I need a DOLLAR [$]

“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.
They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”
– Barbara De Angelis

I recently wrote a bit about an indiegogo campaign to help Levi Weaver, and the folks at ADDvocate Films, make a documentary called, String Theory. I am BEYOND passionately excited about this project and I’m going to try to give you the short version of why. (I say “short version” because I KNOW I lose people when I ramble on & on. ;-))

First reason: I live and breathe music, and Levi Weaver is an outstanding musician.

Second reason: I dig documentaries, especially ones that involve music.

Third reason: I believe in the human experience, in living a better story: asking questions, listening for answers, engaging other people on your journey. We’re here for a time, right? Why not INTERACT with life and try to make a difference? I’ve found the best way to fall asleep each night with a happy heart is to strive each day to bless someone. It’s not hard. Make one person smile; it’s worth the effort. My appealing to you, my involvement with this project, is solely for the purpose of believing in something bigger than myself — believing in the power of connection.

Fourth and most important reason: I believe in Levi’s story. It needs to be told, and you may be one of the people who really needs to hear it. I’ve seen, first hand, how Levi’s story impacts people. I’ve witnessed walls come down when Levi shares something deeply personal and someone in his crowd connects with what he’s saying. It’s truly awe-inspiring. (But, I’m a heart-on-my-sleeve-guts-out-for-the-world-to-see kind of girl. I DEEPLY admire honesty.)

I LOVE fan-funded projects. I just do. I’m a devoted fan and I put my dollar where my mouth is. I’m so excited about this film; I confess I check the campaign page daily. And the thing I always notice is that one person has kicked down $1. One person. FIFTEEN people have contributed $50 each. But only one person has contributed in the $1 category. So, I’m wondering… what would it take to get 100 people to contribute one dollar? 200 people? 500 people? Yes, ok — maybe I’m pushing it, but I shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be that hard. I have over 400 facebook friends, Levi has over 1500 facebook friends. Many of us buy coffee every morning, and frequently a beer (or two) after work. Can you spare $1? I know money is tight for A LOT of people. There have been projects I would have liked to contribute to and I simply couldn’t afford it at the time. One of my favorite musicians did a Pledge campaign to fund his new album a few years back and $15 was the minimum you could pledge. I was disappointed. I wanted to give $5. I REALLY wanted to give my $5, and due to how the project was set up, I was denied that possibility.

Would you consider giving one dollar to this project? Would you share this blog post on your facebook, twitter, via email or re-post on your blog? I think it would be SO COOL to see how many people we could get to kick down a buck. If you have $5, that would be ok, I suppose. 🙂 But I really really really want to check the indiegogo page and see that 100 or more people have given a dollar. Help? Maybe? Please? I think it’ll be fun; it could be our little experiment. We can get excited about it together. How many people can we reach? → http://www.indiegogo.com/stringtheoryfilm

Of course you don’t have to help, and that’s totally okay, but would you consider sharing the trailer? Share the indiegogo link? Share this post so people know that even a dollar helps? Word of mouth really is EVERYTHING.

indiegogo Campaign Home shortlink [copy & paste]: http://igg.me/p/102699
(The trailer for the film lives at this link. ↑)

Here’s the shortlink for this post [copy & paste]: http://wp.me/p26sgC-b2

Stay Connected:
String Theory Film – Facebook Page 

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(No, this isn’t Levi Weaver and it has nothing to do with him… but well . . . you get the point. :-))

— Unbeing dead isn’t being alive —

Breathe some LIFE into your day today (and every day).

Wisdom from my favorite poet:
“Unbeing dead isn’t being alive.”
― e.e. cummings

•*•*•*•*•

3 simple suggestions —

Hug often.
It’s proven that hugging is good for the mind, body and spirit.

Practice random acts of kindness.
It’s REALLY fun. Open the door for someone. Put a shopping cart away for an elderly person. Compliment a stranger (sincerely).

Make eye contact and smile.
We rush through so much of our day we miss out on basic human interactions.

•*•*•*•*•

Get creative! It isn’t hard. Once you begin, it’s easy to form positive habits that bless others on a regular basis.

