Every Day is Halloween

On Saturday Night, I always email XM Radio Guy & request The Goo Goo Dolls. He always plays The Cure. But this Sat. p.m. he played my request; the Boppy Song a.k.a. Everyday is Halloween by Ministry:

I dress this way

just to keep them at bay

cuz Halloween is everyday

hay-hay-hay

Boom boom boppy boppy boom boom

It's one of those Death Rock anthems. You see, Billy. Back in my day we called it Death Rock. You youngsters these day call it Goth.

3 sisters.

Around about this time, Mum would say to me, Oh, Halimah. You're so beautiful on the inside, why cahn't you look like that on the outside? This was interchanged with the other phrase, Oh, what a surprise. You're wearing black.

But as you can see, she has a sense of humour:


She let us dress her up.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pattern Interrupts

Dave Dobson used to say that everything is patterns. We have productive ones & less-than-productive ones. Useful & non-useful. Bruce Lipton says that for the first 2 years of life, our brain waves are predominantly delta waves--that v. deep, unconscious state. It's a time when we soak up learning--and patterns, at a rapid rate. Eric Jensen says in Brain-based Learning that the brain needs to feel safe before it can really learn. Credit that to the only part of our brain that is fully formed at birth: the amygdala [uh-MIG-duh-la] It records everything.

Which brings us back to Dave: the primary concern of the unconscious mind (Other-Than-Conscious, as he called it) is to keep us safe. Patterns develop as a safety mechanism. And then we run them like a computer runs a program. OR:

They run us.

What do you do when you become aware of a pattern that you find less than elegant? Dave said there are no good or bad patterns. They all had a purpose at one point in time. All you need to do is to update the pattern. John Morgan says that awareness is the first step in creating a wedge between stimulus & response (pattern). And then you do something to interrupt the pattern. When I was training with Doug O'Brien in Ericksonian hypnosis, he used a v. simple pattern interrupt. He would say, Do you golf?

I have been looking at the pattern of how I make decisions. Or, to be more accurate, how I don't make decisions. I have created a sense of urgency where there needn't be one. It's something that I'm becoming aware of. It's something I need to update.

Perhaps I should take up golf.

Laugh. Dance. Vote.

XM Radio Guy sent this video to me yesterday. [On the original, it featured my name where it says "Undefined." Apparently I have embedded incorrectly; anyway, you get the point--imagine your name splashed up there.] It's so funny & it's v. appropriate because you know, I registered on the LAST day. Thank you, Ellen. I don't consider myself a political person. Eh, voting. It's like pumpkin pie; I can take it or leave it. Yeah, it's just like that, Hali. I've never been all RAH-RAH about any candidate. I liked Charlotte Pritt when she ran for governor of WV, but that was because she was a friend-of-sorts. But in general, I hate politics. It's just a lot of BLAH BLAH BLAH. From office politics to the GUBerment, they just annoy me. And if I need to know anything about politics, Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert will tell me. But then. Then! I thought about the election and who I'd want to see in the White House, and then I thought I'd better DO something. And I'm in a swing state. Sh-wing! So this is my doing something. I registered. I shall vote. Suddenly, I'm all RAH-RAH about the BLAH BLAH BLAH. I get it. I get the excitement and the hope and the fear. Oh, I feel so grown up. I've got my big girl panties on. I'm ready to rock-the-vote!

P.S. If you'd like to customize the above video for your friends, click here.

*Inspiration*

While you’re here, stay locked in the shed.
Enjoy this wonderful isolation, with no responsibility but to improve yourself.
But when you leave here, head to the business aisle of the bookstore and start reading a book a week about entrepreneurial things like marketing.
Never underestimate the importance of making money making music.
Let go of any weird taboos you have about it.
Money is nothing more than neutral proof that you’re adding value to people’s lives.
Making sure you’re making money is just a way of making sure you’re doing something of value to others.
Remember that this usually comes from doing the things that most people don’t do. ~Derek Sivers, 6 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Berklee

I love this guy! He could be talking about anything, but his passion goes through the door of music. He's the creator of CD Baby where you can buy my CD's. He's created a life doing what he loves and is such an inspiration to aspiring artists. AWESOME. Here's his whole speech:

Have a GREAT day! :-) H.

Down my road on Sat. Oops! Horses!
Part of the 7 miles of dirt road I travel out into the world.

I woke up with a smile this a .m. and feeling v. rested. Aaaaahhhhhh...so nice. My motto is

A merrie heart maketh glad the day.

I have a new one:

When you feel better, you do better.

Because it's true: You really DO do better when you feel better. I watch this transformation after I've led a guided meditation or given a massage. We are such a frenzied, stressed-out society. Especially in these economically, politically turbulent times. Get a massage. Meditate. Take time to BREATHE. Or do all 3 with Virtual Massage. ;-) Have a GREAT day!

Day of Rest: Swangin'

This a.m.'s view. Did I mention I'm in a swing state? Oh, yes. And I plan to swing. East coast, West coast, Benny Goodman and beyond. Have a BEAUTY-ful day! :-) H.

I have successfully failed to upload this a.m. It's been raining v. hard & the satellite rebels against all that drippy wetness. Here's a shot of the river from a coupla days ago:

This is Neighbor Dave's lot next to Fisherman Willie's.

See the postbox on the far left with the duct tape? Guess who's. A branch fell on it and Neighbor Dave asked me if I wanted to replace it. I said duct tape would fix it. Really? he asked. Yes, because it's funnier. When I went down to check my post, he had repaired it. My dad used to say that if there were a nuclear war, the things that would survive would be cockroaches & marachino cherries. And now we can add my postbox.

So I joined Facebook. And I'm still figuring stuff out. A message on my wall? What? A note to my Facebook friends (all 3 of you): Thanks for your patience. ;-)