Do You Gotta Have a Dream?

"...you gotta have a dream, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"

                                                                -  From the song, "Happy Talk" by Rogers & Hammerstein

 The people who run around in my dreams every night are not very nice.  My dreams are always confused, hectic, disturbing and exhausting, and the people in my dreams all have questionable motives or are generally frustrating the hell out of me.

That is why I can sometimes be heard yelling in my sleep, and occasionally throwing a punch, and why the shooting pain that wakes me up is usually caused by a stray bullet that I take as I’m diving and rolling with my AK-47 across concrete and rubble strewn between two bombed-out buildings.  

I researched this a little. It seems I may have issues. What? One thing I read was that the emotions you feel in your dreams are real – probably leftovers from something you felt during your waking hours, but maybe you were just holding it in, or couldn’t fully express it, due to a myriad of circumstances.

I don’t know if this is correct, but I know that I often feel frustration and impatience when it comes to my “dreams” (and my life, for that matter). Everybody is supposed to have a Dream. You must have small dreams that are within arms' reach, and you must have BIG Dreams that are swirling around up there in the sky somewhere. You must use physics to determine the correct trajectory that will, upon launch, propel you upwards and right into your heart's desire. If you do not do this, you are wasting, wasting, wasting precious time.

“DREAM BIG.” We hear that all the time. And it’s right, it’s true. You cannot conceive of every possibility and how it will happen. So you do need to set your sights beyond what you could imagine. Some days, however, I grow weary of being bombarded by motivational mumbo jumbo, which eventually just becomes so much noise in my brain.

I am completely and utterly impressed by some seven year old who has the vision and the drive to become something great, and is already working on it at seven. But I’m also often discouraged and left feeling inadequate because I’m not doing enough, not doing enough, not doing enough. Why didn't I have this self-awareness when I was seven - when I had the time?? No, it’s never enough, and the hour is late. The longer I'm on this planet, the more urgent it seems to be that I should map out my piece of Pie in the Sky.

So back to the frustrations in my sleep: Could it be that I’ve allowed needing to have a Big Dream to dilute or eclipse  Joy in my life? I'm a huge proponent of Joy. I must examine this. I am no longer willing to sacrifice Joy for any outcome.  I have only recently discovered Joy and what it can truly mean. Being inexperienced at having It around, I might accidentally send It away.

 

On the other hand, am I just using this as an excuse so that I can say I don't really want a Big Dream and therefore, I do not need to worry about attaining one? Possibly. But if so, then I am missing the point of Being Alive, which is not - I believe - to make ourselves miserable or have fitful sleep. The point for me is to live, love, experience joy, create, grow, and let things unfold as they will. That would require Patience........um - that's another blog....

 

Naked Faith May Be Required

I would really like to think that there comes a day when Life doesn’t throw me any more surprise parties.  I suppose that will be when I am dead.

Sometimes, the result of this is that I become temporarily Afraid of Life. I want It to leave me alone. I stay home, and hunker down. I close the blinds, put on a heavy sweatshirt, eat popcorn, and waste incredibly large chunks of Time. I sleep. I travel out to get the things I need, moving carefully and purposefully from my car to the store, or work, and back again. I speak to no one unless spoken to. In this way, I fool myself into thinking that I have escaped Life’s notice for a little while – that I have stopped the world ‘cause I wanna get off.

Of course, we know it does not work this way. Life is the Ultimate Party Girl and you are going to get dragged along – kicking and screaming if necessary. So wouldn’t it be better to just roll with it rather than dig in one’s heels or get the spaghetti arms and drop to the floor and say, “I’m not doing it!!” Yes, yes it would, probably.

And sometimes…I do. But sometimes………..it requires incredible bravery or just hutzpah or determination or naked faith to go along.

Today, I shall crack open a can of Naked Faith and rejoin the party.

Contents Under Pressure: Look Out, She's Gonna Blow!

Everyone suffers from potential head explosion. We are all just walking around with the pressure building up inside our skulls. This is because we absorb so much that is baloney, clogging our mental processes with a thick, garlic-laden lunch meat. Add to that mix our inner fears, woes, and worries and probably a lack of sleep, and you have a recipe for an explosion sandwich.