Rabbit Holes • a Call to Adventure • LW Music Doc

I maintain two blogs, and I try to keep the content separate. If this blog is quiet, you can bet it’s because I’m working on something over at the other one. 🙂 I’m super jazzed about this piece that I just wrote and the project that I’m trying to raise awareness for. If you are curious, click on the above photo. I promise it’s not a rabbit hole.

If you’d prefer to see the link: http://musicismyfirstlanguage.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/levi-weaver-string-theory-a-documentary-film/

——–

The quote on this photo is by Joseph Campbell. Recently there was a film made about him and his teachings. His most popular quote is: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.” I am a lover of perspective. I believe in mind over matter. I think we humans are more powerful and capable then we could ever give ourselves credit for. Joseph Campbell sheds some beautiful light on a few of the topics I love most; I quote and reference him often. He teaches about “The Hero’s Journey” and “The Call to Adventure”. If you’d like to learn more, I HIGHLY recommend starting with Patrick Takaya Solomon’s film: Finding Joe.

I dare you not to smile. Really.

Sometimes you just need to smile; the kind of smile that creeps across your face and then settles into your heart, creating a warmth that radiates from your chest. Do you know what I mean? THIS always does the trick for me, I hope it does the same for you. ♥

I feel like it’s a very deep song, spiritually as well —philosophically.
It’s about wanting something so much, but knowing if you get it, you’re going to destroy it.
— Laura Jansen

Haha. 🙂 Sooo great.

I could wax poetic for hours about how much I admire this woman, but that’s not really the purpose of this post. (However, the amazingness of this song DOES increase my adoration for her.)

Venture on over HERE if you’d care to listen to one of my very favorite cover songs which features Laura Jansen. It’s just… wow.

2011 Mediterranean Adventures

I have been working on this post for a few months! I figured since the year anniversary of this trip is happening NOW, I should go ahead and finish this up. It’s taken me ALL day. 🙂

Last year I spent ten days on vacation in the Mediterranean with my best girl. We travel a lot together, mostly mini trips around the states. I call her my P.I.C (partner-in-crime). She always documents our adventures with her amazing photography skills. On this trip we agreed that she would document with photos and I would get it all down in words. Someday we intend to make a coffee table book of sorts; her photos, my meanderings.

The journal account is lengthy. I went for the no detail spared approach. It is my longest finished writing accomplishment to date. I’ve split it into multiple parts, and hopefully that will make it more readable. The first section is HERE. (It is also accessible by the menu at the top of this page.) 🙂 Happy reading! Or at least happy browsing, the photos truly are lovely. ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY JESSICA LOUCKS.

The above photo(s) was taken on the beach in Barcelona.

Perspective.

HAPPINESS is contagious.

Be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy, too. – Yogi Tea Wisdom

I am on a continuous quest for happiness. For those of you who know me that statement may seem obvious, silly, or even redundant. I AM a genuinely happy person. But I don’t take this for granted. The quest for a happy heart and a happy mind is an ongoing practice for me. You might say I am a habitual bliss seeker. One of my number one practices is surrounding myself with people who think and feel similarly. Not about everything, of course. I enjoy having a diverse group of friends. But you’ll find as you meet people that there are those who value happiness and seek joy, and there are those who wander aimlessly, allowing the wind (circumstance) to dictate their mood. I try to stay in the company of the first category of people.

Like William Arthur Ward says: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

I am currently reading, The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. I haven’t finished the book, so I can’t give it a whole hearted recommendation. It is possible that something could go horribly awry, but so far so good. I like what this lady is about. I like very much that she is proactive — she outlined a plan to actively seek MORE happiness in her life. Happy people breed happy people and that’s a beautiful thing.

I came across this list, and though I did tamper with the wording just a smidgen – it is not my list. I can’t find the original source, but please know I can’t take any credit for compiling this guideline for pursuing happiness. But I do endorse it.

I say yes, yes and yes to all of the below.

HOW TO BE HAPPY

1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.
2. Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.
3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortune that befalls other people.
4. You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.
5. Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.
6. Do the things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.
7. Never borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than real ones.
8. Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish jealousy, enmity, grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.
9. Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.
10. Don’t hold postmortems. Don’t spend your time brooding over sorrows or mistakes. Don’t be one who never gets over things. Regret can be a learning tool, but don’t give it any more power than that.
11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself. The best way to stay out of the “it’s all about me” mentality is to keep focused on blessing others.
12. Keep busy at something, even if it’s just cultivating dreams. An idle mind is bound to get you in trouble!

