Owen Danoff -- On & On & On

A big shout out today goes to the multi-talented singer songwriter Owen Danoff for exceeding his Kickstarter goal of $15,000!!!

Owen and his supporters raised $19,391 by June 30 and now Owen has the money to record his debut album this year!!!  In fact, he's already started work on his album.  This past weekend, he and his rockin' band went to NYC to spend time in a recording studio putting down music tracks.

 

I write about this today because it is truly exciting and yes, healing, to watch someone who I have know since he was a baby find his passion in life and then follow it.  It's healing because it is renewing and energizing to see Owen or anyone else commit to their talents and continue to work hard at developing and mastering them.

 

Everyone has a talent and everyone does something a little better than someone else.  It doesn't matter how old you are or what phase of life you are in, there is always time for you to develop and follow your passions. 

 

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, it is an online resource dedicated to funding creative projects.  Films, games, music, art and technology, Kickstarter allows the person proposing the project with a funding goal and deadline to have complete control over it.  Kickstarter offers an online platform where people can pledge money directly to fund a proposed project to make it happen

 

Here, in Owen's words, are some of the reasons why he wanted to record an album:

"Music is about how it makes you feel, and I know the feeling of having a friend in a favorite album when there's no one else to turn to. I know the feeling of listening to a song that's so in tune with the world around you that you can't help but dance a little in public, or close your eyes and soak it in. I know the feeling of sitting on a bus or a plane for hours, and putting in headphones to let music steal away the time.

 

Those feelings, those connections we have with the music we love, are magic. If you give me the chance, I will do my best to create that magic for you."

 

If you haven't heard Owen Danoff before, I have posted a video of him and his band singing a song a wrote called, "On & On & On."  I liked it from the first time I heard it.  It has a driving beat and I love the lyrics.

Here's to Owen's debut album and may good luck continue to follow him and his band "On & On & On" as he goes about creating his magical music for us.

Crying & Healing

This post is for anyone, and in particular someone who is close to me, who is currently going through an anxious time in their life and is unsure how it will turn out.

Anxiety may be dogging you and causing sleepless nights, loss of appetite, an increase in appetite, a need to abuse alcohol or drugs (please don't!!!!), crankiness or sadness and crying.  As in crying constantly.  Like every day.  At any time.

This person close to me was talking recently about how crying really does make her feel better but she's also aware that it doesn't make others around feel better.  Crying is normal and is a healthy release from sadness, tension, frustration or anger about a particularly stressful situation.



But even though crying is normal, it scares alot of people; both men and women.  I have seen people who can handle incredible amounts of stress or pressure or work completely mishandle a situation when they see someone cry in public.  They either just stand there fumbling through words that they hope will make some kind of sense or they find a reason to excuse themselves and walk away.

Hello?????  Really??????  All the person needs is a comforting gesture.  Let's exercise our human natures and try to connect with one another.  A hug or holding a person's hand or putting an arm around their shoulder would be wonderful place to start.  Just keep telling yourself that it's not about how uncomfortable you feel.  It's really about helping the other person who is obviously in some kind of distress and is falling apart in front of you.

Many years ago, I would cry all the time.  I didn't plan it.  And I didn't do it on purpose.  I would just feel an overwhelming sadness and then the tears would start to well up and I couldn't stop myself.  I had no control over my feelings at all.  At the time, I was grieving over the loss of my husband, for our life together and for our life as a family with a young child.  I really did try to keep it together but for about a year I cried a lot.

I didn't even care where I was when I cried.  I didn't even care how other people reacted to my crying.  I was so beyond worrying about how I looked when I cried.  Sometimes I would do "The Ugly Cry," as Oprah calls it, which is full out face crying with your face twisted and red and your mouth wide open and then other times I would find myself sitting quietly and the tears would roll down my face.

I did scare myself once with my crying.  Once, when I was at the cemetary early in the morning during the work week when no one was there, I was kneeling on the ground and talking to my husband at the same time.  I was full of emotion and frustration and anxiety and I cried so hard that I got a nose bleed.  That was bad!

 

I was at a particularly low point in my life and never in a million years would I ever wish that absolute down-in-the-gutter feeling of loneliness on anyone.  God bless you if you happen to be in that place right now.  I am sorry for what you are going through righ now and I am sending you a hug and a message of strength so you know you are not alone and that there is always hope.

 

I know it doesn't feel like there is any hope right right now.  The person close to me doesn't feel it either.  But there is hope and I know it is within you.

 

Let it burn within you and please allow yourself to feel your inner strength and always believe in your ability to build on it.

 

It's okay, in fact it's necessary to give yourself permission to cry, for your tears are a comfort and a sign you are processing your anxious feelings.  Releasing your tears may help you sort out your feelings but they will never extinguish your beautiful inner spirit or your power to renew your life.

 

Renewing Friendships

Academy of the Holy Cross
Yearbook 1972

Making friends for the world to see

Let the people know you got what you need

           ~ Elton John

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch up and renew friendships with two women who went to high school with me.

Both women are incredibly talented and very smart: one is an internationally respected sculptor and the other is a retired teacher/photographer. They both look great and we easily fell back into conversation about our lives since high school graduation which was (unbelievably!) many decades ago.

 

We lost track of each other as our lives went in different directions after high school but to connect again now as adults and tell each other our stories is an interesting and healing process.   I think it's pretty normal to temporarily lose contact with people you went to high school with because your focus on starting a career and a family changes from not having either in high school to wanting both when you graduate from college. 

I think it's fair to say that in your twenties and thirties you are focusing on what is emotionally important to you.  It's not that you forget about the friends you made in high school, because I did think about them and wondered what had happened to them; I think it's more that life calls you to try different things and see different places in the world and you slowly lose track of what is happening to those people you used to see almost every day for four years.

If Facebook or Twitter had been around when we were in high school or college, I think it would have been a no brainer for us to maintain contact.

In my teenage enthusiasm for having a good time, I don't think I paid full attention to what was really going on with people I went to school with.  Looking back now, I see many serious issues that were happening to all of us but we never addressed them unless it reached a crisis point such as your parents getting a divorce.  Today, I understand it a lot better and truly appreciate the strength, wisdom and patience it takes to change and grow after life throws you some curveballs you weren't expecting.

But I digress.  Saturday with my high school friends was all about fun and sharing.  It was about appreciating each other's talents and life experiences and supporting each other as we are right now at this stage of our lives.

In the car on the way to Annapolis, I listened to my friend talk about her love of photography and how she recently started a blog, which of course I found exciting.  I have seen her pictures, and even if I didn't know her, I know I would be drawn to them.  The composition of her photography is thoughtful and when gazing at her pictures your eyes don't want to leave what they are seeing.  She photographs all kinds of beach landscapes, general scenic pictures and pictures of people in spontaneous situations.

Our reunion took place at the Maryland House, in Annapolis, where our other friend's incredible sculptures were on exhibit.  Her art is truly beautiful and inspiring and I learned a lot about how her marble pieces, both large and small, came to be.  It is truly a gift to be with the artist and their art at the same time.  I took some pictures and I will be sharing them in a future post because I want to tell you more about the organic nature of her sculptures.

Later when we went to a restaurant for dinner with others, I sat and listened to my friends and thought about each of us and our winding life journeys and how we ended up coming together.  We each handled challenges yet were resilient and persevered on and found our passions.

Life works in funny ways and when I have days like this, I wouldn't change one bit of it.

Please check out my friends' art in these links below.  I think you're going to love it as much as I do!

http://weathereyefocus.com/ (photography)

http://cmsculpture.com/ (sculpture)