Enter your creative outlet – a way for you to avoid the messy head explosion.

Your creative outlet is not going to be about responsibilities, obligations, finances, or chores. It is not going to give you worry, or angst, or depression. It is going to be something that brings you JOY. Joy is something we have little enough of in our lives, and JOY is not really sought after, except at Christmas time, when it is wished to the entire world --  which is a shame. We can experience JOY any time, with no carols involved.  

alternateeconomy.wordpress.com

This joy is a standalone by-product of whatever your creative outlet might be. It’s not contingent upon rightness, or whether you deserve it, or any such nonsense. For you, my friends, I have gone to the Thesaurus for words that also define joy: happiness, delight, pleasure, enjoyment, bliss, ecstasy, elation, thrill, gladness. Of course, depending on what you are doing, you could possibly experience any or all of these feelings in varying degrees.

All you need to do is find that creative outlet that does it for you. You might like to draw, paint, write, sing, take photographs, sew, play golf, cook, ride horses, visit museums, go to concerts, window shop, read, ride your bike, sit outside and listen to nature, play a musical instrument, chat with a friend over a cup of coffee, take a walk, plant a garden…..you get the idea? Things that just bring you joy for the sake of doing them are worth doing. Not only are they worth doing, you MUST do them, if you plan on keeping your head intact.  

 

 

**Blogger's Note: After publishing this blog, I discovered that my last 3 posts have made references to exploding heads or heads exploding. I see a theme here, a disturbing theme.**

 

 

 

 

Tales of an F-Bomber



I'm a veteran pilot of sorts. I know my way around the skies when it comes to certain things. I’m not bragging, you understand. I am just saying that I have some skills, and not a small amount of experience. No, not small at all.

But the day comes – or it doesn’t – when you decide to take off your goggles and your leather aviator gear, and you just choose to live life from a different place. To be honest, I don’t even know if I can do it. Okay, let me clarify this. I plan to do it, except for extreme circumstances when the situation requires that I return to the skies and once again do my bit for all humanity. For now, the F-Bomber will lay down her wings and live a more benevolent life on the ground.

Can it really be done? Who can say? I heard a story once about a guy in southern Oklahoma – an Okie from the red dirt region. Supposedly, he tried to give up F-bombing. Soon after, when presented with an especially exasperating situation and unable to drop any F-bombs, he was at such a loss at how better to express himself, he burst an artery in his right temple and his head exploded. 

"Frack you!" 

I’m hoping that my advantage will be a healthy vocabulary that will serve me in my hour of need as I walk through the valley of the shadow of no swearing.  Why even try to give it up at this late hour? Oh, because I do it a lot. It is a word that I especially love and embrace and find so fitting to so many life situations. But I’m better than this. I know I am.   F-Bombing has a particularly nasty connotation, and conjures up images of a woman who chews tobacco, spits in the dirt, doesn't shower much, and probably plays a harmonica. I'm  in search of a calm exterior and as such, I probably need to let that word go. Besides, we all know I don't play the harmonica.

Still, it makes my head hurt to think about giving up F-bombing.  Until I get the hang of it, you may hear me substituting all kinds of crazy words in place of that all-encompassing, adjective/expletive/verb/noun. (See what I mean? Versatile!) I may be heard to holler things like, “What the fork?” and “I don’t give a fadoodle!” and “he’s a mothermother!” until I can really get this thing figured out. In the meantime, I still plan to use “bugger” once in an a while.

Noble F-Bombers from a bygone era.

 

Mulligan!

Long before my life exploded, and rained me down in fire and ash

Before my faith in Love eroded, before I walked on broken glass…

  -From “The One That Got Away” by Laura Lisbeth ©2012

When your life blows up it never feels like a good thing at the time. I would go so far as to suggest that everyone probably experiences these explosions in varying degrees at different times. And it’s hard to see your life rain down in pieces around you and feel good about it.

