Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / The Lovely Light of Poetry | Episode #340

Transcript

The Lovely Light of Poetry | Episode #340 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make your Life Account.
0:28
I'm your host, Doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, passionate inspirational speaker,
0:34
author, poet, and entrepreneur. Good morning, and welcome to Legacy Living,
0:42
Make your Life Count. I'm delighted that you joined me today. I
0:49
want to give a big thank you to those of you who are listening today,
0:53
and a big shout out to all of you listening around the world.
0:57
I'm delighted and so grateful that you tuned in. I sure hope you're enjoying
1:02
a fabulous day today and that you're having a fantastic week, because you know
1:07
what, and the grand song of the universe, life is very short.
1:14
It's short, sweet and very very precious. So I hope you're making a
1:19
difference in your own life, because when you do, you also make a
1:25
difference in someone else's life. Now, a lot of folks want to make
1:30
their life count for something, don't they? And they ask me, Doctor
1:34
Gloria, how do you do that? Well, it's very simple, really
1:40
simple. You make your life count, day by day, step by step,
1:46
moment by moment, every single day. Three sixty five, twenty four
1:52
seven that's what legacy Living, Make your Life Count is all about. Now
1:59
you can learn more about legacy living Make your Life Count by visiting the Gloria
2:05
Burgess website that's g l o r I A b u r g e ss
2:12
dot com, the Gloria Burgess website again, that's g l o r I
2:19
A b u r g e ss dot com, or by visiting Facebook,
2:27
Facebook dot com. Forward slash d r for doctor d r g l O
2:35
r I A b u r g e s s p hd forward slash.
2:44
Okay, I have a very special show for you today. Today's podcast is
2:50
a celebration of poetry. Now Here in the United States, we celebrate poetry
2:55
all month long during the month of April, which is quite wonderful for poets
3:02
and for the rest of us. But you know me, I love to
3:07
celebrate poetry anytime, anywhere and with anyone, including you. So today that's
3:15
exactly what we'll do celebrate. We will celebrate poetry. Now you've heard me
3:22
say this before. I love language. I love the music of it,
3:29
the melody and rhythm and cadence of words. I also love language because words
3:36
are so full of power and wonder and awe and mystery. Words are full
3:44
of presences, the presences of space and time, and people and places,
3:53
the presences of smells and tastes and touch and memory. Words can be magical,
4:03
mystical. Words can bless or blaspheme. Words can be a healing balm
4:14
or hurt, like the sting of cold ice pelting against your skin. In
4:19
fact, words really do have vitality, right and soul. Words can make
4:28
a difference when we are distressed, depressed, when we despair. Now how
4:36
can that be? Because words can offer light, light, lucidity, illumination,
4:48
and they can also bring a certain kind of loveliness into our world.
4:59
So let's t talk about light. The focus of today's show is all about
5:05
poetry and light. Now. I've been a poet for a long long time.
5:13
In fact, I've written several books of poems, and my poems are
5:16
published in a number of anthologies. Over the years, I've developed a deep
5:24
appreciation for poetry, and I now know that poems can be a resource for
5:30
people in any setting, any context, where people are, and that would
5:35
be just about everywhere, right, So these days I share poetry in schools
5:42
and healthcare settings, in church, in corporate settings. In it, I
5:48
share poems with government officials, with first responders like firefighters and police officers,
5:55
and EMTs. I share poems with financial analysts, social workers, with families
6:02
and children in foster care, and with other artists. The power of poetry
6:09
to renew, restore, revive, rejuvenate, to inspire, and to help
6:17
people imagine new possibilities. You know what, the power of poetry is positively
6:28
amazing. So again, what I'll share today is all about poetry and light.
6:35
In many ways, the poems that I'll share today reflect in mirror the
6:40
many threads of my life and work. In fact, you've heard me talk
6:44
about many of these threads and themes right here on this show, the themes
6:49
of gratitude, faith, love, creativity, imagination, integrity, hope,
6:57
and possibility. Before we dive into the podcast, I want to take just
7:05
a moment to welcome you. If you're just joining us, I'm your host,
7:12
Doctor Gloria, and this is Legacy Living, Make your life count.
