Avoxtar 3.0

My husband and I went to a yard sale last week and made some awesome music finds. We were like two kids in a candy store going through piles of old cassettes and records that were being sold for a quarter a piece. I was about to grab a stack of Pink Floyd vinyls when he tapped me on the shoulder to show me his latest discovery. I kid you not, I squealed with delight when I saw the tape he had in his hand.

It was the World Clique album from Deee-Lite!!! I started jumping up and down; people stared and then started to smile as my joy became contagious. I spontaneously hugged the kind, albeit bewildered, seller for the treasures we had just found in his “trash”.

You see for many years, buying music just wasn’t a priority for us. I realize now just how much we missed out. I know what your thinking: why would anyone jump for joy after finding a Deee-Lite album? To me, that tape wasn’t just music; it was one of the symbols of my youth.

Fast forward to last week. We rushed into the car and I had to negotiate pretty hard with hubby to play Dee-Lite before his new old Guns and Roses tape. Being in the passenger’s seat, I had an advantage so I pushed my selection in the tape deck, cranked up the volume and opened all the windows as we sped off onto the highway. I was dancing in my seat, singing at the top of my lungs as Francis laughed and danced along with me. People stared. I smiled and waved. Suddenly, I felt young and free again!!!

I was 16 in 1999 when this album came out. Fresh out of high-school, I had just moved out of my parents house and I was an art major in college. Life couldn’t have been better. Back then, I had no debt, I had no fears about anything, I had never been in love and been hurt, I knew how to dream big and I believed I could accomplish anything I imagined. I felt free as a bird and life was so much FUN!!! It basically revolved around art, my best friend Sophia, music, dancing and of course… planning elaborate schemes to meet cute guys.

Sitting in the car last week, it hit me: I realized I’m still that girl. Plus, I looked over at Francis and marveled at the fact that I’ve been waking up next to the cute guy for the last 14 years. Wouhou!!!  FUN!!!!! I yelled out the window.

As we get older, we tend to make things more complicated than they are. We forget about the simple ways we can bring joy into our lives again. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself is hear a good beat.

(Love the lyrics in this song!)

I highly recommend you find the music that once moved and inspired you to get up and dance. The next time you feel tired, overwhelmed, overstressed and well, old and boring… pump up the volume and dance, DANCE!

I’d love to hear about the soundtrack of your life! I’m looking forward to your comments.

If you like this post, share it! Many thanks!

Hide Sites

Working on my world peace map has been an extremely enriching experience. It has helped me to stay centered and focused on the peace I seek to keep in my heart and it has shown me that peace marches, rally’s, and vigils are happening around the clock, all over the world.

Most importantly, it has introduced me to several amazing peace makers.

I was especially inspired by Judy Dunn’s crane project. Judy is an extremely talented artist who creates beautiful polymer clay jewelry and absolutely gorgeous polymer clay peace cranes.

She started her Crane Project as a way to reflect on the impact of the war in Iraq. I agree with Judy when she say’s it’s important for all of us to see the numbers and have a visual impact for each life lost. It’s easy to forget that we are talking about over 4000 American and 100, 000 Iraqi lives; mothers, fathers, children, sons and daughters.

What I love about Judy’s project is that by folding cranes, we are honoring each life and we can use the time we are folding to meditate and pray for peace.

Judy has taken on the mammoth task of folding one polymer peace crane for each soldier, one wax paper crane for each Iraqi and one newspaper crane for each journalist who has died since the beginning of this war.  I’ve been inspired to join in and fold some paper cranes. If you feel like you have some spare time to devote to this project; by all means join in! Every little peace helps!

Please have a look at her wonderful video below for a more eloquent description of this wonderful peace project.

Instruction video : Folding Paper Cranes

Judy’s Crane Project Blog - A very interesting read.

Judy Dunn’s beautiful Polymer Clay Art.

Judy’s blog about the Collision of Art and Business

Background on the Paper Cranes Sadako’s story.

If you like this post, share it! Many thanks!

Hide Sites

When you search for peace on the internet, many roads lead to John Lennon. I was quite young when John Lennon passed so I never knew the full extent of his influence in the peace movement. I caught the tail end of a movie exploring his life on television last week. I believe it was called “The US VS John Lennon.” It was very moving and it just made me wonder what John would be doing for peace now. In reality, John is still quite vocal today. His spirit lives on in the web of life.

I stumbled upon this video yesterday and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. It was produced by Jerry Levitan who snuck into John’s hotel room in 1969 and managed to get an interview. He was 14 years old at the time.

Simply Amazing.

I’d love to hear any comments from people who’se lives were touched by John and his message.

Peace

If you like this post, share it! Many thanks!

Hide Sites