Everybody Have Fun Tonight

GULLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

The sun plays on the water like so many Las Vegas lights

Shifting colors with the tide

The wind plays through the trees, now fast now slow

Singing a different tune with each tree

pine, cedar, birch

 

A noisy party soars into sight long after you hear their cries

What are they saying?

I can soar longer than you can

No you can’t, watch me

Catch this current

See how high I can go

They circle in a sloppy flock.

Seagulls have a mind of their own

 

Higher and higher till they are out of sight

But not out of hearing

Why do they do it?

Not to escape a predator

Not to get from point A to B

Not to hunt for dinner

After all the fish around here don’t fly

Just because they can

What else would you rather do on the finest kind of day

Than to have some hang time with your friends

Dancing in the Moonlight

Serenade

wind sharp as a scalpel
air crisp as a granny smith
sky clear as heaven
infinite darkness bedazzled by
the perfect celestial jewel

milky and luminous
flying with arched clouds
the moon has wings
it gives us light
when we really need it

Welcome Summer

 

Aubade

whisper of mornings golden light
warm to the touch
seen thru the veil of damp silver mesh,
remembrance of the moon

a celebration of cotton candy clouds
dressed by the dawn
straining to begin the day
like school children
aching for summer vacation

Finding One’s Spiritual Balance

Balanced on the Precipice of Delight          

 

Granite,
solid, concrete, unyielding
You can hardly imagine something less itinerant
Speckled pink and gray, black and white
It sparkles in the hot summer sun
Kissed by the surging ocean,
shaped by the energy of wind, water and earth
Hard ridges, sharp and jagged like puzzle pieces gone astray
Smooth curves, soft to the touch warm your back

Moving slowly toward the sea each season, ever changing
unnoticed unless your memory holds the picture
Imperceptible motion
Then it drops
Drops suddenly from its home,
becoming mobile for a moment or two
Free from its bondage it rests
Learning its new place in the world
Finding its balance

Sit barefoot on the edge
Feel the energy dance within
Get up and join the dance
I am calm, I am connected
Recognize the future
The ocean sings to me
The clouds wave as they pass in the searing blue sky
You come too

I move towards my destiny
The journey appears slow as granite
And then the drop
Drop into the sea of infinity,
Where all are one and time and space have no meaning
Find my place
I am balanced on the precipice of delight

Do You Travel?

I love to travel. Do you? I have been travelling since I was two years old and haven’t stopped yet. Copy this, change the answers to your own, then post it to your blog. Let me know when you do. A link back to this blog would be appreciated.

How old were you when you first travelled?
I was 2 years old when I crossed the pond to visit my Mother’s family in England and Wales. In those days it was more cost effective to travel by ocean liner than to fly. We crossed the Atlantic on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth. It was the first and last time I ever suffered from sea sickness.

What is your favorite form of travelling: car, bus, train, or plane?
I love to travel by train. I love the sound, the feeling, meeting people, seeing the countryside, everything about it.

Where did you go on your first road trip?
I believe the first road trip I took was with my family from New York to Wisconsin. We went to Niagra Falls, the first of many trips there.

Where did you go on your first bus ride?
Other than bus trips around town (before bus trips there were trolly trips) the first long distance bus trip was to Canada with my high school band. We went to a festival in Winnepeg, a very long ride. In the hotel where we stayed there were 2 guys down the hall (not high school musicians mind you) who left their door open and they had prostitutes in there. It was quite a scandal.

Where did you go on your first train ride?
My first train ride was from London to Wales on a steam train. Hear that lonesome whistle blow and close the windows when you go through the tunnel.

Where did you go on your first plane ride?
I think it was when I was 8. From New York to Wisconsin, the last leg of a journey from Britain to home.

Motion sickness? Treatment of choice?
I don’t really have a problem with motion sickness thank goodness. But always have some ginger around just in case.

Where would you like to go that you haven’t been?
Kenya-wildlife safari, Egypt, India, Japan, Galapagos etc. on to infinity

Where would you like to return?
Mexico, Wales

Traveling alone or with someone?
With one someone special. You need someone to share the experience.

Your ultimate traveling dream?
Outer space, the sky’s the limit.

The idea for this travel meme came from Big Girl Blue

I Dreamed A Dream

Something amazing happened last week in Britain that affected the whole world. When a middle aged woman, somewhat less than stylish, walked out on stage of the tv reality show Britain’s Got Talent people expected the worst. But when she opened her mouth to sing the touching number from the Broadway show Les Miserables everyone was stunned at what they heard.

This was someone with more than a beautiful voice. More than someone who was comfortable in her own skin. This was someone who could reach into your center, grab your heart and touch the most basic part of your soul. She didn’t let go untill the end and even then people felt the impact long afterwards. Their heart and soul was open as it seldom, if ever, had been open before. There was weeping, smiling, giggling and amazement. A week later people are still talking.

Susan Boyle is a 47 year old woman who devoted her adult life to caring for her mother. She was ridiculed as a youngster for her learning disability. When asked why she selected this particular song she replied that it summed up how she was feeling about her life. She dreamt of becoming a professional singer but life had killed her dream.

