Me & The Blues

Deciphering life through music is an empowering way to express one’s self, a cathartic way to analyze one’s thoughts & feelings, and a way to examine and self inventory.

To feel joy through a song that reminds you of a special celebration , a favorite road trip, or maybe true  love is something we may take for granted. Or the heartbreak ‘ripping the heart out’ kind of tune.There is a reaction between the body, brain, & heart. A chemical reaction,

More than the beat of the tune, the great guitar riffs, or the lyrics, music is much more to our brain. There is more to liking or not liking a song for each individual. Dozens of brain receptors in our brain respond to different rhythm, tones, and lyrics, determining the qualities we personally like and dislike in a particular song.

Music involves more parts of the brain than any other function that people perform, Specific brain wave rhythms are associated with particular emotional  and cognitive outcomes. Over time listening to music improves language skills, creativity & happiness. Music also has incredible healing powers to decrease anxiety, speed healing, increase optimism, and to decrease pain.

Music definitely does not go in one ear and out the other. I tend to think we absorb it.

I write a lot, and I write a lot about self-exploration and spirituality. I like to think of this process as an excavation of myself.  I am unable to write without music, I always knew it inspired me, even helped me open up by striking those chords within myself.

When certain blues bar chords hit my ears then travel through my soul I am in touch with myself like no other time. Nothing has an immediate impact on me like blues. There is some kind of physiological reaction and my mind opens up to my heart & my spirit. The Blues chords strip away my ego’s thoughts and protective sleeve helping me find way to the raw emotions I garner for when I write. I have a play list for Writing Music, and one for Healing Music among my collections of music. All genres are represented in my library except Rap. ( I’m just not evolved enough I suppose) I even have some opera. But blues is where it’s at for me when I am writing.

My friend and master guitarist Pablo Camara’s background is in music therapy.  He is a music teacher and has the soul of a great artist who gives to others his gift of brilliance. His improvisations are in my mind and ears the very best. Through the music he covers & his original work I  have discovered what music really does for us physiologically. If we pay attention we can learn,

To me it is obvious the way we are able to emote such feelings through a piece of music like this Gary Moore cover below. The music sensibilities & sensitivity it takes to improvise & improve with a different perspective than anyone else and create something quite moving is phenomenal.  Focusing on the recognition that it is the  creative energy that flows from such a well composed song with its many layers, I see that this is my inspiration for my own creative wings to fly.

With my friend’s full permission I want to share this music I am referring to that sets my wings aflight.  (for full credits see *below)

Maybe your wings will soar too.

This  cover is now my all time my favorite version. Which is saying something because I am an admitted Gary Moore snob. With Mr Camara showcasing all his chops; incredible riffs & vibrato, and the way he bends those 6 strings while working the fretboard is pure medicine for the soul.

And my muse for writing.

The music we are able to connect with on different levels with someone else is remarkable. And it can become an addicting way to communicate expression of feelings.  It can be a pretty healthy way I might add. The genre of blues does this for me, I hear those chords and get a lump in my throat. I know this means something in me needs to be explored, and possibly expressed in some way.

It’s music that inspires me.

It’s.Music that plays to my soul.

It’s Music that sings to my heart

And sometimes… it’s a blues cover from a friend.

Pablo Camara’s full collection of covers & original music can be found on his YouTube  link @
http://www.youtube.com/user/polcamara/videos

 

Gracias mi querido amigo Pablo, tu regalo de esta música mece mi mundo.

Credits:

* GARY MOORE ¨The Messiah Will Come Again¨ (Roy Buchanan)
Album: After the War, 1989.
* Cover by Pablo Cámara.
Zárate, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Backing track:
http://soundcloud.com/pablo-camara-1/…

NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED. ALL RIGHTS REMAIN WITH ARTISTS AND RESPECTIVE LABEL/S ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY

Lecciones gratis de guitarra/Free guitar lessons:
http://www.facebook.com/pablo.camara

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I’d Love To Change The World.

Photo: We're getting into lavender season (which will be in full force come July). Find out where you can take in all the sights and smells: http://bit.ly/TerritoryLavenderPhoto: Oregon Lavender Farm in Oregon City

Oregon’s Lavender fields with Mt Hood in the back ground.
A little bit of peace ~

Gandhi’s Top Ten Fundamentals

For Changing the World/Your World

pablo's top ten

A good friend shared Gandhi’s timely message and it served to be the beautiful  reminder of a some things I have not been mindful of late. I was challenged by this to really think about how I apply these ten tenets to my own life. The timing is  impeccable as is typical from friends with a heart of music.

Gracias y paz os sean  Pablo.

