Decide 2 Matter

Your Heart Knows the Answer by Gail Harris

I'm reading a wonderful book right now called Your Heart Knows the Answer by Gail Harris. It's exactly the kind of book the world needs right now. We are so inundated with choices, advertising, news, and opinions bombarding us on all sides. So it's important that we learn to turn inward and listen to our own inner guidance to help us lead the way. Gail Harris knows from personal experience that following your heart is the only way to a happy spirited life.

Now, I read a lot of self-help books, spirituality books, and spirited, fun books. What I liked about this book is that it doesn't hit you over the head with all the things you should be doing in your life. It slowly welcomes you back to the wisdom of your body, mind, and spirit. Yes, those three words are often overused and they saturate the market, but what Harris does is encourage you to find your heart's voice wherever it resides.

For me, my heart's voice appears in the "gut" reactions of my body. Also, I feel things with an inner knowing - when you just know. What I was worried about was finding that "inner voice" amidst all the mind chatter that I typically have throughout the day. But Harris has you identify with those other voices and recognize where they come from. By doing so, you realize that your heart's voice and guidance is still there, you just must listen a little bit harder. She gives you permission to find that voice wherever it lives within you.

Though a small book, it's packed with beautiful ceremonies, prayers, and affirmations (it even says so on the cover). There's one that I just love to pieces and can't wait to actually finish. It's where you marry yourself and promise to love yourself forever. We are often advised to love ourselves more, but actually marrying yourself? The more the idea sunk in, the better I felt about it: kind of like drinking hot chocolate on a cold snowy day. The warmth just spread out to toes and the sweetness made me smile. Now I'm searching for the perfect ring or piece of jewelry. So whenver I wear Ican say, "I'm pretty neat and I promise to love myself all the more."

Your Heart Knows the Answer by Gail Harris is a treasure of a book that should be in anyone's collection. It helps you reconnect with who you are and offers you unique new opportunities to reunite with the guiding voice of self-love. Moreover, its simply friendly guidance brings you back to yourself and shakes you out of your slumber with important questions such as:

If you are in a relationship, does it continually take you deeper within yourself and challenge you to renew yourself?

Why not challenge yourself to live your best life by picking up a copy today? Or better yet, buy a copy for a loved one. You'll love yourself for doing so!

You can find out more by going to Gail's website at: www.yourheartknows.com

In the Meantime

So you are pursuing a new career, trying a new line of crafts, working on a new piano piece, and you have a plan. It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time, but you know you can do it. However, what do you do in the meantime?

What exactly is "in the meantime"? It's when:

• the kids are in bed and the spouse isn't home.
• you just submitted your homework, book proposal, your project outlines, and you won't hear back for a day, week, or month.
• everything is going as planned and you have some time off.
• you are waiting in line.
• you are in between assignments.

Given we live in a fast paced society where we must do, do, do, many of us don't know exactly what to do with ourselves when we have those rare free moments.

In my experience, two things happen we are stuck in the meantime. We either fill every extra second up with more activities or we wait. Either option deprives us of the must needed rest and recovery that our mind, body, and spirit is longing for.

When we have free moments, we need to remember the following.

• It's okay to do nothing.
• Progress comes over time.
• A recharge wouldn't hurt.
• Your mind could use a rest.
• It's okay to stare at the wall, the garden, your cat, or the ceiling.
• Some of your best ideas are born in the meantime.

Here are some suggestions on what to do in the meantime.

• Take a walk or take a hike.  Getting your body moving will help with the lull you are feeling right now. Your body will appreciate exercise and better yet, your mind can take a break as you enjoy your surroundings.
• Take a nap. I'm sure you could use some more sleep.
• Get our your journal. Connect with who you are. Write our your concerns. Explore future possibilities. Or just write nonsense. The physical act of writing has a rejuvenating effect in that is clears some of the mental debris we have lingering around in our heads.
• Go sit outside. For one thing, we don't spend much time outside. Most of us only see "nature" when we take the dog out, bring the garbage down to the street for pickup, or walk from our car to the office. Do you remember what a butterfly looks like? Have you watched a sparrow hop around? Have you pet your cat lately? Did you forget what non-conditioned air feels like? Sit outside and look around.
• Read a fun book. For you this could be a fantasy novel, an auto-biography, or even a mystery. Stay away from self-help books. This reading is for pure fun. Let your imagination run away to far off places.
• Go to a spa, get a massage, or get a facial. Spend some time nurturing yourself. You've come this far in your endeavors. Nothing says you like yourself more than self-care.