7:17
I'd like to extend a special welcome to those of you who are joining my
7:21
podcast, or if you're joining Talk Network Radio for the very first time.
7:28
I'm so excited to have you listening in today, and I'm deeply honored that
7:32
you've allowed me to be part of your day so you can be inspired by
7:38
ideas and resources to make your life count. Today's program is all about poetry
7:46
and light. And this is an invitation, an invitation to you to just
7:54
slow down, to be still for the next half hour or so at least.
8:01
Right, this is an invitation to you to be attentive, to tune
8:07
into and simply revel and rejoice in the music of your soul. You are
8:20
in for a very special treat. Poetry invites us to pay attention, and
8:31
to pay attention, we need to slow down now. You don't want to
8:37
miss a single word of this podcast. So I'm going to invite you to
8:43
grab your earbuds, find yourself a comfortable sofa or chair to relax in.
8:52
Make sure you have a nice, cool glass of water next to you,
8:54
or a cup of wonderful tea or coffee. We're gonna have great time.
9:01
Now. Notice today I didn't say grab your walking shoes, right, Okay,
9:07
this is all about chilling, all about slowing down. Okay, let's
9:15
walk into the wondrous light of poetry. The first poem today is a beautiful
9:24
one by Langston Hughes, one of my favorite poets. This poem is called
9:31
mother to Son, Mother to Son, well Son, I'll tell you life
9:45
for me ain't been no crystal stare. It's had tacks in it and splinters
9:54
and boards torn up and places with no carpet on the floor. Bear,
10:05
But all the time I've been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning the
10:13
corners, and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been no light.
10:18
So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps
10:24
because you're find it's kind of hard. Don't you fall now? For I
10:33
still going, honey, I still climbing, And life for me ain't been
10:41
no crystal stare. I just love how Lengths and Hughes uses the image of
10:58
crystal stare. When I see that crystal stare, I see the luminous beauty
11:07
of light. Now the poet uses the notion of dark, the opposite of
11:15
light. He uses the dark so that the light of that crystal stare is
11:22
emphasized, the light is heightened all the more. Estra's Tucker, my friend
11:33
and one of my mentors, talks about this poem. In this way,
11:39
Estra says, my life is held by the love of a mother who,
11:45
despite limited opportunities and deferred dreams, dared to believe, care and act for
11:54
the sake of her soul and the soul of her children and community. He
12:01
goes on to say, the humble language of mother to son speaks to me
12:07
in times of failure and disillusionment, as well as times of accomplishments and acceptance.
12:16
As an organizer and facilitator, I often find my best work happens when
12:20
the meeting is over. I know that's right. In his work as an
12:26
organizer and facilitator, Estrus once hosted a series of meetings of central City Fort
12:33
Worth neighbors to share ideas and to improve their community. He says the ground
12:41
rules were simple, be kind, listen well, and speak from the heart.
12:46
We focused on two questions. The first question was what kind of place
12:52
do I dream? What kind of place do I dream of for those I
12:58
love? And the second question was what do I love doing great questions.
13:05
Right after people read and reflected on their responses, which were posted on the
13:11
wall, I invited them to speak to speak about what they had felt inspired
13:18
to do. A community garden voter registration rallies, predatory lending protests, and
13:31
the neighborhood Association all grew from those simple conversations. I remember a young man
13:37
saying, when people listened to me, I felt like I was somebody worth
13:43
hearing. When people trusted me, I felt trustworthy. When you open your
13:52
heart first and then open your eyes, you see people and places differently.
