Urban Pop Life

I was blessed yet again to have great access to a special event. This time I was on hand for the Whitney Houston taping of Good Morning America. The show airs tomorrow morning on ABC from 7am until 9am. The segment with Whitney airs from 8am until 9am.

Today was simply a beautiful day. Perfect New York weather with lots of sunshine, a light breeze and temps in the 70's. Whitney took the stage around noon and looked great again. She breezed through a vibrant version of her single Million Dollar Bill and even gave us an unscheduled extra tune which was a real chill version of My Love is Your Love. The second scheduled song for GMA was the title track from the new CD called I Look To You.

If you read this blog then you know I tend to celebrate life. I simply think that for whatever reasons humans tend to focus on the negative all the time and I no longer want to participate in that particular exercise. I am not close to perfect, but I refuse to join in the chorus of negativity.

To say that Whitney was in classic voice today would not be the truth and I value my word so I wont go there. However, it saddens me that human beings constantly focus on the negative without giving thanks for all that we have. My focus is on the fact that a beautiful woman with a very special gift is still here to share it with us. I am thankful that she did not meet a tragic end like some others before her. I am thankful that I am alive and well enough to experience new music from her and that she is still inspired to make it and share it. No Whitney Houston is not the same girl we met and listened to all those years ago. She's a woman who's lived a very full and sometimes not so happy life. However, she is a human being finding her way through the journey of life. She is a soul who was strong enough to pull herself out of a dark place and make her way back to a happy space in which she can return to living her musical dream and raising her daughter. For me that alone is cause for celebration.

It's my hope that everyday we can all take the time to be grateful for what we have and spend less time tearing ourselves and each other down for our shortcomings and occasional failures. If we held ourselves to the standards that we hold celebrities to I think it's fair to say that most people would have committed suicide by now. Challenge yourself to do your best and yes expect our entertainers to give us their best when the present art for public consumption, but don't forget that they too are perfectly imperfect human beings.

To Whitney,

I love you and I do not expect you to be today who you were when you were 20. However, I DO wish you well. I DO want to see you to take care of yourself and your voice and present us with the very best you when grace the stage or our television screens. More than anything, I pray you enjoy a full life, great career and continue to raise your beautiful girl to be an equally beautiful woman.

Thank you for sharing your life and your gift with us.

Click on the link below and download your copy of the special photo collage I created. Click on the second link and check out other hot images from the concert today in Central Park.