about something you really wanted to do, faced some obstacles and ended up doing it
anyways

it can be small or big

sometimes when i hit a bump in the road, i seek inspiration from others to keep me going

just yesterday, i watched martin luther king's "I have a dream" speech on youtube (twice) and felt like 'anything is possible" and felt quite uplifted and truly inspired

but it would also be cool to hear some current real live experiences

Hey, your experience can be as "small" as " I was afraid to return an item and i mustered up the courage to do it and get my refund back LOL

its all good as far as I'm concerned

but i would like to hear it cuz... well... it would help to uplift my spirit

even though i'm doing what i can on my side to do so as well

LaVeronique--

In 1992 something happened to me that changed my life considerably and really challenged me. I'd been a busker (playing my music on sidewalks and in the subway) since the mid-'80s and was very involved in the street performance guild. An official in an organization overseeing our busking program had been embezzling a lot of money, and it was becoming obvious, and I started asking this individual where the money for our program was going, and I wrote some letters to city officials asking them to look into it.

As a result, a month later the official in question arranged for a big, 4 hour long city council meeting where the sole subject of deliberation was whether my music should be banned. (This had never happened to any other musician, so it was a big deal, and clearly retaliation for my forthright investigations into his financial malfeasance.) He brought in a whole parade of folks from the business community who testified that my music sounded like 'bathtub plumbing' and all sorts of other unflattering descriptions. The hearing was even covered by a local news station. By the end of the evening he was unsuccessful in getting my music outright banned at that meeting -- because it was so obvious that I hadn't broken any street performance ordinance rules, and it would be illegal and against the First Amendment to ban a musician based solely on a on a few citizens' musical tastes -- but I was so devastated by the dunning I had receieved at the hearing that I almost stopped playing altogether for about 10 years. It was kind of a wilderness experience for me that challenged everything I believed or knew about myself and my life's purpose (in which I've always known music figures heavily) and caused me to have to really start from scratch to reclaim my shredded self-esteem.

Anyway.... fast forward to post-2000 and I am now a trusted and valued employee of this individual's former organization, he has done jail time for embezzlement and has long since disappeared from view, and I'm still playing my original ambient world/new age/electronically altered flute music and have in recent months formed a new jazz band and thoroughly enjoing widening my musical horizons in new directions. It was a painful experience, but it ultimately gave me strengths that I now appreciate.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

kwan

that is a very powerful testimony
it really is
music comes from the soul
and to have people step on it
is tantamount to dumping a load of heavy toxins onto the embryo of a hummingbird

it is very delicate
and hard to recover from
i am glad that you did
and that you are going very strong now

u have a great deal to be proud of
thank you

that is very inspiring to me
i think i need an attitude adjustment most of all

but i don't think attitude is in isolation to action
i think that all the action that i take ( or don't take) either strengthens or detracts from my attitude

it takes a lot of guts to share creatively
that is why artists are extraordinarily high on my list

Kwan

Thats an amazing story and I am intrigued... how did it make you stronger, and what enabled you to return to your music ?

LaV

Awesome thread, I love it.

LaVeronique--
Thank you for the beautiful, kind words.

Lightform--
Good questions.

It made me much more impervious to others' opinions, where before, especially in relation to my music, I was somewhat vulnerable. When I was younger, I ventured into the world of jazz for a few years and then left it behind (I realize in hindsight) largely because I perceived a strong aura of competitiveness and arrogance there that was very intimidating to me. I knew I was a good player, but I was shy and I avoided conflict and criticism. Now, having come back full circle to resume playing jazz, I'm confident that if some jazz musician puts down my playing I'll have enough confidence to take it in stride. So whatever struggle I went through was a major gift in that way.

What enabled me to return to playing my music was spending a lot of time going within, examining myself and asking for help from my Inner Being and also my friends and my mate, Jonathan. (Jonathan was wonderfully supportive.) Also just waiting till I was free enough of the memories and bad feelings to be able to just pick up, dust myself off and start again. And my intense love of music was probably one of the biggest factors; I just HAVE to play music. It's kind of like breathing air and drinking water for me; I don't feel healthy or fully alive without it.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Awesome.
There are a few things that I pick up out of what you say Kwan. What I have found in my own journey, is that when I go within and recognise where the core of my strength lies, I realise that it comes from releasing my attachment to outcome, and accepting things exactly as they are. I see some correlations between that and what you are saying, about your strength coming from being less phazed with critism etc..

I have found that when I go within to find the love, rather than seeking it within a set of criteria being met by my judgements of how it "needs" to be, that fears which I have been experiencing physically about things just float away. It is soooo empowering



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2009 09:40PM by Lightform.

Havent shared this with the board yet, but,

I left my boyfriend who was my age (20's) to be with a man twice my age who has custody of his two young children. We all live happily under one roof but I am up against almost everyone in my life telling me that I am crazy for doing this and have lost respect from a lot of people but I am happy and hope I have made the right decision. It is hard and it is a struggle to adjust sometimes, but I love him and the kids and sometimes I think I want to marry him and have a child of my own.

hey meganbubbs

sent u a PM
hope u got it

la_veronique,

thanks you for your kind words,

you have a very poetic way of expressing yourself and you posts are always nice to read.

I appreciate it a lot.

Good luck to everyone trying to follow their hearts.

>I have found that when I go within to find the love, rather than seeking it within a set of criteria being met by my judgements of how it "needs" to be, that fears which I have been experiencing physically about things just float away. It is soooo empowering <

So true! And in a similar vein, when I allow myself to just be present with 'what is' instead of mooning and moping over how I want things to be in the future, preferably ASAP... really go with it and just surrender, not half-heartedly while still secretly hoping and wishing things were better right this instant... it's magic!

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Megan
Anyone who is slightly different in society get a hard time for it, doesn't matter what it is for, and it doesn't change what is right. I believe that if your not hurting anyone, and you are doing what you love, then it speaks for itself.

true

I wanna hear everyones experience too...

I would like to hear on a day to day basis, what experience anyone has had where they felt great happiness, or had a direct or indirect effect in creating someone elses happiness.

Go on... I'm sure there are heaps of cool things going on ?

yeah

here is my experience

it just struck me
that i am living my dream

simply because i am alive

and that is a dream come true
for me

it is
actually

life

powerful and precious

and i am living it

[www.youtube.com] This isn't me by the way! But by far the biggest lesson my life has taught me is to never give. If there is a wall in front of you.BOOM. Go straight through it! No question. Always be soution orientatied. Looking for the awnser. Not dwelling on the problem.
I'm going off track here I think but I love this subject on mental toughness.
Its so important.


"You get some of your best lessons from rough roads..."


[www.youtube.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2009 08:52PM by ROIRRAW.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Success is not final,failure is not fatal : Its the courage to continue that counts.
[www.youtube.com]


"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career......
......I've lost almost 300 games......
......26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.....
......I've failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

---MICHAEL JORDAN---



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2009 09:20PM by ROIRRAW.

hey roiraw

thanks for the vids
saw all of them
put a smile on my face

"there is nothing that you cannot be do or have"

love that quote by esther hicks

also i REALLY DIG the quote by michael jordan

i actually ... u have no idea... how much i needed to see that michael jordan quote

it makes me proud of taking risks
and going forth in the beautiful darkness that is always filled with light

Nice Topic La_V. Lots of encouragement here. I particularly
liked Abraham's "Law of Allowing".....WY