14:00
We had many gifts, we just didn't see them. Seeing these people take
14:07
action. I don't turn back, but dare to believe, to care,
14:16
and to act, just as my mother did, taking on life as she
14:22
found it. I'm going to read once again that luminous poem Mother to Son
14:35
by Lenggston Hughes well Son. I'll tell you life for me ain't been no
14:46
crystal stare. It's had tacks in it and splinters, and boards torn up,
14:52
and places with no carpet on the floor bare. But all the time
15:01
e's been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning corners, and sometimes going
15:07
in the dark where there ain't been no light. So boy, don't you
15:16
turn back, don't you set down on the steps because you're find it's kind
15:24
of hard. Don't you fall now? For I still going, honey,
15:33
I still climbing, and life for me ain't been no crystal scan. You
15:46
know what, when I think about this poem, I too think about my
15:54
own mother, the journey she's had, the steps she had to climb into
16:00
the light, beyond being beyond being in the world of belonging to and being
16:10
a sharecropper's daughter. I also think of my father. His life was certainly
16:15
no crystal stare. Now some of you have heard me share my father's story
16:22
on this podcast and maybe even in other settings. My father was the first
16:27
person in his family to go to college, the first person in his family
16:33
who dared to dream about such a thing as that. In fact, when
16:38
he was just a little boy, four or five years old, he talked
16:42
about two of his dreams. He wanted to live in a house with running
16:48
water and to go to college. Now, in the nineteen thirties in the
16:55
Deep South of the United States, in rural Mississippi, these were big,
17:00
bad, audacious dreams, especially for a little black boy. Talking about dreams
17:07
like these could actually get you killed. But that didn't phase my father.
17:14
He talked to anybody who would listen, Yes he did. It didn't matter
17:18
what you look like, how old you were, what walk of life you
17:21
came from. My father passionately talked about his dreams. As a young man,
17:27
he worked as a janitor at the University of Mississippi ol MISS. Now
17:33
this was in the nineteen fifties, so he could work there, but he
17:37
couldn't attend college there. Why because Old Miss was still segregated. This was
17:44
before the Civil Rights movement, which would be about a decade later. So
17:49
my father is still talking about his dreams to anybody who would listen, the
17:53
students, the professors, the staff, anybody, anybody who would listen.
18:00
Right or one day, all of that would change. One of the administrators
18:06
at old Miss heard about my dad and heard about his dream of going to
18:10
college. That gentleman met my father and asked him about his dreams. He
18:18
fell in love with my father. That gentleman was responsible for introducing my dad
18:26
to the person who would change his life, who would change my family's life
18:34
for all time. And that person was Pulitzer Prize winning American author and Nobel
18:41
laureate William Faulkner. Now, when Faulkner met my father, he was deeply
18:48
touched by my dad's faith passion, drive, determination, humility, gratitude,
18:57
and leadership. Faulkner didn't see my father the way that many whites saw my
19:07
dad. Now, in those days, my father was viewed as a black
19:15
man who was way too big for his breeches, so to speak. But
19:22
Faulkner didn't see him that way. Instead, he saw my father the way
19:26
that God saw him. He saw my father as a man with birthright dignity.
19:33
He saw my father's humanity and divinity. He saw my father as a
19:40
man filled with love, light, possibility, and generosity. And that's exactly
19:48
how my father viewed himself. And that's how my father also viewed Faulkner as
19:57
another human being, another man filled with love, light, possibility, and
20:03
generosity of spirit. Now, Faulkner offered to pay for my father to attend
20:10
college, to pay for his tuition, his room and board, his books,
20:14
with no strings attached. Wow, pretty amazing, right, Well,
20:18
what would you do? I mean, what would you do? What would
20:23
you say if somebody offered you something like that? I mean, this is
20:30
my dad's lifelong dream. What do you think he said? Well, he
20:36
said, no, no, sir, I want to go to college more
20:41
than anything. But I can't accept your generous offer. You see, I
20:45
don't know how I could ever pay you back. And Faulkner looked at my
20:52
dad with a twinkle in his eye, and he said, I don't expect
20:55
you to pay me back. You just passed this blessing on when you're able
20:59
to do so. Mercy. Who knew? How many of you know that
21:07
God looks out for his own. That fall, my father enrolled at all
21:15
Corn A and M College with my mom, me, and my two older
21:19
sisters right by his side. So my father's and my family's story not long
21:32
ago, this story came through in words and images, and this amazing story
21:41
that I just shared is now available as a children's picture book, as a
21:45
visual biography. That is a great book for people of all ages. Now,
21:52
before the picture book, before the visual biography, before the words and
21:57
images of a story book came through, God gave me the same story,
22:03
the same arc. But he gave it to me in words and images and
22:11
light and in the form of a poem. And I want to share that
22:17
poem with you now. So I shared the story with you, so hopefully
22:22
it will bring more light, more light into the poem for you. The
22:29
poem is called Sanctuary. Sanctuary for my father Ernest McEwen Junior and William Faulkner,
22:48
Between the brush of angel's wings and furious hoods of hell, to mortal
23:00
men fell down. How you must have looked, white, shirt stained,
23:10
khaki's fatigued, smelling of sweat and smoke, hair at odds with itself and
23:18
the world at the threshold among your restless dead, an echo and shadow of
23:30
ancient oaks providing sanctuary, offering shade. You had many worlds behind you,
23:41
few yet to be borne, stories of insurgents, scorn, decay, theme
23:52
and variations of a vanquished self. Leaning against a jam of antebellum brass.