But take heart, oh Disenchanted Ones, because what is also happening is that Life is granting you a giant Mulligan. A Big Ol’ Do Over. That is the way I have decided to look at it. Suddenly I find myself back at the start of things instead of well underway. So what do I want to do? Do I want to just pick up where I left off? How? Why? Nope, I’ll take the Mulligan and get on with it, thank you.

Just so we’re all on the same page here – Mulligan  is a golf term. In golf, it’s a shot taken after a failed shot, which does not count against your strokes. In everything else, Mulligan means a “Do-over.”

All this opportunity awaits: a chance to reinvent yourself, a chance to do something differently, a chance to see your future with a fresh set of eyes.  The time is now.

Oh yeah, baby! I call Mulligan!

The Fire In Your Belly!

A couple of months ago I ran out of gas at a stoplight during the noon rush hour.   I was busy, you know, and while I noticed that the tank was getting low, I kind of ignored it -- I had a lot on my mind! 

So, at this stoplight, my car shuddered and died, and I was completely shocked and surprised and thinking the worst – then I looked at the gas gauge.  Ohhh no.

Every time the light turned green, people behind me were honking, and I kept waving them around. A police officer came up to my window and when I told him, “um, I think I’m out of gas,” he said, “you’ve GOT to be kidding me.”

Cars need gas to run.   A fire needs fuel – something to burn – to keep on burning. For me, inspiration works this way too. If your Car of Inspiration is sitting dead at a stoplight,  what are you gonna do? I don’t know what fills your tank, but here are some suggestions:

• Spend time in nature.  It reaches you at the soul level and reopens that dialogue you have with your innermost self. That’s where the good stuff comes from.
• Read a book.  Reading really gets my brain pistons firing. Sometimes I do this in place of working on writing. I don’t like to force it that much. If I don’t have anything happening in the writing department, I give my brain a little vacation.
• Go out and experience the creativity of others: go to a gallery, museum, or go out and hear live music. Relax. Soak it in. it will put the fire back in your belly.
• Grab inspiration as it flies by – it might not stop or come around again. Write down or record those little lines, words, etc that come into your head at any given moment. Store them up like a little treasure trove that is all yours. Then go back to it when you need some inspiration. You’ll be surprised at some of the things you came up with.  You will inspire yourself!
• Take on a side project that is creative, but not directly related to your main goal: co-write, collaborate, assist, support someone else’s dream. It keeps your creativity flowing until you’re ready to jump back into it again.
• Honor your creative side. Think of yourself as a creative soul, and give this part of yourself its due. This is who you are! This is the real you – the most important you. So give yourself permission to be that person.

Putting My Bears Out on the Table

Teddy bears seem to personify whimsy.  They are benevolent creatures who just exude vulnerability and fuzzy love. They stare out at the world through those glossy, black button eyes,  revealing nothing and everything all at once……… I’m pretty sure they have souls............

I kind of have a thing for teddy bears. I’ve been known to go through periods of teddy bear acquisition, in which I add unnecessary ones to my stable the way others acquire guitars or power tools.  Some of my bears  live freely, uncaged, in my house,  and they’re pretty quiet. They don’t really run amok or anything. But  I’m sad to say that not all of them are this lucky. I have some other teddy bears who have been packed away in a plastic bin marked “TEDDY BEARS” for years. Oh, the guilt I carry around with me.  I can only imagine the conversations that are going on inside that bin.

Perhaps this borders on teddy bear abuse, but what am I supposed to do – put them all out on display? I don’t have room in my life for all those bears – all at one time. I don’t want to deal with them all, so I keep some of them in that plastic bin. What does it mean when we pack our teddy bears away in a box -- when we put away our whimsy, our vulnerability, our fuzzy love?  If I don’t put all my bears out there, am I holding back something important?

 I don’t know but I think I’ve hit upon a new favorite idiom:

“Lay all your teddy bears on the table.”

“She decided it was best to come clean and lay all of her teddy bears out on the table.”

“All right, let’s lay all our teddy bears on the table and discuss this matter.” 

“He brought no teddy bears to the table.”

“But Mary treasured up all of these teddy bears in her bin, and pondered them in her heart…..”

