Happiness is as easy as a little gratitude. Check out this hilarious excerpt from Conan O’Brien. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll think about it…

This video came from Usually Barefoot Meg - lots of comments to peruse there as well. For more information on this comedian, check out the wiki for Louis CK.

Susan Seddon-Boulet

Do you know that you are beautiful? That the Goddess sings through your voice? That your words are Her words; your song, Her song. That the smoothness of your skin, the glisten of your sweat, your tousled hair – all are a delightful expression of your beauty and your passion. It radiates from you, this glow of pure expression.

May it overwhelm you. May this joy and light be embodied by you and every woman on the planet, a gift to yourself that takes you to the exultant heights of your creativity and ecstasy. For that is what you are. Pure, passionate creation.

May you hear this in the wind, the waves, the whisper of your lover. May you feel it in the warmth of the sun, the flow of your steps, the freshness of your breath. May you know it in your heart, your bones and your belly.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

I stumbled on this fabulous quote from L. Frank Baum:

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

I can’t overemphasize the power of breath. A single deep breath has the power to calm your entire body - actually moves you one step closer to the parasympathetic nervous process of “rest and repose”. Traditions ranging from physical to emotional to spiritual emphasize the power of the breath in one way to change your state. I use breath in my practice to help anchor emotions in the body, to allow you to feel them more fully, to move and expand them.

So stop holding your breath.

Happy Friday,
Ephraim

Her voice caught me from the first note, swelling through the concert hall in a wave of sound. I didn’t speak the language – wouldn’t understand a thing until the English aria near the end. It didn’t matter. In fact, I barely glanced at the translations included with the program. I didn’t want to be distracted.

Just a single voice and a piano player. Her expressions danced from anger to sorrow to thoughtful to flirtatious – I could feel the emotion without understanding the words. She leaned against the grand piano when it fit the music. I appreciated the beauty of her, the invitation to be watched and admired. Her accompanist beautiful too, as she swayed with the playing, her foot pumping the pedals. The curves of the women and the piano, the golden lines of the stage, the black and white of her dresses. I wrapped myself in the sheer sensuality of the experience, let my mind wander on the notes, a Fantasia of ideas and images…

I found myself wanting to write. I was surprised and delighted by this desire. In the past, musical and theater performances have made me want to get on stage and act or sing. I’ve felt inadequate or sometimes better than the performer. I became caught in comparisons.

This time, I only thought about talents I already have. My imagination took me into fantastic journeys of well-crafted words. I relished the thought of fine-tuning the drafts until I was satisfied. Then offering it up to whoever wanted listen, like me, here, in this concert hall.

I thought about other art that had inspired me. Not just performances, but also great books and movies, poetry slams, galleries of art. Soaring architecture and brilliant sculpture and delicious, beautiful plates of food.

I realized that in my search for creativity, I had always thought it should be original - an idea fueled by inspiration from some divine source. And none of that mattered here. I could fly on the inspiration of this voice and this piano player wherever it wanted to take me. I could build on this music, this experience, make it a part of whatever I was trying to create.

The last piece was Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”. Barber had read a poem by James Agee and was so inspired he put it to music. I smiled with appreciation at the synchronicity. A musician, inspired by a poet to create a beautiful work, to be enjoyed by me almost 60 years later. Inspiration doesn’t emerge from a vacuum – it’s right here, on the wings of these poets and composers and singers. It’s in the boldness of someone willing to get on stage and put their soul out there.

If you are missing that creative spark, try indulging in a live performance. Or pick up a really great book. Read some poetry, go to a gallery. Let the sheer magnificence of human imagination revive your passion. It surely did mine.

I sometimes fall victim to Toxic Option Syndrome. I think it is most commonly associated with shopping – so many brands and stores and colors and sizes. So many that I stand in a stupor and buy nothing. For more minutes than I care to admit.

And the in-store thing is really a minor event. In the end, who really cares which one? But when it comes to life decisions, it’s a different story. What’s the next step in my business or my career or my relationship? What is my life path? Where should I focus my creativity? And if I inch my toe into one idea, what about all those others that come flooding in? What if I waste my valuable time? Or my money? And this whole thing is a dead end? Then what have I done to myself?

