Tag: music

I Will Survive

More about positivity. That, by the way, was step #1. I wanted to start with “More about negativity,” and the fact that I love this version of Gloria’s fabulous anthem says mountains about where my head is usually at. Waiting for the disco ball or other shoe to drop.

Step #2, I’ve decided to change my responses to “…so how ya doin?” Instead of the hesitant, “Uh, ok or the word vomit that accompanies, “I’m a hot mess,” I might just burst into singing, “I Will Survive” instead!

That’s why my life has been all about Chakracise and AYM lately and since D Day. (That’s D as in Divorce from he whom I still have trouble naming lest I call up the Devil.) It was one of the life preservers that got me back to solid ground and then learning how to be happy again. Because what’s better for shaking off the blues than dancing (especially when it’s through those fabulous things called chakras) and what’s better for finding the road map to happiness than meditating while you move.

I’m a woman. If I’m in my feminine energy flow, I can multi-task and dance and meditate the night away. So lose the nagging ID that I’m scatterbrained and disorganized. We have both flows within us, so I can do that man-glue thing of focusing and fixing as well.

But don’t get me wrong. In Chakracise, there’s both meditation in movement and in stillness because in this day of Covid-19 and age of Aquarius, we are being called on to integrate the feminine and masculine instead of continuing to let them war. So come and Access Your Moment through Movement and Stillness. Zoom ID 771 765 222.

For more information, visit:

…So What’s with Pink Martini?

I dropped this question in an earlier post to bring up the subject of Why Not Stories, the brain-spin that keeps us from living our dreams and being truly happy. So I’m back to say that with all the advice being given about how to be happy, having to “work for it” may be one of the overlooked elements. Lest you want to jump off right now, let me say that even if happiness takes work, it doesn’t have to look like WORK, whatever big-baddie that word brings up for you.

It doesn’t have to feel like a slog or pushing that darn rock up a hill everyday. But you do need to figure it out and make it happen. Okay, so take my simmering obsession with Pink Martini and the Hollywood Bowl. With the realization that I had much “more living to do,” attending their upcoming engagement at the Bowl jumped to the top of the list as a reachable star. The fabulous “little orchestra” whose music was joy and diversity and love for me was playing at the venue synonymous with the fulfillment of Hollywood dreams.

Choosing this Happiness seemed a no-brainer, and a quick visit to http://www.HollywoodBowl.com revealed that plenty of tickets were available. But here’s where that doggone brain keeps interfering and turning the No-Brainers into what Rita Harrison refers to as the “never-ending story of why not.”

  1. New to L.A +Texted all the folks I know + “Sorry, gotta do this.” Sorry, committed to doing that.” “Thanks, maybe next time.” = No one to go with 😦
  2. No one to go with + No once else to call = No one loves me!
  3. Water (tears) + stuck energy in my heart chakra = “My life is the shxx!”

How then did I get to “happy as a pig in shxx” instead?

One of the firsts is to call this inspirational quote what it is …crap. I don’t get it, don’t buy it. It seems like one of those deep ones that may happen if you learn to “just be,” but hey, that subject is for another blog.

Happiness ain’t free. As someone who’s been bargain-basement shopping for a long time, I suspect that if it did come free or cheap, it might not be worth anything. And if you didn’t have to do anything for it, you might not appreciate it …at all.

So that’s the thing about inspirational quotes. They only tell you how you should feel, not what you have to do to get there, and I had to graduate to asking the right questions. Not statements or directives. Not even Yes/No or Why questions. Good ones that free you from the Why Not stories.

Pink Martini and the Messy Living Out of Dreams

Living out your dreams isn’t so dreamy; it’s messy. When you reach for the stars, you encounter bad traffic, arguments, and moments when you just “can’t do this anymore.” Then again, isn’t that what Not Living the Life of Your Dreams also looks like? So how do you tell that you’re actually moving towards it or just holding it way out there? Every once in awhile, you either stop and notice, or the universe smacks you in the head and you sputter, “Uh wow, didn’t see that coming.”

Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl, August 2

This past Saturday, my friend Paul had a major meltdown – tired, feeling sick, and yes, “I can’t… I just can’t” came out of his mouth more than several times. And this from a guy who had a stroke at age 29, died for about 9 minutes trying to live out, “There’s no such thing as can’t”…and freaking survived!

And yes, that miraculous thing then happened after mucking around in the shxx. He noticed that he had actually moved the Dream closer in, and the Show he had visualized for years was on the cusp of going live.

“Wake-up Call,” is coming into view. It’s about people who reach out for answers and solutions even if our current state of affairs is shitty beyond belief. So if you’d like to be a guest or audience member of Rita Harrison‘s upcoming show, give us a shout. Join her to explore what it can be for you. Click through to my contact page, write WAKE-UP CALL in the Subject line, and GUEST, AUDIENCE (and how many) or BOTH in the message.

So what’s up with Pink Martini? Well, that fabulous big-little group was how I resolved my own mini-mega crisis. I’ve loved them since I first heard Sympathique, and they were playing the Hollywood Bowl! The little girl in me needed to go…and bad, but then all the road blocks popped up: no one to go with, narcoleptic me trying to figure out how to make the trek to and from Long Beach, and as always…money. Yes, all the stories – not reality – was keeping their concert out of my reach. The big boogeyman – feeling alone and unloved – was the storyteller. So if you want to join us the taping of the pilot for Wake-up Call, where the Why Not stories are transformed, email me at http://www.valjoycom/contact.