Oops! Sorry, I got carried away for a second there.

Be brave.

Bring it.

Bring all your teddy bears to the table.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Some bears I know...........



Bear-on-stairs

 

Navy Bear

KU Bear - someone has taken his pants

Bear-in-car

Overloved bear

How Far Would You Go For Money?

How far would you go for money?

I used to work at this really crazy place, where the morale was subterranean. To offset this, we used to do things to try to lift us up out of the dark hole of our despair. Sometimes, we would have a contest to see who could do the least amount of work in a day. If you had to answer the phone, for example, you lost a point.  I once paid our first shift production manager $5 to eat a dead cricket – and he chewed it  up and swallowed it down without blinking an eye! But he was no amateur – he also claimed to have eaten a raw chicken leg for money.

Other times, we contemplated absurd scenarios: One day, we got into a discussion about what you would be willing to do for a million dollars. Would you walk down the street completely naked if someone paid you a million dollars? Would you walk all the way down Center Street, past the fairgrounds, for $1 million? The answers surprised me. Some said yes, no problem, are you kidding me I would do it in a heartbeat. Others, like me, said um, no, not on your life or for a million dollars would I do that. I’m way too shy for that.

In retrospect, I suppose there would be several minutes of an uncomfortable situation and the payoff would be huge. So why not? Because there are some things you can’t pay me to do. In general, you can’t pay me to be coerced into doing something I would not normally do. I don’t like to give someone that kind of power. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Mostly, the choice is not so extreme, and the question is couched in terms of Real Everyday Life and might not seem like a soul-killer at the time.

Would you lose sight of your true nature in order to keep a job that allows you to make your house payments? It could happen. Would you set aside what really matters to you in order to buy food and electricity? Probably.  Would you silence your heart every day in order to obtain financial security? Well, certainly not every day…………….. Would you put your soul on hold, say, through the end of the year, with plans to revisit it when you’re not quite so busy?  What? Can you repeat the question? I was busy over here….

We kind of need money sometimes. But when you are true to yourself,  you will find a way to make the other things work.  I’m trying to focus, focus, focus on heart and soul. Always always always. That is where the truth lies.  No matter how far you go for money, it won’t ever return the favor.

The Center of Everything

Warning: this is one of those soul-baring posts that can make you feel funny when you read it. (If I can make you uncomfortable, I know I've succeeded). However, if that you’re not in the mood for that, (PLEASE! Make it stop!!) go grab some chocolate and read my post about the Country Stampede. I won’t be offended!   

There’s a book I really like called “The Center of Everything” by Laura Moriarty. Coincidentally to this post, the book is set in Kansas, and the author – Moriarty – lives in Lawrence, Kansas. But I’m not going to talk about the book. I just want to use the title for today’s blog.

I recently moved back to Kansas. It’s Where I Come From.  It’s been a bittersweet homecoming. Last week, I got my Kansas license plate.  I don’t know why, but it seemed significant. As the clerk set the plate on the counter, I actually had to bite my lip to keep the tears out of my eyes. Maybe it felt like wiping out the final outward traces of a former life as the former me. So many changes. So many goodbyes. So many rites of passage, passing by unnoticed, uncelebrated or unlamented by anyone but me. Another shining moment in my life history, to be sure. If a moment shines in the forest and nobody sees it, does it really make enough light to cut through the darkness?

At the nucleus of who I am, there is a light – it is my creative soul. It is the part of me that is not changed by external events. It is the Center of Everything. In my case, there is music that can never be silenced.  It is the constant that drives me forward, over and over, again and again, through the muck and the mire, through the rain and the fire. It’s the lifeline that carries me over the angry sea to the safety of the shore. So I grab onto it and hold on for dear life when the situation calls for it.

back to lauralisbeth.com

Say It Out Loud

Do you want some advice?  

All you have to do is ask. Or maybe don’t even ask. You’ll probably get it anyway.  There’s more advice out there than you can shake a stick at, these days.

The question, really, is whether to ask or not. Does sharing your dreams with someone run you the risk of short-circuiting the end result in some cosmic way? It can sometimes feel that way.