Whatever you do in the meantime, remember that life is about the journey, not the destination. Moreover, life happens in the meantime - so why not enjoy that time.

Piano Diaries - Removed

I rarely post my own music online because I'm always worried about copyrights and all that jazz. Somewhere is my fear that one of my melodies will be heard on the radio being credited by someone other than yours truly. This isn't to say my music is so amazing. But more that I'm reluctant to post my music in a public forum.

And at the same time I entertain the idea of podcasting my improvisions. Then perhaps selling the editied and mixed versions on a CD. The podcasts would contain all my mess ups.

So, here is one of my songs. It's about six megs. It's completely live, made up as I go, non-edited piano music copyrighted by yours truly.

Hope you like it.

 

2011 Update

After randomly googling myself, I found my music on some random websites that crawl the net looking for mp3s they can steal. Granted it's only one song and not a very good one, but it weirded me out seeing it on two websites (nuttymp3 & mp3ganster.com). So I've removed my music from this site. I'll find some player or plugin that features the song without letting them be downloadable.

Taking the Next Step

Today I was listening to Cheryl Richardson at Hayhouseradio.com talk about doing the next step. She says that people get stuck in A to Z thinking which can be very overwhelming. Take my current path for example. I'm studying to become a therapist and eventually hope to offer therapy, spiritual counseling, and creativity coaching. I'm heading down a long road that will take many years for me to reach my destination. With A to Z thinking, I'm get absorbed in the final destination. Suddenly, the many steps in between blur into this one giant leap.

But in truth, as Cheryl reminded listeners, all we have to focus on, need to focus on, can focus on is the next step. What can you do next? I would like to focus on posting more to this site. My next step is to read more books on creativity and to thus provide more content. Another next step is for me to just finish my psychology homework. Have to pass the course don't I?

It's so easy to lose touch with what can be done right now when our sights are set on our future goal. It's almost like looking at the stars and trying to walk down the street. Have you ever tried that at night? I almost always get dizzy while looking up and walking forward - never in a straight line.

Watch where you are going, look ahead, and pay attention to your next step. You can't climb mountains by looking at them hard enough. Small steps.

Exercise

1. Write down your goal or dream on a piece of paper
2. Identify the next step you could do towards that goal
3. If you aren't sure, ask someone else what they think
4. Ask for help if you need it
5. Get moving towards that next step

Living Fearlessly

What exactly is it you believe in? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in the Goddess? Do you believe in a loving universe that has a divine intelligent all its own? Well, I figure if you found your way to my blog, you likely believe in something greater out there. If so, then why do you worry? Why are you so afraid of being who you truly are? Why don't you let that wonderful spirit inside you shine more often?

Yes, I'm talking to you. You know who you are. And deep inside there are marvelous treasures you long to share with the world. You do so by sharing your spirit with others. You connect. But in order to do so, you must live without the fear.

First off, the fear is about feeling separate from others. You are afraid of how someone might respond to you. You are afraid you will be left alone, will lose your job, will have no friends. But we are all in the same boat, you and I. We are trying to survive. We put food on the table, we watch our weight, and we look for divine guidance. And most importantly, we are all human beings trying to live right by our set of beliefs.

It doesn't matter where those beliefs come from. There's a Taoist poem I'm going to mangle that says it doesn't matter what you call your donkey (Zen, Christianity, Muslim, Taoist, Wiccan), they are all going to get you up the mountain. And what's on top of that mountain anyways? What is all of this for anyway?

Are you putting off living your dreams because if you sacrifice and serve others you will become a saint? That is something I totally disagree with. We are all given gifts and it's our job to use them. SARK has said how the world needs our creativity. Someone else important said that the world needs whatever we have to give.

What do you have to give? And what is stopping you from sharing it with the world? If you believe in a loving God or an intelligent universe, then why not take the plunge and start being more authentic, more real, and more alive right this second? When you look back on your life, do you see failures or love? There may have been some bumpy times, but you survived. Didn't you? Sure your credit card debt is pretty high, but you have food on the table. There are loved ones near by. Right?