Can’t I do all of them? I’m a multitasker! I’ll just do these seven projects and learn to draw and launch this class, and, and…

And so, the obvious choice is just like the store. Stand in a stupor and hope the answer comes – only in this case it can last for days, months, years, lifetimes. And standing there still doesn’t tell me the RIGHT one. Surely there is a right answer!? (as I glare suspiciously at the heavens.)

Honestly, I don’t find myself in that place as often as I used to, thanks to some advice I received a few years ago.

“Just DO something. Anything. Pick one and go!”

“But…” I stammered. And was interrupted immediately.

“No buts! This isn’t permanent. But you have to ACT, or there’s nothing to work with. A little action in any direction gives the universe something to build on. And that way, you might be able to avoid a cosmic club to the side of the head.”

That didn’t sound good.

So, I did something. Not something I was really excited about, but it was an opportunity knocking. After awhile, there were more knocks on the door. Some literal, some profitable, some very exciting. And it keeps happening, as long as I’m putting in some energy or motion or action. Yes, you can coast for awhile, but it takes some care and feeding to see it grow. I was amazed that it actually worked. And continues to work over and over.

So get out there and just do it! Stop thinking about the possibilities and move those ideas into tangible creation. You can even set a timeline for yourself. Say, three months. Or a month. Even a couple weeks of concerted effort.  If nothing happens, or you don’t like it after than time, then try something else.

See, it wasn’t so bad.

I was dead, then alive.
Weeping, then laughing.

The power of love came into me,
and I became fierce like a lion,
then tender like the evening star.

He said, ‘You’re not mad enough.
You don’t belong in this house.’

I went wild and had to be tied up.
He said, ‘Still not wild enough
to stay with us!’

I broke through another layer
into joyfulness.

He said, ‘Its not enough.’
I died.

He said, ‘You are a clever little man,
full of fantasy and doubting.’

I plucked out my feathers and became a fool.
He said, ‘Now you are the candle
for this assembly.’

But I’m no candle. Look!
I’m scattered smoke

He said, ‘You are the Sheikh, the guide.’
But I’m not a teacher. I have no power.

He said, ‘You already have wings.
I cannot give you wings.’

But I wanted his wings.
I felt like some flightless chicken.

Then new events said to me,
‘Don’t move. A sublime generosity is
coming towards you.’

And old love said, ‘Stay with me.’

I said, ‘I will.’

You are the fountain of the sun’s light.
I am a willow shadow on the ground.
You make my raggedness silky.

The soul at dawn is like darkened water
that slowly begins to say Thank you, thank you.

Then at sunset, again, Venus gradually
Changes into the moon and then the whole nightsky.

This comes of smiling back
at your smile.

The chess master says nothing,
other than moving the silent chess piece.

That I am part of the ploys
of this game makes me
amazingly happy.
-Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Aliveness is only the beginning! And laughter is one of the great signs of that. I see it as exhilaration really, dancing and spinning in the sheer beauty of joy and laughter. And then comes the madness - the madness of divine irrationality perhaps - a joy that is truly incomprehensible to those who are not in it. Who can truly understand surrender so great, so huge? And in this poem, even dieing is not the end, but another beginning.

What do you think?

The New Year always gets me excited.

I think it started when I was kid. My mom would have us sit down on New Year’s Day and write out our goals for the year. I would spend hours contemplating that list – dividing things into categories that I thought would occupy my next year. Creative, spiritual, physical, and educational were usually top featured. Later, financial became a part of it too.

For me, there was power in those moments: Thinking about the future, my desires, making them concrete. It filled me with possibility, excitement, hope – so much that I could feel my heart leap and swell at the potential of things to come.

Now, whether or not I make a list, that feeling starts up around the middle of December and takes me through the middle of February. I admit, I get excited all year about new possibilities, but this New Year thing is different. It has momentum. Promise. Tradition.

Caroline Myss talks about it as the holiday of the fifth chakra (throat). This is the chakra of the will, the place where the head and heart meet to discuss terms and desires. It can be a battleground or a place of melding. It is definitely the place to get our head and heart into alignment and open to some real power and possibility.

This year, consider the different voices from your head and heart. Weigh them with your mind and with your body. See if you can bring them together so strongly that you thrum with the possibilities. And don’t worry! January 6^th isn’t too late to get started.