges of navigating an open marriage.”

My Musical Life 5-21-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

May 21st, 2026

#37 Baby, Baby Don’t Cry (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
Nothing so blue as a heart in pain
Nothing so sad as a tear in vain
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh🪄
Let him walk on out if he wants to
He really doesn’t deserve you
His loss is our gain, so don’t be blue ’cause🪄
Stone blind and out of his mind
Is what he has to be, yeah
Yeah, so, baby, straighten up, come on and fly right
It’s no catastrophe, yeah🪄
I said, now, baby, baby, don’t cry
Baby, baby, here’s why
Love is here standin’ by
Love is here standin’ by🪄
You trusted him and gave him your love
A love he proved unworthy of
Too bad, it was him that you trusted
Too bad, but you can’t be disgusted
It’s time that you got readjusted and🪄
Realized that tear-filled eyes
Can never stop him now, no, no, no
That man is on his way, I think he’s gone to stay
You better drop him now, yeah🪄
Ooh-wee now, baby, baby, don’t cry, no, no, nah
Baby, baby, here’s why
Because love is here standin’ by, I say
(Love is) right here standin’ by🪄
All you’ve gotta do is dry your eyes long enough to see
That you have got the love you thought you had in him, here, in me
Love is hope, girl, love is strength
Here’s someone standin’ right beside you who would go to any lengths
To give you love, true and deep
And help you realize, at last, you found a love that you can keep
And only losers weep, so🪄
Ooh, baby (baby, baby, don’t cry)
Don’t you cry now, oh, baby (baby, baby, don’t cry)
Let me tell you why, now (baby, baby here’s why)
Don’t you know that love is here standin’ by?
I say, (love is) right here standin’ by
Your tears are shed in vain, I said, so🪄
Come on, dry your eyes, baby (baby, baby, don’t cry)
Don’t you realize, baby (baby, baby, here’s why)
You don’t have to cry, because love is here

My Abundant Life 5-21-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant Life2 Comments

May 21st, 2026

A Nest of Comforts

“Ah! There’s nothing like staying home for real comfort.”

Jane Austin (Writer; December 16th, 1775 to July 18th, 1817)

“—the essential spiritual grace of our homes should possess is the solace of comfort. As we discover and express our authenticity through our surroundings, comfort becomes our priority.”

“I simply love a cozy home.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 169 to 170 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Musical Life 5-20-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

May 20th, 2026

#36 A Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
Thank you
Well, my daddy left home when I was three
Didn’t leave very much to my mom and me
Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue🪄
Well, he must’ve thought that it was quite a joke
And I got a lot of laughs from a lots of folk
Seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle and I’d turn red
And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head
I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue🪄
But I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keener
Roam from town to town to hide my shame
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I’d search the honky tonks and bars
And kill that man that gave me that awful name🪄
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry
Thought I’d stop and have myself a brew
At an old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table, dealing stud
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue🪄
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had
Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said, “My name is Sue, how do you do?
Now you gonna die”, that’s what I told him🪄
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
Then I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the walls and into the street
Kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer🪄
Well, I tell you, I’ve fought tougher men
But I really can’t remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
Well, I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
And he reached for his gun but I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin’ at me and I saw him smile🪄
And he said, “Son, this world is rough
And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along
So I give you that name, and I said goodbye
And I knew you’d have to get tough or die
It’s that name that helped to make you strong”🪄
He said, “Now you just fought one heck of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right to kill me now
And I wouldn’t blame you if you do
But you ought to thank me, before I die
For the gravel in ya gut and the spit in ya eye
‘Cause I’m the son of a bitch that named you Sue”
What could I do?🪄
Well, I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
I called him my pa, and he called me his son
Come away with a different point of view
And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win, and if I ever have a-🪄
Well, if I ever have a boy, I’ll name him
Frank or George or Bill or Tom, anything but Sue
I don’t want him go around, man call him Sue all his life
That’s a horrible thing to do to a boy trying to get a hold in the world
Named a boy a Sue