Land on Happy

Well, rehearsal went well. He took my mic and wouldn't give it back - lol.

First Rehearsal EVER

Then it was a good gig - good times with good people, good friends. (How many times can I say "good" in one sentence?)

With Apollo Joe

A real standout moment was when Zachary turned the wheel of emotions at the children's museum. At first, it landed on "Sad" but, without any prompting from me, he immediately spun it again.

That's right kid. Keep turning the wheel until you land on "Happy." That is the plan and I'm sticking to it. Now let's go get a milkshake! ;)

Have a great week everyone! #LandOnHappy

Namaste,

T

Positively Flexible

IS IT MONDAY AGAIN!!!???

I was so busy running around that I can barely remember the first part of last week.  What did I do?  I honestly have no idea.

At some point I took this pic, LOL

I DID do a LOT of driving this weekend.  I am pretty sure that I drove in a thousand-mile-long circle twice in the last two weeks.

Two things stand out as I look back.  The first is the importance of being flexible with plans.  The second is the benefit of positive energy.

Flexibility was key for success last week.  You wouldn't believe how plans kept changing.  Then there was no plan, because why bother?  Then there had to be decisions made (despite the lack of information), then after the decisions were made more change came and the decision had to be revised anyway.  It was ridiculous.  Where was I driving to?  Were the dogs coming with me?  Where would I be going after I went to the first place?  It's kind of hard to pack when you don't know where you're going or how long you'll be there.  In the end, I ended up right back where I started after driving a thousand miles.  If I tried to latch on to one particular idea of what was going to be happening, some new development would loosen my grip and I ultimately had to let go of any notions of my own and just go with the flow.  Fine.

Then there was the presence and awareness of the positive energy flow.  It's funny - when you just "go with the flow" of things there seems to be a wonderful sense of freedom that takes over as you open your mind to the endless possibility of "whatever."  Whenever I let go of my ideas of how things "should" go, adventure begins and the door is opened to new and wonderful things that I never could have deliberately planned.  Even just that sense of freedom itself carries with it such a light and happy feeling.

The gig was great this weekend!  I can't express enough how fabulous it is to work with people whose company you enjoy, and to be able to do something that you really enjoy doing.  We played at a country club on Saturday and had a GREAT time.  We all love making each other laugh, and try to do so at every opportunity (even on stage - Joe seemed to get a big kick out of deliberately trying to make me laugh so hard that I would be unable to sing my verse).  The energy of that laughter and positive spirit shines through in the performance and somehow seems to transmit to the audience, and everyone has a wonderful time!  That positive energy really is contagious.

The contagious effect was evident on my drive back home too.  When a friend had just made me laugh on the phone right before I entered a rest stop, and I walked in there still beaming, I was met with smiles by every stranger I encountered.

Listening to Caroline Myss lectures on the drive (She is AMAZING - GO OUT AND BUY SOME OF HER BOOKS/LECTURES RIGHT NOW!), I heard about spiritual "weightlessness."  To me, being in that state of happiness feels like weightlessness.  What amazing things we can accomplish from that state of energetic joy.  It's kind of like magic - as if joy attracts more joy.  Ideas flow and anything seems possible.

click here for Caroline Myss on Wikipedia

I'll hold on to that this week.  I will go with the flow, stay open to the unexpected and seek laughter.  When I find the laughter I will treasure it and be grateful for it.  I'll hold on to the idea of not holding on to anything.  I am positive that if I do that - this will be a FANTASTIC week!

Gorgeous sunset on the drive!

Namaste
xoxo
T

click here for Pharrell Williams' "Happy" on Youtube

Oh Happy Day

So I'm standing in line for the restroom at a Starbucks in NYC...

and I looked down at my phone as I remembered a hilarious video I have in there.  I knew that there was some explicit language at the end of that short clip, so I made sure my phone was on mute before I played it.  I wanted to play it to make sure it was in fact the video I was thinking of before I forwarded it to a friend.

I hit the "play" button and was immediately horrified to realize that the sound WAS playing out loud and frantically began hitting the volume controls in an effort to quiet the playback before the expletive rang out for everyone around me to hear.  (It wasn't actually that bad and might not have mattered at all, but I didn't want to offend anyone.)  I only had a matter of seconds.

The exhilaration and panic of those seven seconds was somewhat like a roller coaster ride.  I couldn't turn down the volume fast enough and was racing for the sake of my utter embarrassment.  It was one of those ridiculous moments where I was fighting a losing battle, and what I was about to lose was my dignity.  (Did I mention that it was a video clip of ME and that I was the one who used explicit language at the end?)

As the volume slowly declined and the footage rolled on like a steamroller right over my pride, the inevitable language played loud enough for the people close to me to hear (although I couldn't be certain that they had in fact heard).  I laughed out loud at the ludicrous situation AND the hilarity of the video.  I laughed hysterically.

At first I wasn't sure WHY the girl next to me started laughing too.   Did it matter?  I was in the throes of a laughing fit!  As my eyes glanced up to meet hers, I laughed even harder and so did she.  Then she said, "Funny video?"  (Alright then, she HADN'T actually heard anything specific from my phone, I thought.)  I said, "I couldn't turn down the volume fast enough," but I'm sure she didn't understand what I meant.  Then, still laughing and just as she left to enter the restroom (she had been in line in front of me) she added, "adults don't laugh enough."

I was left outside the door in my giggle fit to realize and think, "Wait a second, did she just call me an ADULT???"  This cracked me up even harder, and just then the guy coming OUT of the restroom saw how hard I was laughing and HE started laughing too.  As he walked off smiling, I continued down the humor road.  I realized the oddity of the fact that three total strangers were standing around in a NYC Starbucks laughing, and that I was the only one of us who knew WHY - and then I thought THAT was funny.  I remembered with a smile how contagious happiness can be.  I couldn't have wiped that smile off my face if I tried - AND WHY WOULD I WANT TO TRY THAT?

Earlier that day, I had been talking to a friend about how we are all responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness by the choices we make and he had sent me this quote:

"Happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors."

- The Dalai Lama

Later that day, another friend of mine said,  "Happiness looks good on you."

As the week progressed I tried to hold on to that happiness.  It was a great week filled with family and friends and truly joyous moments.  There were times when I just took a deep breath in, and felt filled with gratitude.  Simple things like a campfire, the smell of coffee in the kitchen, cars in the driveway, flowers in the yard, and the smile of a child, all signified grand abundance.  Life was good.

You couldn't have taken that feeling of gratitude away from me if you tried - AND WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO TRY THAT?

Here's bidding you a wonderfully happy week...

Namaste,
T