For the most part, I’m a firm believer in putting requests out there to the Universe. Saying things out loud seems to help make them happen. On the flip side, it feels risky to share dreams and aspirations with people and ask for help or advice.

Several years ago,  when I was just really starting to play my songs in public, people started asking if I had a CD for sale.  Well, of course I wanted to have one, but I didn’t know anything at all about it! I had no idea where to start. However, the idea was planted in my brain. A good friend told me, "Stop saying you want to make a CD and start saying you're doing it. You're going  to make a CD." So  I began to say it out loud as if it were going to happen.

It sounds like such a simple thing, but it was scary.  What if I didn't make it happen?  Even so, I took that one small step in the direction  of my goal.

Some time passed, and I was a fortunate enough to be a guest on a local radio program. A friend of mine heard the show, and mentioned it to me. Following my recent resolution, I bravely told him that I was planning to record a CD of my songs.  But, I explained, I had no idea where to start. He told me that he knew Ian Byrne – the endlessly charming Irish front man of the KC-based Irish rock band, the Elders -- quite well. He said, “A couple of the Elders have recording studios in their homes - I’ll talk to Ian and have him call you.”



The Elders



And sure enough, Ian did call me. What a sweetheart he was, with his lovely Irish accent, throwing around the words “Luv” and “Darlin” and “Lass” and what-have-you, as I was fairly swooning on the other end (I realize this has nothing to do with the overall point of this blog-story, but I felt it was worth mentioning). He talked to me a bit about my music, and then recommended that I work with Steve Phillips, who had recorded singer/songwriter types like me. He gave me Steve’s number, and told me to call him.

And I did call Steve, and set up a meeting. We talked about what I wanted to accomplish  and I could tell he was the right person to record my songs. He said, “Okay when you’re ready to get started let me know.” 

But I didn’t let him know. I’m not a fast mover when it comes to such things. I let months go by and I didn't move forward. Life, however, grew impatient with me. Once you set your toe and punt that great Kickball of Fate, you put things in motion. Out of the blue one day, Steve gave me a call and basically said, “are you ready to get started?” And so, I knew it was time. That's how my first CD, "Hit the Ground Running" - recorded at Steve Phillips' Big Time Music Productions  - became a reality.

Now, of course, I can look back on it and see how an entire chain of events unfolded that I could never have planned or predicted, all because I decided to talk about it. 

I only needed to say it out loud.

To find "Hit The Ground Running and other Laura Lisbeth music, go to www.lauralisbeth.com

Sleep Deprived and Waiting for the End of DST

I ask the universe this question and I do not get a direct answer:

Is sleep optional? Can sleep please be optional?

I really need it to be an option, not a requirement. For I have, as they say, many irons in the skillet. Many chickens in the fire.  I have much to do, and I am not finding many open slots for things. Where can I find the time?  Most of what I have is non-negotiable and so this is why I look to my tiny cache of sleep hours and contemplate the way  I could make it work to do without as much of it.

Complicating matters is some kind of trait I have (possibly hereditary) that predisposes me to have an extremely low tolerance for activity of any kind. Therefore, if I am not actually sleeping, I’m thinking about sleeping and making promises of sleep to myself to fool myself into getting out of bed in the morning. I say, “you can go to bed really early tonight if you want.” And because I’m groggy from sleeping, I buy this line every time.

Tomorrow night is the Big Opportunity for those who suffer as I do from a negative balance in their sleep account.  This wondrous event comes but once a year: Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday morning at 2 am. All clocks (except those in Arizona) will be set back 1 hour, and an extra hour of sleep will magically be injected into my sleeping time.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back 1 hour

 In this hour I will attempt to atone for a year's worth of stolen sleep.  

Go to LauraLisbeth.com

Naked

Right now my toes are naked.  This very minute, as I type --- naked. They are sans polish. They don’t know a sock or a slipper. They have totally gone commando. I’m sitting here with naked toes, and I’m thinking that I might let this go on for a while.