1.)  Change Yourself

There has been much discussion on how to go about this from prophets to self-help gurus.  All  have discovered one thing for certain in common;  Only by beginning to change how we think may we truly begin to change ourselves.

2.)  You are in Control

It is within our own grasp to begin to take ownership for what happens in our lives.  To be empowered by the knowledge that we gain in passing through & living the life. The wisdom we gain. I refuse to give this power to anyone or anything else.

3.) Forgive & Let go.

We tend to get into these mind bends where our ego cannot let go in fear of appearing wrong, ignorant, or even uncaring. Who in the end does the destruction of not forgiving hurt? Not letting go grows into something heavier than we should ever be carrying in our hearts.

4.) Without action you aren’t going anywhere

This I find is a necessary component physically, emotionally, and of course most important spiritually. Nothing progresses in my life until I take some kind of action.  My mother was fond of saying to my two brothers and I that in times of indecisiveness inaction is a negative, that as long as I did something it was better than just indecisiveness. Even if my choice in the end was wrong I took the risk to create an action.

5..) Take Care of this Moment ~

Live in  the now. Be mindful of this moment and nurture it for all its worth. There will never be another one like it.

6.) EVERYONE IS HUMAN

Thankfully so. Remembering that the other person comes with his or her own history and we don’t always know what that is. Or understand it.

7.) PERSIST

Ahh… this is the tenet has been a paramount belief in my life that I was to see early on in my life is an asset. I would have not discovered even a fraction of what I have delightfully found out about this world without being persistent.

8.) See the good in people & help them,

I know when I get out side of my own head I see things in a different light. By serving my community whether it be my own small  community of family & friends, the town I live in,  my country & universe. I see the goodness that is there. Through these other life forces I gain a different perspective.  I NEED to get away from my own thoughts once in a while by focusing on others.

9.)  Be congruent, Be Authentic, Be Your True Self

This for me is certainly a #9. I have been striving the latter few years to live as authentic as I am able. Even when it is not so comfortable to do. My beliefs and convictions mean nothing if they come from a less than honest agenda on my part. Building anything on less than my true self is building nothing. To be true to myself means I am able to be true to you.

10.)  Continue to grow & evolve.

   Namaste ~

Humble Butterfly

Humble  Butterfly

Butterfly Meaning and Animal Symbolism of the Butterfly

Symbolic Butterfly

  Soul

* Grace  *  Growth *

Time

* Elegance * Expansion * Lightness * Surrender * Transition * Expression * Celebration* Resurrection *

  * Vulnerability *

All these  *attributes the humble Butterfly represents.

In the soul-searching and growing of my own journey it has taken me through, and often crossing paths with these attributes. It has been a long year;  one which I have not always been cognizant of the changes taking place that have been allowing  me to become the me I have always been meant to be.

I have during this time struggled with being the kind of friend, person, the human being I have always been proud of. I have let people down during my metamorphosis.I have been neglectful.  I have learned through the butterfly this is all part of the transition to life. In the resurrection of the authentic me I will find I have only been migrating, and that coming back home will not be difficult as it once seemed. If only I let go and surrender to Mother Nature.       

I have always found looking at Symbolism through Mother Nature’s critters & animals  is a powerful way to connect with nature and learn life lessons from her. – lessons that I have been needing & wanting  for years to an apply to my own life.

Years ago I was doing the same in consideration of my children’s lives.  At different points throughout my life I have found certain association with life’s lessons and natures wild life.  I am able to easily relate.

When my two daughters were children there often would be the associations with animals and emotions used to explain life to them.  Some would be as silly as an expression we used in my youngest daughter’s Montessori school;  which was simply the expression “Silly Coyote” ~  so naturally referring to someone being silly in the classroom. the children all could relate, they understood this.

Or it could be something with great significance to me like I am sharing here – about the butterfly.

Observing the butterfly and learning her symbolic meanings offers me an opportunity to apply her movements to my life. For example, I relate the butterfly’s stages of life to my own life-phases…growing pains, times of ravenous hunger, times of vulnerability, moments of miraculous expansion, periods of vulnerabilities.

The more I look for symbolism in nature, the more I realize we as humans have a lot in common with animals, insects, and life in the wild.  Indeed, we are intimately connected with the animal [queen] kingdom. I don’t believe we can be separated from nature and her movements, nor should we want to be.

I am fascinated that cultural myth and folklore that seem to honor the butterfly as a symbol of transformation because of her impressive process of metamorphosis. From caterpillar to cocoon, and from the cocoon the butterfly emerges with her wings soaring.

“Soaring Free” painting by Joan Marie @ fineartamerica.com

There are life lessons we can learn from her. She represents life changes and transformations necessary to navigate the metamorphoses of own lives.