24:07
You watched, waited, raised, weary, arm in hand, saluted the
24:14
familiar stranger. Come, come, enter six sing. You reached each other
24:30
across the grate. What you two must have known of heaven and hell.
24:56
I can picture the home where Faulkner lived, and it's like a light as
25:07
you walk up this long red brick pathway. The houses painted still white,
25:18
and so in the pathway up to the house you see this bright light of
25:26
white in the paint in the house, in the presences that guard the home,
25:34
these ancient trees, these old trees lining the walkway. So the poem
25:41
talks about the old, ancient qualities in the house. Leaning against a jam,
25:51
a door jam, leaning against a jam of antebellum brass. You watched,
25:59
wait, raised, weary, arm in hand, saluted the familiar stranger,
26:06
Come enter, sit sing. You reached each other across the great What
26:21
you two must have known of heaven and hell. So I'm going to read
26:36
this poem again in its entirety, and this time I just want to invite
26:41
you to listen, listen, keenly for the different qualities of light that appear
26:48
in the poem. You know, we start out with a brush of angels
26:51
wings, which is a certain quality of light, right, and then the
26:55
furious hoofs of hell, which brings out another entirely different kind of quality of
27:00
light. Right. So listen, please, as you hear me again,
27:07
as you hear this poem on my breath, listen for the different qualities of
27:11
light and how they play into and off of one another. Sanctuary for my
27:21
father, Ernest McEwen Junior and William Faulkner, Between the brush of angel's wings
27:36
and furious hooves of Hell, two mortal men fell down. How you must
27:48
have looked, white shirt stained, khaki's fatigued, smelling of sweat and smoke,
27:57
hair at odds with itself and the world at the threshold, among your
28:10
restless dead in echo and shadow of ancient oaks providing sanctuary, offering shade.
28:22
You had many worlds behind you, few yet to be borne, stories of
28:30
insurgents, scorn, decay, theme and variations of a vanquished South leaning against
28:47
a jam of antebellum brass. You watched, waited, raised, weary,
28:56
arm in hand, saluted the familiar stranger. Come enter, sit sing.
29:15
You reached each other across the great What you two must have known of heaven
29:30
and hell. Deciding deciding on who you will invite to enter, sit and
29:53
sing, Deciding on who you include or exclude is a choice. Deciding who
30:06
you stand with and who you don't. Deciding who you see and who you
30:12
choose to ignore. All of these are choices. I love this quote by
30:21
Elizabeth Cubler Ross. She says people are like stained glass windows. They sparkle
30:30
and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in,
30:37
their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Now.
30:49
I love this quote, so I'm going to repeat it. And the
30:52
first time, I you know, I had to kind of stop to really
30:56
get my head around it. So listen, people are like stained glass windows.
31:02
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out. But when the darkness
31:06
sets in. When the darkness sets in, and the darkness could be hard
31:14
times or social expectation or anything else that wants to creep in and suck the
31:19
light right out of you right when the darkness sets in. Their true beauty
31:27
is revealed only if there is a light from within. And you know what,
31:37
when there is a light from within, it does not matter. Listen
31:44
to me, It does not matter what people around you do. The only
31:49
thing that matters is who you are and whose you are. Because when you
31:56
know whose you are, who you choose to be is very easy. It's
32:01
very easy, and it will determine who you choose to be and what you
32:10
choose to do. All right, So I just invite you to breathe,
32:22
breathe, breathe, and I have another poem that I'd like to share with
32:28
you. And this next poem is all about artists and artistry. When I
32:36
saw the title, U gathering artists. I was immediately drawn to it.
