Meditating on a Hillside with Thích Nhất Hạnh October 23, 2013 • 3 Comments “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” Thích Nhất Hạnh I am excited to share how the simple act of saying yes landed me on a hillside, meditating two feet away from a luminary human, with the sun shining down upon…
Discovering Your Truth: What Do You Want? October 21, 2013 • 4 Comments I remember my mother saying to me quite often as a child, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, young lady, don’t say anything at all.” I never figured out why she always threw in the “young lady” part, but I always felt small when she said it. I knew better than to talk back or question her. There…
Duality: Holding Opposite Emotions Within You October 9, 2013 • 0 Comments “If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn…
Ithaka: May Your Spirit Be Touched by Emotion October 2, 2013 • 0 Comments I loved this poem when I first read it while studying at UC Berkeley, although I look back now and wonder what it truly meant to me at the tender age of twenty. My grandfather and I discussed it once and he told me to always remember that living is in the journey and that one day all the events…
A Poem About Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye September 23, 2013 • 0 Comments This has been one of my most popular posts over the past year, so I thought I would repost it for my newer readers. Enjoy. I love the poem “Kindness,” by Naomi Shihab Nye. I thought I would share it because kindness is something that settles deeper and deeper into my being each day. It is a light that connects…
Strength and Love: Homecoming by Linda Reuther August 23, 2013 • 4 Comments Today is a short and sweet post. Honestly, I saw this somewhere and wrote it down but have not been able to find out much about it. I am not sure if it is a complete poem or part of a larger work, but I love it. There were times when I just felt so small and alone that laying…
The Finale: The Healing Energy From Singing Your Heart Out July 24, 2013 • 9 Comments It’s not the easy stuff that changes us. It’s when we’re afraid we’ll fail, but we try anyway. It’s when what we want is just out of reach and we have to leap. It’s when we fall down—and when we get back up. It’s that little space between curiosity and courage where we decide it’s time to stop dreaming—and do.…
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone with Transformational Singing July 17, 2013 • 8 Comments I don’t know if you have ever been a part of a group performance or not, but this is my first rodeo. As this transformational singing workshop winds down and we veer closer to performance day, nerves are a bit rankled. Coordinating all the moving parts is a challenge, albeit a beautiful thing to watch. No one wants to screw…
“Love Is Alive” by Gary Wright (and Dianna Bonny) July 10, 2013 • 0 Comments The song that was chosen for my transformational singing breakthrough was “Love is Alive,” originally sung by Gary Wright. I practiced with a live version performed by Joan Osborne, which was incredibly deep, soulful and guttural. Very inspiring and freeing to sing. I’m not sure I ever sounded as good as Joan, but by the end of the workshop, I…
Transformational Singing, Healing Tears and Being Alive July 10, 2013 • 4 Comments I mentioned that I am participating in a singing workshop. Although, this is an inaccurate description, because it is really about finding one’s voice. It has as much to do with singing as buying a wedding dress does with being married. Nevertheless, singing is a pretty amazing transformative vehicle and transformation just may come my way — if I can…