She who changes from what she began as, to what she becomes, in a months time. Because this is for her a complete life span.

The Butterfly asks us to accept our growth, and our changes as casually as she does her own. She embraces the changes to her body, and to her environment.

Her unwavering acceptance  to these changes are also a symbol of Faith. The Butterfly asks us to keep the Faith as we undergo transitions in our lives, and in our world. She understands that our worrying, stressing, frustration, and even anger are useless against the turning tides of nature – she asks us to recognize the same.

I believe that tapping into a kind of animal symbolism is closely related  to tapping into our own souls;  because frankly we are inseparable from nature and her creatures.

butterflies free  edited x1

In fact,  I found interestingly enough that in many cultures the butterfly is associated with the soul connecting our animal symbolism of faith with the butterfly.

Let me add that in my research about the bond between the butterfly symbol and human nature  I discovered that in Greek mythology  the psyche (which literally translates to mean “soul) is represented in the form of a butterfly. I think I knew that once, but it never had the connections it holds for me today.

Today I can relate & even bond with the traits of a butterfly that so deeply resonate within myself. Within those even closest to me.

So, tell me if you will please, just where do you find yourself in your own metamorphosis?

Giver_ProudWBN_forFB

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Time To Go Inward ~ An Open Letter

My Dear Loved One;

Please forgive this open letter, I did not know how else to reach you, and although this is a selfish act on my part I do hope and pray that just my few words and the song I include speaks to your spirit that I know is still searching.

My hope is you will  understand that this which you are going through will all be worth the pain and the struggle someday when you look back. I pray that you will come out the other side someone you like enough to know you deserve to be loved in a healthy, loving, and kind way. Though I am unable to be there for you for what ever reasons, your choice, or mine, please know that I am trusting there is a great chance you will read this.

As the song will tell you; Time To Go Inward.. I am not denying the incredible hard work on your part it is going to take. If you do, although a journey, I think you are going to like the you that you are going to find there. I hope & pray you have the nerve.

Our healing, yours and mine will begin once you are well.

This song I believe will speak to your heart in ways I cannot because of who I am to you. That is why we process and assimilate through music, is it not? My tone may sound reserved, it is. I do not trust my emotion here and it certainly is not the platform for it anyway.

For tonight,  for today, let it be enough that you know I love you, that this will never change. It could not. Know that you are in my prayers and my positive thoughts continuously. You know how much faith I have in this belief.

I have just as much faith in you.

POSTSCRIPT:   (Added March 29, 2013 after speaking via phone)

To you My Loved One:   you reaching out tells me the one thing I needed to know now from you, That you are in a better place today than you have been in a very long time. Today is all that matters for now. It may be all that ever matters. You have always my unconditional love always, sometimes that means having to love from a far. But it never diminishes the love held. Thank you for doing what you are doing. This too shall pass, and things will once again shine more brilliantly for you than you ever thought would happen again. Trust me.. but more importantly trust something more powerful than either of us.
I love you.  I am so proud of you.  Your personal cheering squad~

cyklopps-req

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Sculpting With Paper

Paper Sculpting

My next coveted paper adventure  in extreme. As the video shows you. This is what I am aspiring next to do with simply paper and an Exact -o-Knife™ with a single sheet of glass underneath for my cutting surface. That’s it!

I want to venture into a new phase by taking what I do with molding, sculpting, and folding so that I can to alter paper from flat sheet to something  2D next. I believe my love of architecture plays a role in my desire to sculpt and build with paper. I have been gearing up for this by creating 2d flowers out of just paper and  a spot of adhesive.

This is a whole new concept on sculpting,

I have done some 2D work. I love to create paper flowers such as these paper roses I do. Being able to be whimsical in the color schemes that Mother Nature just does not grow herself is empowering. I decide.

I have lately been working on creating a hydrangea and a daffodil (narcissus) but have nothing that qualifies for a photo shoot just yet.

My ambition to do paper sculpture is a progression of what I do, I like how life works that way adding new lessons when we are open to them. The flowers, mini-fans, mini-handbags, mini canvases that I am able to spatially see is what I will need for creating the different effects I want. I am fascinated by the nature of the pulp fibers in paper and how they interact with different paper weights and different mediums. It is baffling just how they can be manipulated.

Paper sculpting of the Floral Kind

bl rse paper rose2

bluepaper rose1

While on the subject of what the lowly, but ever so lovely sheet of paper can do  I’ll share some Spring Vibes with the  Easter cards I created for the little egg hunters in my life. I believe the kids will enjoy the cards, and the adults will simply smile.

Enjoy ~

easter crack up

easter dino

easter wish

easter bunny w ballon

Signature 2013