I'm inspired by Florence and the Machine...Lose Yourself

I remember my mom would say, "You just don't fear anything do you?" That was after I nearly cut my left thumb off as a result of a water fight. I sliced it on glass bowl inside of a friend’s house. In the hospital I remember being ticked that I wasn’t going to make it to the movies that night. While raging war on the other girls with my water bombs, I severed a major nerve and ended up needing months of physical therapy. But that’s how life is at times when you get lost in the moment. It can be exhilarating and extremely painful. I guess I've always been some what of a rabble-rouser, doing things that I “shouldn’t” be doing. Is that so bad?


I've tried to be totally lady-like and abide by certain rules and structures. Let's be honest, it sucks and it’s kinda boring. Don’t get me wrong it’s major fun dressing lady-like and it's cool being a lady in a relationship. Even still, it's not enough for this experience called life. It's never been enough for me. There's like this lil beast inside that rages to do things, grow, stretch, test things to the limit. Life has to be intense, extreme even. I’m a Porsche that’s built to race, hugging the side of the road, screaming to go a little bit faster. There’s this yearning to feel, to taste all that can be experienced. And yet it’s sooo hard when you’re surrounded by endless lanes of blah. I find myself slowing down to plan for the next exit on the fwy.  And lately my car has been stuck on idle.  For me, that’s worst than the engine dying.

I mean why are we all here? What’s the point if it’s not to be ALIVE? See! Hear! Smell! Touch! Taste!

And just like that, I was humming along on the fwy one day and the soundtrack showed up. I heard this voice. The sound was like a heartbeat on fire, bursting in flames. I’m like, “YOOOOOOOOOOOOO who is this chick, I NEED HER?” She wailed over the guitar and her voice got stuck in my heart. And like a fiend, I started scrambling to find the sound, the song, any resemblance of that tribalistic noise. It changed me. I was so high.

And just like love, I was infected. You can’t stop matters of the heart. There are times I’ve tried to erase the feeling behind meeting a stranger. Fools we are, thinking we are in control. And I began my hunt. I went back to the radio station for it. Nothing! Not even after a month. And since I suck at remembering what I hear, I had the lyrics all wrong. My Google searches and iTunes searches were leading me to nowhereseville. DAMN IT! Finally, the other day while driving to that same friend’s house, it came on and I BLASTED it. This time the hit was even more surreal than the first like I was barely even to focus on the road. And in those 3 minutes I lost myself completely. I can’t even tell you what she was saying. All I know is that I left myself…flying. That’s what artists can do to you if you're not careful. They speak to our souls with or without our permission. They remind us why we’re here in the first place. It doesn’t matter what language they use because the universal language, that existed before time isn’t spoken at all but rather felt.

It’s one thing to be entertained. I’ve been entertained and delighted plenty of times, pops songs and all. But it’s a whole other thing to be swallowed up in an artist’s trance unable to break free of their melody.
One day, I sincerely hope you find a song that SHAKES the dust off your wings whatever it may be. And when you do find it, I hope it makes you roll down your windows, speed up a little faster and yell out the window like your life depends on it. If you’re lucky it might remind you of why you’re here in the first place.

http://florenceandthemachine.net/video (Dog Days Are Over)

Shak
100.

I'm Inspired by Martha Graham

Check out Google today, 5/1/11, it’s inspired by a dancer/choreographer named Martha Graham. I took a few moments to look her up on my fav, Wikipedia. And I found an amazing convo that she had with a dancer who was an up and comer at the time.
http://www.google.com/

Here’s there exchange:

According to Agnes de Mille: "The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be.

Martha said to me, very quietly:"

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

I need to frame her quote. I feel that the greatest thing you can do creatively in the beginning is to stay open to the inspiration. Most people choke it because they’re too busy worried about the outcome, or they get caught up in executing busy work or how it looks along the way. In their attempt to completely control the creative process they close up the exchange, suffocate it and so they don’t receive the energy. And there is so much purity and power in that exchange. It’s how folks are able to do ish they’ve never done before creatively. And I’ve never heard anyone reference it so explicitly until now. Well besides in Star Wars but that’s “fiction”.  I love this part especially, “it is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open”.

How lovely and how freeing that is for all creators.  She's saying, there is something worthwhile about your creation because it's uniquely you.  WOW!  Thanks Martha.

Shak
100.

Mirror Mirror On the Wall...

I must have written about 50 emails to Bright this past week entailing information about obtaining success. On our mighty quest to find the ingredients for success aka THE BLUEPRINT for dreamers; I've found that one particular flavor overpowers the entire gumbo. I've been consciously researching success for at least the past 4 years. In fact it is the main reason for this site. We wanted to discover, and share with all, the blueprint to finding one's dreams. We thought, hell if we could learn how to grow and to gain success; perhaps others out there would heed the call as well.