I like it. 🙂 It’s a start anyway. Who wants to make their own list and share it with me?

More thoughts on “The Pursuit of Happiness”. Could it be that happiness is a moral obligation? This is only 5 minutes and great brain food.

We are as happy as we decide to be. — Abraham Lincoln

“Ode” (excerpt)

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
― Arthur  O’Shaughnessy

*****

This poem, this excerpt in particular, has a pacifying effect on me. No matter my frame of mind, these words make it better. ♥ It’s so good.

YOU are unlimited.

I drink tea every day. I like Yogi brand teas especially. Their “wisdoms” are so much better than a fortune cookie. I look forward to my morning tea to see what perspective the inspired minds at Yogi Tea will be sharing with me.

This is my very favorite. I always get a slight thrill when I read it.

Let that sink in for a minute. What’s your reaction? Do you believe it? Does it inspire you? The combination of these three little words resonate so deeply with me. Countless examples throughout history have shown us that we are capable beyond our wildest dreams. According to the greats it is our dreams that limit us. The more fantastic, the more possibility.

As Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

I am, quite simply, a dreamer. I get pragmatic sometimes and I sweep my dreams aside. I trip up and try to convince myself that logic has more value than intuition. But at the end of the day I can tell you my heart is happiest when I’ve allowed it to dream. I need to believe in greatness, in innovation, in endless possibility. I feel hopeful and bright-eyed and capable of ANYTHING when I ponder the words of Einstein. He had much to say on the topic of dreams and imagination.

Another favorite quote on this topic.
“You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?”  ― George Bernard Shaw

Dream a little dream today. Test yourself. It is only your imagination that limits you. This is your life. It’s not too late to start living it in a manner that will give you more joy.

Donald Miller wrote a beautiful book called, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”. It’s about living a better story, about maximizing the moments we are given and turning the mundane into something magnificent. It’s an easy read, intelligently written with insightful real life examples. I had a difficult time putting it down. Something Don said in the book that stayed with me was this: “If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died.”  How’s that for truth?!

The first line of this TED Talk makes me think of Don’s book, and also about limitations and dreams. It’s powerful. I hope you’ll take the 9 minutes and 37 seconds to watch it. Pass it on.

*****
Won’t you dream with me?

My friends are *GIVERS*

“If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart.
And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.”
– Frances Burnett

*****

I’ve previously mentioned what a huge fan I am of gift giving. You can read a bit about it here. But I must say, as much as I love to give a good gift, I also absolutely adore receiving them. 🙂 My friends are pretty sensational. I wanted to share with you a few of the things that have been gifted to me over the past few months. These gifts are the kind that just keep giving. My heart smiles every time I see them/ use them/ wear them.

Isn’t this one of the prettiest tea sets you’ve ever seen? I love hot tea. I go through coffee spurts, mostly cappuccino or iced coffee – but I drink hot tea year round. It makes me happy. A month or so ago this lovely gift arrived unannounced at my house. My sweet friend, Leila, got it for me… just because. Ah! I love her!!

***

I made a new friend recently. Her name is Katie. She’s been a glorious addition to my life. We met through mutual musician friends. As we were getting to know each other I shared with her a little about how blessed I am by my tightly woven circle of friends. I’m not sure if I’ve written about it on this blog, I think just on my music blog… but I call my kindred friends my “shiny marble friends”. (If you are interested scroll four videos down to the bit about “BOY”. ) Anyway, after Katie heard my story she was inspired to make me this necklace.

Isn’t it beautiful? She MADE this for me and  I love it so much!! Now I can wear my shiny marbles around my neck and keep them close to my heart always.

***

And this is one of the most perfect gifts I’ve ever received. In my latest post – I shared the video version of this. My bestie, Jessica, bought two of these posters. One for me and one hangs on her wall. This makes it an even better gift because we both have one!! You can go here to read about The Holstee Manifesto and also click over to “shop” to buy one for yourself or gift one to a friend!!

***

“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.
They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”
– Barbara De Angelis