Part of me says, “Take care of this! Polish those toes!” But part of me says, “not yet.”  Because being naked, whether literally, figuratively,  or metaphorically, can be a good thing that brings about new perspectives.  Being uncomfortable, feeling exposed, feeling like you’ve put yourself out there – these are all things that artists use to create something that transports them – and others -- beyond the experience.  

For me, being naked really means going beyond the fuss, the pageantry, the facades, the persona – anything that we put between us and the world – and reaching in and grabbing hold of something that is honest and real.  Then I try to weave those threads into the cloth that becomes a song. It is what makes writing so enjoyable. It’s what makes art so enjoyable, because my truth is not your truth, and your truth is not mine. I don’t have to know what you were thinking when you painted that beautiful picture, but deep within the fiber of it, the truth is still there.  

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can’t really be true to yourself if you don’t even know your own feet.  Can you? I wonder…

Back to lauralisbeth.com

Birthin' the Baby: My New CD is Born!

Dear Bloglodites,

I'm happy to announce that my new CD, The Balance, has finally emerged! I have a few of the tracks uploaded onto my website and you can listen to them if you click HERE.


Images and Jacket Design by JSi Photography

 I recorded this CD in Nashville: It was a journey unlike any other, and it allowed me to reach far beyond what I thought I could accomplish, and from somewhere deep down, bring it.

Images and Jacket Design by JSi Photography

The Balance FAQs:

1. Where can I get the CD? The CD is available for purchase NOW - right this minute! - on my website at www.lauralisbeth.com. Just click on the link for "Music" to get started.  You can order a physical CD or download the album. You can even order it signed - for posterity, I guess.  Of course  probably the best way to obtain it is to buy it at one of my shows. Then I can really personalize it with a big ol' sharpie.

2.What kind of music is it?Oh, now, come on. It's L-raising music from heart of America, baby!

3. Holy cow! I see that there are 18 songs on your CD! That's a lot! (not really a question but sort of demands a response)Yes! There are actually 2 versions of each of the 9 songs on the album. One is a full production version, and the other is a more intimate, unplugged version. We wanted to offer both to my fans because when I play live, you get that acoustic version. But the songs demanded (yes they did, really) to be also recorded in their full regalia with their party hats on.
4. Where was the album recorded? It was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee! To make sure I brought my "A" game, I enlisted the help of a producer, hence the addition of Gary Beard - a very talented songwriter in his own right. Gary also co-wrote the song "Billy" with me. We hope you'll really like the end result.
5. How do you come up with the idea for the song "Don't Look Down?"Beats me! I was just a blow-drying my big hair one morning and it popped into my head and pretty much insisted on being written. When a song is that pushy, I do what I'm told.

6. I heard that your cat, Toonie, wanted to be on the CD...? He actually was on one of the rough recordings I was doing. He was such a natural, with impeccable timing and perfect pitch, that I really wanted to put him on. In the end, I just didn't want to share the spotlight with him. He takes up a lot of space.

unimpressed by the trappings of success

7. Is there a significance to "9"? You chose 9 songs for the album. We chose the strongest songs. After we added song #9, it seemed like a complete project, so we stopped, and had a beer.   

8. What is the "secret" about this CD?There's a tiny picture of Gary Beard, my producer, hidden somewhere in the design. Just for fun.

During the next few weeks, I'll be scheduling some shows that will help me roll out my new baby. The first one will be on October 13 at Fence Stile Vineyards & Winery in Excelsior Springs.
I'm also going to add some fun stuff on the website about the Making of the Balance. Stay tuned!


For more UP-TO-THE-MINUTE info on new shows,etc.,  check www.lauralisbeth.com.

Coffee Is King

I have been drinking a fair amount of coffee this morning. It has given me a unique kind of clarity on all that would otherwise elude me. If you want to get your blood pumping and your synapses snapping, grab yourself a cup of joe.

After about half a pot, I feel compelled to share this Important Advice:

Drink more coffee.

Yes, yes, I am aware that only a few short months ago I was bemoaning the adverse effects of caffeine. You’re just going to have to find a way to get past all of that. That was yesterday.

This is today.

Coffee is King.