In the beginning I thought it was talent, that if one was talented enough they could surely become successful. Maybe one had to be born with a hidden genius that predisposed her to a particular occupation thus giving her an advantage. But after a few years in the music industry trying desperately to "put on" a music producer with superb talent; I noticed that wasn't the case. There were several talents (producers, rappers, singers) who were highly successful (meaning they had obtained their initial dreams) with marginal amounts of talent (that's subjective of course).

That led me to research work ethic, maybe in order to make it to the "top" of the pile, one had to train like a total psycho, give up all comfort and attain success THE HARD WAY. I reasoned it had to be perseverance. If one could only persevere long enough he could finally reach his goal of being a (fill in the blank). In 08, I begin training with religious-like attention, waking up at 4:30 am, running the hills of Los Angeles and torturing myself with sprinting with chains and tires. I would work after and then hit the repeat button the next day. But I started to find counter arguments to this hypothesis, there were lazy people, chillin' at the gym, and all around me who had also found a way to manifest their dreams. How in the hell could this be? They irritated me as they sipped their lattes at Starbucks.

Well maybe it was education. In order to reach a certain level of one's dream one would have to possess the faculties of higher education via experience, college, a master's program or doctorate. If one had enough knowledge than he could reach his goal of obtaining one's dream. I looked at my own situation out of desperation. The majority of my friends had obtained an advanced degree (masters/doctorate). Maybe it was time for me to take it up a notch and gain more knowledge in order to get closer to my dream. The problem was, some of them didn't even have a job let alone a dream career. Most of you know someone with several degrees that hasn't gained any ground in reaching their dreams. Kanye, is a poster boy for this argument.

Then what the hell is the secret ingredient to success? You guys have no idea of my level of exhaustion, to what extent I've tiredly studied until the wee hours in the morning seeking this answer. I've studied ancient philosophers, religious doctrines, self help gurus, rappers, poets, actors, teachers. You name them, there's a 50/50 chance I've researched their theories. I couldn't shake it, I had to find the damn answer to the riddle, assuming of course there was an answer or answers to be found. Poor Bright, sometimes I wonder how she can deal with me at all. I would call her at totally unacceptable times of the night out of sheer excitement that I had gotten a step closer; only to realize the next day that I had found a dead end.

And when I finally saw the truth, it was so familiar to me, I'm convinced I knew it but lost it along the way. I realized how the truth is so simple. It sucks that it always is...kinda makes you feel a bit dumb for spending oh I don't know 3, 5, 10 years trying to rediscover it. The truth is that when you begin to believe in your own God-given power, NO ONE...and I mean NO ONE will be able to come close to what you are capable of doing. That's it...the secret ingredient to success is the power of BELIEF. And whether you want to believe this or not, everything that you have in your current life is because you believed it was so. I know I didn't want to accept the bad stuff that was in my life; that actually is what caused me to blame others and not take personal responsibility. On the flip side, I realized I had become a teacher, a music industry analyst, a corporate trainer because I believed I could. And most recently, I've decide to become an actress...and yes, you've guessed it...I'm acting.

"What so ever ye desire when ye pray, that ye receive and it shall be given..." As a man thinketh, so he is". --Mat 21:22
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened". --Mat 7:7-11

Not to get all religious on yall, because clearly I'm not an expert on the subject but it's in almost every religous doctrine, and it's also in every get rich book, soon I believe the same truth will be proven scientifically as well. And please don't take my word for it. Spend 2, 3, 6, 10 years discovering the truth for yourself. Perhaps, you may have to in order to gain the belief. That's the next puzzle I'm trying to solve. How do you give one belief? Is it possible? You tell me. I mean people see miracles every day and still can't see.

So I don't want to hear anymore nonsense about how Soulja Boy has ruined Hip Hop, or how Tyler Perry isn't that talented or how Britney Spears is a horrible singer, or how (fill in the blank) has no reason to be where they are as an excuse to why you're where you are at currently. Talent, ultimately does not matter in terms of obtaining one's dream. Yikes! What did she just say? Of course it's wonderful when one has an amazing talent; then we can revel in the beauty, the experience, the wonder of that person's gift. But it's all subjective. What I love you might hate. So is it helpful to have talent? Of course. But necessary it is not. Wait I'm starting to sound like freakin' Yoda here. (Jedi in training baby, you best believe it). Sorry, ok talent, drive, great work ethic all play there part in becoming successful. But the key is without belief, those ingredients are powerless. I REPEAT on the loudest, imaginary bull horn that you are now listening too: Belief in and of itself will give you the ability to gain talent, to gain vision, to gain drive and finally to succeed. Now how do you begin to cultivate that inner belief? Sorry, I'm still a pedawon in training. More to come from my research.

P.S. It's gotta be a damn good day. Google has cookie monster on it. (And I love cookies) Random but not really. Become everything you want to become. Just be careful about what it is you want to become. It's simple, look around you, listen to those around you...they will tell you who you are and what you've believed this far.

Shak
100.