32:42
Then I read the poem and I was drawn in even further. As I
32:46
just mentioned, this poem is all about artists and artistry and the light we
32:52
can bring into the world and illuminate the world for our own creative genius.
32:57
Now you know that I think that we're all ours. Some of us are
33:00
artists with a big a right, but we're all artists. So this poem
33:07
is a wonderfully luscious poem by Alberto Rios. Ungathering Artists is totally new to
33:16
me, and the poet is actually new to me as well. So Rios
33:22
was born in nineteen fifty two. He lives in Arizona, and he is
33:27
the inaugural Poet Laureate of the State of Arizona. Early in his writing life,
33:32
he received the Walt Whipman Award for his collection of poems called Whispering to
33:38
Fool the Wind. Whispering to Fool the Wind, Rios has written many many
33:45
poems and has authored a number of poetry collections, including a small Story about
33:52
the Sky. He currently serves as a chancellor of the prestigious Academy of an
34:00
American Poets. Here's this poem on gathering artists. Rios begins this poem with
34:10
an epigraph, who does a job well and very well? These are the
34:20
artists, those curious lights. We are cobblers of the song and barkers of
34:34
the carnival word. We are tailors of the light and framers of the earth.
34:45
We fish among the elements and hunt the elusive green in gray and blue.
34:54
We drink forbidden waters and eat an invisible food. In this time of
35:02
electronic male and fac simile conversation, we send our voice the poem, the
35:10
bridge, the circuit, the cure, whose electricity is made from dreams,
35:20
whose song is sung in the colors yet unnamed, drawn from the solitary etudes
35:28
of the soul, and given up in tender to the world. How easy
35:37
to spend a day writing a poem, How hard to spend a life writing
35:45
a thousand A poem, a bridge, a story, a circuit, cures
35:54
laws, bowls, the warp and weave and waft of iron and paper and
36:05
light and salt. We labor for a lifetime, but take every day off.
36:17
Who knows what to make of us? We are not the rib cage,
36:25
but the legs. We are not the steering wheel, but the head
36:31
laps. We gather happily, if not often we can't sit still. We
36:44
hurry off. Goodbye to us, Hello to us, a tip of the
36:51
hat to us. As we go about the drumming of our stars, ungathering
37:08
artists who does a job well and very well. These are the artists,
37:20
those curious lights. We are cobblers of the song and barkers of the carnival
37:32
word. We are tailors of the light and framers of the earth. We
37:40
fish among the elements and hunt the elusive green in gray and blue. We
37:50
drink forbidden waters and eat an invisible food. In this time of electronic male
38:01
and fac simile conversation, we send as our voice the poem, the bridge,
38:12
the circuit, the cure, whose electricity is made from dreams, whose
38:23
song is sung in the colors yet unnamed, drawn from the solitary attudes of
38:32
the soul, and given up in tender to the world. How easy to
38:44
spend a day writing a poem, How hard to spend a life writing a
38:51
thousand A poem, a bridge, a circuit, a story, cures,
39:07
laws, bowls, the warp and weathe and waft of iron and paper and
39:20
light and salt. We labor for a life time, but take every day
39:29
off. Who knows what to make of us? We are not the rib
39:39
cage but the legs. We are not the steering wheel but the head lamps.
39:50
We gather happily, if not often. We can't sit still. We
39:59
hurry off. Goodbye to us, Hello to us, A tip of the
40:06
hat to us as we go about the drumming of our stars. Such lustrous
40:27
poems, these poems of light and love and soul. If you'd like to
40:44
read more, you can find each of the poems I share today in books
40:50
by the poets Langston Hughes, Alberto Rios, and Yours Truly Gloria Burgess.
40:59
In act. You can find my poem Sanctuary in my book of poems called
41:05
The Open Door. It also appears in a number of anthologies and in my
41:10
book called Dare to Wear Your Soul on the Outside. You can hear more
41:19
about the power of poetry by listening to some of my other podcasts. I
41:23
have a show about poetry and the power of healing poetry and leading another one
41:30
that highlights and features Pulitzer prizewinning poet Gwendoline Brooks. I also have a podcast
41:37
of my interview with poet Elizabeth Often and a show featuring doctor Maya Angelo.