Well Susan you were wrong. Your dream is still very alive and we are all part of it. May you continue to touch the souls and open the hearts of your audience. We need you to help us realize this part of us that we no longer recognize. The world is a song and the song is exciting.

I Dreamed A Dream (excerpt)
There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong…
…………
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living,
So different now from what it seemed…
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed…

Overwhelmed

I recently set out to make a SoulCollage card for procrastination.  I had wanted to collage for several weeks. I had many ideas I wanted to get down on paper. I had the time but I couldn’t seem to get myself motivated to start. There were other things in my life that needed to get underway as well. It just wasn’t happening. Why was I procrastinating. This was all a puzzle to me. I thought that a procrastination card would help me.

Well I have to tell you when I finished the card I was absolutely shocked at what I had before me. This was not about procrastination at all but about being overwhelmed with all the possibilities. It was about being overwhelmed with all that needed to be done. There it was right in front of me.

This is what my card said to me…

I am the one who is overwhelmed by all there is to do.
I see so many options and opportunities I cannot decide. I
am the one pressured by the clock, by the calendar,
by the feeling that I must do it all,
that I must be superwoman.
I am the one who can’t take the first step.
Instead I fall deeper, deeper.
I am the one who is constantly reminded that
time is passing, flying, slipping away.
Time is money.
The search goes on.
Which direction should I take?
Is there time to stop and smell the roses?
Accept, make a wish list, and enter your destination.
Start moving forward, not back.
Make time work for you.

Rebuilding/Rebirthing

REBUILDING

I am the one who builds on the remnants of the ruined past,
The crumbling stone, the dilapidated safe haven that no longer shelters.
I am the one who climbs over the wall to a new beginning.
I am the one who washes myself clean, ready for what I create.
I take refuge in nature and beauty.
I am the one who realigns the stars.

Although it doesn’t seem like it on this snowy, rainy, sleeting day, Spring will be here soon, at least officially here. The frigid cold of winter has purified the land and my soul. Now it is time to plan for the future, take steps to realign the stars and create that which I desire.

The crumbling stones of the past create a new foundation. I do not discard the past but rather use its materials to create. By their destruction they make available new patterns and new opportunities to rebuild something better and brighter. Something that is more useful to me now.

Out of My Comfort Box

I’ve just returned from an international tour of a play I have been associated with for several years. Based in fact, this amazing one man play is about the development of a musician from apprentice conductor to a master music director. The teacher or Sorcerer as he is know in the play enables the student/Apprentice to dig deep inside himself, to come out of the comfort box. In doing so the Apprentice exposes his emotions conveying them through the magic of performance into a transformational experience for conductor, musicians and audience. As an artist you must stand emotionally naked before the music, you must become the music. You must leave your comfort box.

Although I have stage managed many performances of this play, Muse of Fire, the venues have allowed me to be self sufficient. This tour with a different city, different venue, different sound and lighting technicians, different technical options every night took me out of my comfort box. I was very nervous about making the necessary instant connections with my colleagues that would create the perfect situation for a successful performance. This was definately out of my comfort box. I am happy to report I successfully stepped out of the box and we had a fantastic tour.

My SoulCollage card The Shy One seems appropriate to this experience. This is what I wrote about her.

THE SHY ONE

I am the shy one, the wall flower happy to stay in the background. I am the one who is second in command but never stands in the spotlight. I am the one who picks up the pieces of other people’s mistakes but doesn’t take credit. I am the one who hides her light afraid that someone may recognize her. I am the one who fears rejection. I am the one who blooms in silence.

If you want to know more about Muse of Fire visit www.museoffiretheplay.org

A bright, bright, sun-shiny day

This day is different, An inauguration is always a time of heightened emotion but today is special in so many ways. Throughout the day I find myself bursting into tears. The recent storm that, from my vantage point, seemed to cover the whole world in a blanket of deep, deep, white snow created a clean slate. It has the purity of a crisp new sheet of paper waiting to be written upon. This year’s celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day has a different luster. All is rising up to meet this day.

As I listen to the voices of young people singing on the steps of the capitol I am overcome. Their faces, bright and smiling, reflect the faces in the crowd there to listen and celebrate. There are tears too. Tears of joy that encompass the struggles of what brought us here to this place and time. A man as well educated, traveled and experienced as Barack Obama could not be called innocent. But he holds the innocence of opportunity-of knowing that in the unknown, new and better ways are possible. I felt that this card from my SoulCollage deck-The Innocent-held special significance today. I am happy to share it with you.

It is a bright, bright, sun-shiny day.

THE INNOCENT

I am the innocent one, starting on a new journey.

I cannot see what lies ahead as the road curves beyond my view.

I am the happy child.

I am happy to explore, see, feel, touch, smell and experience all new things and to see old things in new ways.

The road ahead has no signs. I am free to go as I want.

I am the one who allows the world to bloom before me.

I hold it in my hand.