Stop worrying so much. The universe is here to support you. It literally says "Yes" to whatever you believe in. Trust your spirit, trust your intuition, and trust the universe. Live fearlessly starting today.

Life is Too Short

I just got done watching the movie Last Holiday with Queen Latifah. It's a story about how a quiet an unassuming woman discovers that she has only three weeks to live. She takes her life's savings, cashes our her IRA, and sells all her bonds. And what does she do with that money? She lives!

Yes, you all can imagine the ending. It's a happy one no less. But I think we all need a good dose of reality - something that shakes us up and reminds us how to live.

Georgia, the main character of the movie,finally learns to live now that she has nothing to fear. What could happen to her? She only has three weeks left. So out she goes into the world.

People all around her are drawn to her. Not only does she look beautiful, but she's enjoying herself. Anything she feels like doing, she's doing. Georgia takes snowboard lessons, buys beautiful clothes, orders all the entres at the fancy restaurant. Now I'm not saying we need to spend all our money to have fun. But rather that to really live we must fearlessly be ourselves.

To me, that's what being an artist is about. Whether you paint, act, sing, dance, carve, or write, the sheer act of putting your spirit to paper, to movement, to clay, takes courage. You dare to live and show the world who you really are. What are you holding yourself back from? I entertain the idea of making a CD of my piano compositions. I dream of writing inspiring books. I even dabble with the idea of being a psychic (I'm a new age nerd, I'm sorry, I admit it.) or a spiritual counselor.

In fact, we also need to stop apologizing for who we are. There's a coach/author whom I read, Coach Rachelle Lee, and she says that when you start getting criticism, it means you have made it somewhere. No matter what you do with your life, you are going to offend someone. And the fact is, if someone is offended, then that person needs to deal with his or her own "stuff".

Everyone is more worried about what you think about them than how your butt looks in those pants or how you messed up in your dance performance. In fact, no one noticed you messed up. Of course there are a few people who will go out of their way to criticize you.  But you know they are only doing it because it takes the pressure off of looking at themselves in the mirror. So with all that said, what are you doing? Why are you so afraid of living?

We trick ourselves into thinking we are afraid of dying. We go to church. We pray. We do everything right - according to our holy Book of Right. But in truth, we are afraid of living. We are afraid our painting will get rejected or that someone will laugh our acting. In truth, our spirits are strong  and we are loved by the universe. If only we would stop being so afraid of each other and more importantly of what's inside us.

Life is too short to sit by wondering if someone will like us. Would you want someone to write "Went Through the Motions" on your headstone? Or "Made Everyone Else Happy"? Wouldn't it be cooler to have: Mother, Sister, Friend, Artist, Inspiration.

Okay, have I motivated you enough yet to really go after your dreams and live your life? I hope so. If anything, I've motivated myself! Life is too short not to be lived. I'm off to eat a cookie and to write some music.

How to Get In Touch With Your Spirit

What does it mean to connect to your spirit? Do you even know what your spirit feels like? Do you know what feeds your spirit? I'm a huge fan of Sonia Choquette, and she asked that question in one of her books. Actually I think it was her newest book, Ask Your Guides.

So many of us want outside help. We pray to God/dess. We ask the Universe. We ask our angels. But within us resides another wonderful powerful compass full of love and light. What could it be? Your own spirit.

Take some time to look within yourself. Sonia Choquette often asks, "Do you know what your spirit feels like?" Well, do you? What moves you? What makes you cry happy tears? What are you passionate about?

One way to connect to your spirit is to surround yourself with the things you love.Try writing a list of 100 things you love. This could be as simple as playing with puppies or hearing your granddaughter giggle.

Some things I love? Talent shows. Reading. Drawing. Playing piano. Helping people on the computer. Listening to and supporting friends. Whatever it is you love, it can help your spirit come alive.

Today get in touch with your spirit by thinking about what you love.

Monitor Your Thoughts

Have you noticed how easy it is to make judgements about other people? We are trained from an early age to notice what's wrong with us and those around us. How? Think of your test grades as a child. You may have received a 98 on a test, but you got 2 wrong. We ignore the fact that you got 98 right. It's those 2 wrong that get marked in red. I wonder how we would have turned out if the teacher put a huge smiley fact on everything we got right instead.