Sometimes - rarely -  I sort of max out on coffee early in the day. I can drink it non-stop for hours. But on occasion, it bites me back. That’s okay. We might be on-again/off-again, but overall, we are able to maintain a good relationship.

I probably wrote this little blues song on one of our off-again days:

TOO MUCH CAFFEINE

It’s like screws at your temples borin’ into your brain                      

Too much caffeine will drive you insane

You get a funny little feelin’ like you might need to gag

You get shaky hands and feet, but your eyeballs seem to drag

You get energy and lethargy all in the same vein

Too much caffeine will drive you insane

Too much caffeine, I’ve had too much caffeine today

Too much of the bean, I’ve had too much caffeine today

It’s that unexpected ailment that starts in the heart          

Makes it race like a motor, makes your mind extra smart

Then it creeps up and sneaks up inside of your head

The next thing you know you could wake up dead

‘Cause caffeine won’t let you leave it alone

Caffeine gets into your blood and your bones yeah

Too much caffeine, I’ve had too much caffeine today

Too much of the bean, I’ve had too much caffeine today

© Laura Lisbeth 2007



The Next Best Thing to Being There...

As it sometimes happens, a couple of years ago, I had a fleeting moment in time when I actually grasped the truth of living just for today. I wrote a blog post about it (in a different blog), called “In the Now.”

It seems like we are continually reminded that Life can come in and change everything. No – that’s not right. Life will come in and change everything. That’s a Universal law.

Why is it so hard to remember?

I’ve unearthed the old blog post and have posted a bit of it below.

Except from “In the Now”

Yesterday, I had a mini-epiphany. It happened while I was blow-drying my hair. (I get a fair number of epiphanies this way).

WHY should we ever live our lives AS IF they are incomplete – as if we are waiting, waiting, for change and just coping and dealing with in-the-meantime?

Why waste one second of life – Beautiful Life – by thinking it is the next best thing to being there?

What an injustice to the hour at hand.

The truth is, we are in the now whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

In the now…...I will choose to be happy.

In the now…...I will appreciate the beauty and the balance of nature.

In the now…...I will love.

The Only Reason to Have a Cigarette

One day, when my son was probably 12 or 13, I was driving him and one of his friends somewhere -- they were both riding in the back seat. We were on a fairly busy street when  I happened to glance in the rear-view mirror and saw that they were mashing their faces up against the back windows with looks of what I can only describe as horror/desperation. Exasperated, I said, “what are you DOing!!?” They said, “we’re trying to look desolate.” They were succeeding.

This came back to me as I was thinking about how having the right prop can dramatically effect our ability to communicate a feeling or emotion.  If I  was a smoker, I could portray angst, despair, boredom,  or an air of insouciance when relevant. 

It's all about the props, baby

Ava rules

It is the only reason I ever wish I had a cigarette. You just can't get that effect with say, a carrot or a piece of licorice.

Do You Wanna Blog? Pt 2 - Reasons NOT to Blog

So why would you not want to blog?

Well, maybe you hate blogs. Some people really find them boring. If you don’t feel that you want to contribute to the overall boredom of the world, then maybe blogging is not for you. Me – I hope it’s not boring but I cannot be constrained by such worries!  I will not be silenced! I must write what I write and send it out into cyberspace.

You probably should not blog if you start to feel obligated – you feel like it’s a chore. Why do this to yourself? At this point, there should be no sense of guilt or obligation attached. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Well! She can’t even be bothered to BLOG. I take offense to that!” No. No. No. Nobody is going to take offense if you don’t blog. There may, however, be those who applaud. These are small-minded people who probably don't even know  where to find all of the letters on a keyboard.

Speaking of offending people, you might not want to blog if you are worried about offending people. The best blogs are going to be those that are authentic – they ring true, and the reader can tell.  I say: be brave and keep in mind the old saying, “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”   Accordingly, if you're planning a future in politics, you might not want to blog (Or tweet. Or post crazy pictures of yourself on Facebook).

Blogging, in my opinion, should be something that gives back to you.  There should be a return for you on this effort. That’s got to be the bottom line to any creative endeavor. Otherwise, it kind of defeats the whole purpose.