41:44
And yes, I know that folks love my podcast on poetry and I love
41:51
researching and creating them. So there's more to come, more podcast about the
41:55
power of words and the power of poetry. Now, did you know that
42:06
you can offer poetry anywhere? That's right, you can offer poetry anywhere.
42:12
In fact, during National Poetry Month, they now have a whole day called
42:17
Poem in your Pocket. Poem in your Pocket, What does that mean?
42:23
Well, it's a whole day where the idea is to tuck a copy of
42:28
your favorite poem into your pocket or your purse or your backpack, right,
42:32
and then you share your poem with folks you encounter during your day on the
42:37
bus, in your car pool, when you're walking your dog, or standing
42:43
in line waiting for your coffee or latte or tea, when you're at work,
42:46
or at the grocery store or the bookstore, the fruit stand. You
42:51
got the idea, right, I just love that Poem in your pocket.
42:55
And you know what, I want to let you in on a little secret.
43:00
Okay, but this is the kind of secret you can share with others.
43:05
So what's the secret. Well, here it is. You don't have
43:07
to wait until a poem in your pocket day to share a poetry. That's
43:12
right, you don't have to wait. You can share a poem anytime,
43:16
anywhere, with anyone. Okay, just give it a try now. In
43:23
my own work as a speaker, as a coach, as a facilitator and
43:28
trainer, I use poems all the time, right. I use poems to
43:32
help people slow down, to bring them into a room, to help them
43:37
remember to breathe right, and to help them remember who they are and to
43:45
remember who and what is important. I use poems to build bridges. I
43:52
use poems to help people reconnect with their purpose and sometimes to find their way
44:00
right, to find their unique purpose there why I use poems to heal,
44:07
to inspire, to transcend ordinary time, to enter through the gates of God's
44:15
time. But the Greeks called kiros used in these ways, poems become prayers.
44:27
Poems become prayers. Poems also become a portal, a doorway, a
44:37
threshold that we cross that urges us to stop, look and listen, to
44:50
truly pay attention to who and what matters. Now, Just think about this.
44:58
If you want to transform your relationships or your family, your friendships,
45:06
your team at work, your organization, guess what you first have to transform
45:10
yourself. And one of the best ways I know is to do that through
45:16
poetry, to allow yourself to stop, look and listen spiritually, intellectually,
45:25
emotionally, and physically. How you live. How you live is how you
45:37
do everything. How you live is how you lead yourself your relationships, your
45:45
friendships, at work, at home, at church, with your kids,
45:52
your parents, your sisters and brothers. Ask yourself, how am I living
46:00
today? Not how am I doing today? But how am I living today?
46:13
Okay, if you missed any part of this week's podcast, or if
46:20
you missed last week's show, you can download the recording and listen to it
46:25
at your convenience. You can even listen to it on the go. Check
46:34
us out at iTunes, Alexa, Sprinker dot com, or you can listen
46:40
live or download to listen later right here at www. Dot Talk network radio
46:51
dot com. Okay, that's www. Dot Talk network radio dot com.
47:00
All right, we are about to close today's podcast, and I want to
47:06
thank each of you for tuning in today. Thank you for allowing me to
47:09
share a bit about my journey with what legacy living is all about, not
47:15
just living and learning, but living and learning and serving so that you make
47:21
a difference in your own life and in the lives of others. It's all
47:25
about being on purpose every single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven.
47:32
Legacy living is one of the many ways to make your life count. Before
47:40
I close today's show again, I want to thank you for joining me here
47:45
today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this has been
47:52
Legacy Living. Make your life count. Please join me again next week right
47:59
here on iTunes, Alexa Sprinker dot com or Talk Network Radio for another show,
48:09
another podcast of Legacy Living. Make your life count. Don't just count
48:16
the days in your life, Make the days in your life count. That's
48:24
what legacy living is all about. Have a fantastic day, and remember,
48:32
make the days in your life count. God bless that's our show today.
48:52
I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll join me again
48:58
next week. Until they don't just count the days in your life, make
49:04
the days in your life account. That's what legacy living is all about.
49:08
Here's to you have a fantastic day. Be sure to make it a yes
49:15
kind of day, and remember celebrate, celebrate the music of your life.
49:22
Make the day in your life count