We are encouraged to speak negatively about ourselves. If we admit how wonderful and talented we really are, it means we are bragging and too full of pride. Moreover, liking yourself and how you look can be considered vain. Obviously anything in extremes sends us out of balance, but most of us never get the chance to admit we may be good at something. We are programmed to keep the good stuff to ourselves. Often we feel embarrassed when someone highlights our accomplishments.

This spills over into our outlook on life. We spend useless time worrying about how we will pay the bills. We wonder if a person likes us. And we spend too much time looking outside of ourselves for the answers. Also, to distract ourselves from our own insecurities, we easily find fault in others. Often it isn't malicious. Just the other day I noticed that a young girl carried her weight in a very odd way. In truth I felt bad for her because I could imagine her being picked on in high school. Yet I noticed that although I felt sympathy for the girl, I was also judging her. Why couldn't she be fine just the way she was? Why did I have to take time out of my day and focus my thoughts on how different she was?

Today, observe your thoughts and notice what you put your focus on. Thoughts create, so don't waste time judging others or yourself. Everything is perfect the way it is, it's only our thinking that makes it good or bad. Today just notice the world around you and leave the judgements home.

Get the Tools You Need

Okay, when was the last time you bought that $50 brush? Are you still using a keyboard instead of a digital piano? Are you using the cheap water color paper? Do you longingly look at the Corel Painter program and wish you had the money for it? Are your dance shoes kind of shabby?

Well, what are you waiting for? Depriving yourself of these delicious tools speaks volumes about how much you value your creativity, yourself, and your creative work. Just last week I purchased some music software that I've been wanting for over a year. A year. How much did this software cost? About $350. Being a student, I actually was able to get the software for $199.

Why did I not get the software? Was it too much money? My friend who just bought a house would say I was crazy for getting something so expensive. But I have the money. I've had the money. My "private" savings account is set up just for these types of purchases. There's the house savings, the gifts savings, and the private savings. The money has been there. So why did I not get the software?

Did I not have time to learn the software? Was there no training available? There's a website I found that gives you access to online training. It has a monthly fee, but it isn't that much. Plus there are books and tutorial DVDs available. Berklee has an online extension school that teaches classes on music production. I've taken one of them before. Nothing stopping me there.

Was the software hard to get? No, you can get it online from numerous sellers or at Guitar Center. You can have it in your hands ask quickly as you can swipe a plastic card.

So why did I hold off so long on getting this software?

Perhaps it's because as artists, it's easier to daydream about what it would be like to actually do art. Producing art is scary. It forces you to dig deeper into your psyche. You must uproot things you wish would stay dead and buried. You question your beliefs, attitudes, and opinions. The world takes on meaning and it is your job to express it.

When you create, the world has new meaning. It's your job to express it through your eyes. But with creating you stir up many things. Some of them include unjustified expectation, fear, worry, and self-criticism - to name a few. They may sound like this:

Well, if I purchase the software, then I need a better sound card.
Maybe I won't be able to write music like I used to.
Am I doing the right thing? And who am I kidding? I'm wasting my money on this.
It's not going to anywhere.

Stop those thoughts!

Yes, deciding to matter and purchasing the tools you need on your creative journey awaken a lot of fears. Sometimes it's much easier to sit and dream. But you will never know what you might have said, who you might affect, what music is inside your soul.

Today, make a list of the items you wish you had in your creative tool box. Better yet, look over what needs updating or replacing. Take your art seriously (and you know by art I mean all creative outlets) and get the tools you need. Once you do, you have one less excuse in the way of creating that next masterpiece.

Happy creating!

Free Gifts

Did you know you are blessed with a simple gift that's so easy to give away? I just received one of these gifts from a co-worker who walked by. Yes, I'm sure you have guessed what it is: a smile! If we are energetic beings, if we can affect the room we walk into with just our presence, then image the gifts we can spread with something as simple as a smile.

I'm known for describing just about everyone as cute, attractive, very pretty, and handsome. I do this so often that you really can't ask me for an "accurate" description of what someone looks like because to me everyone looks good. And why is this? Because anyone with a smile on their face is attractive. I don't care who you are, where you are from, or anything else about you. If you can produce a smile, you have something to offer - even if that is all you have to offer.

So why not give someone the free gift of your smile? A smile is enough to make my day. How will it affect yours?