Before and After

Today is the official release date of "Before and After," Carrie Newcomer's 12th album on Rounder Records. I first met Carrie in February 1993 in Bloomington, IN while I was a graduate student at IU. She was playing a concert at Bear's Place and said something that apparently I found quite humorous as I let out a loud cackle. (I have a very distinctive, loud laugh I am told....). Nobody else laughed, and Carrie said, "I must have found my metaphysical connection in the audience. She laughs, but nobody else does. We should have coffee."

Well....I have never been extended an invitation that I did not take the person up on. So although it took some time to coordinate our schedules, Carrie and I finally got together for lunch at the Uptown Cafe in May 1993. Since then, I have been one of Carrie's biggest fans and at one point, I was even her manager. I once told Carrie that I would walk to the ends of the earth for her and her music. I believe that strongly in the power of Carrie's music to transform, heal, and move people.

Parker Palmer claims, "It is a mark of spiritual range as well as artistic virtuosity when a singer-songwriter can make you dance one moment, laugh the next, and then take you to a deeply moving, even prayerful place, as she touches on regret, loss, or grief, or on the wonder of being alive. Carrie’s music does all of this for me, and more." And she does that for me and many others.

I would still walk to the ends of the earth to support Carrie and her music.

Dreaming Big

In The Making of an Activist: Stitching a Revolution, Cleve Jones describes how the NAMES Project came to exist. I found myself mesmerized by how Jones weaves in the personal stories of his close friends and colleagues not to mention his own story, which serves to both inspire and spark the project. The pain of losing friends and family members in such a tight-knit community catalyzed an artistic movement that “would put a face on statistics and change the world” (p. xiv).

Jones asserts, “I believed that when we unfolded thousands of quilts on the National Mall, the stony walls of Congress would come tumbling down and the nation would awaken—that our quilt, my quilt, would crash through the fear and intolerance” (p. xv). Many of Jones’ closest allies doubted the project would succeed.

What prompts artists to dream big in the face of daunting challenges? What keeps them going and how can leaders learn from the perseverance, determination, and commitment of Cleve Jones and the founders of the NAMES project?

Check out this website for information on the AIDS Memorioal Quilt and the NAMES
project:

http://www.aidsquilt.org/index.htm

Chocolate!

Chocolate brings me joy!

"There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE."
Linda Grayson, "The Pickwick Papers"

What is the best chocolate you have ever tasted?

Last night's dessert came very close to being one of my favorite chocolate experiences. But perhaps the best chocolate I have ever tasted is the chocolate that I am tasting right now.

Grateful Heart

Every night before I go to bed, I write down five things that I am grateful for. Sometimes it is more than five things. Sometimes I have to stretch to get to five things. But bottom line, I fall asleep with a grateful heart.

Research has revealed that expressing gratitude and writing down what we are grateful for increases our overall happiness and decreases our stress levels.

Psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough are conducting on-going research on gratitude and thankfulness. This finding is from their website:

"In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events (Emmons & McCullough, 2003)."

To read more about their research, check out their website:

http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/

I will continue not only to be grateful in my heart but also to express my gratitude to others. What are you grateful for?

Quote from a Friend

A friend sent along this quote...

“Hope [or joy] is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

~~Vaclav Havel from Disturbing the Peace

Engraved Invitation

I have always heard that you don’t need an engraved invitation to show up to your life and do what you are called to do. But I want to offer you an engraved invitation to your life’s passion. Literally, here is an engraved invitation.

Figuratively, I invite us all to pay attention to what makes us tick, what inspires us, what brings us joy. We all seem to have time to make “to-do” lists, what about making a “to-be list”? Consider yourself invited to do so. I invite you to show up to your life. Today. What are you waiting for?

I was thinking earlier that all we have is the present moment and while it may be hard to live in the moment presented, it really is all we have. The following reflection by Byron Katie speaks to loving where you are....

Love Where You Are

We do only three things in life: we sit, we stand, and we lie horizontal. That's about it. Everything else is a story.

Life is not difficult; it's your thinking that makes it difficult. That's where you happiness or misery comes from.

There are two ways to sit or stand or lie horizontal: you can do it comfortably, or you can do it with stress. If you don't love where you are, I invite you to question your beliefs.

~ Byron Katie

Curious?

I am reading a terrific book by Todd Kashdan called Curious? This is an excerpt from his website about the book:

"When we think about seeking daily joy and lasting fulfillment, cultivating curiosity is rarely the first thing that comes to mind but based on groundbreaking research, clinical psychologist and George Mason University professor Dr. Todd Kashdan will show you that this is the engine behind achieving a life that is most worth living."

I am curious about the origin of orchids.

I am curious about laughter and why as we age, we laugh less than when we were younger. Isn't life just one hilarious moment after another? If we can't laugh, then wouldn't we all cry?

I am curious about vocational calling and passion. How come some people are able to identify a calling and throw themselves into their vocation while others don't even begin the search?

I am curious about the role of technology in developing deep, meaningful relationships? Do social networks increase connection or do they detract from in-depth, authentic relationships?

I am curious about what people eat for breakfast on a daily basis and want to try some new things.

What are you curious about?