Here is a writing of a eloquent woman who venerates the wild soul and who I celebrate as a powerful voice. And it is a voice we have inside us that needs to be heard. Read this slowly and let the words sink into your skin.

“To find her, it is necessary for women to return to their instinctive lives, their deepest knowing. So, let us push on now, and remember ourselves back to the Wild Soul. Let us sing her flesh back onto our bones. Shed any false coats we have been given. Don the true coat of powerful, instinct, and knowing. Infiltrate the psychic lands that once belonged to us. Unfurl the bandages; ready the medicine. Let us return now, wild women howling, laughing, singing up The One Who Loves us so.

For us the issue is simple. Without us, Wild Woman dies. Without Wild Woman, we die. Para Vida, for true life, both must live.”

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. Women Who Run With the Wolf

It is such a powerful passage, that I had to share it.

As I write and read that passage, tears well up in me and my welling flood gates open as if I needed to hear this from my ancestors: it speaks to the deepest parts of me. I open the Wild Soul of Singing to women and men who seek to reconnect and recover the beauty of their voices.

It’s as wild and necessary as eating and making love.

Here’s my version that helps people break their voices free: The Natural Voice.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

-Thomas Alva Edison

We have heard this many times. I offer up the peach as proof. It’s natural to work towards an end (or a beginning, for that matter).

The peach naturally grows, and works to be itself, a juicy peach. So be natural, yet intent in your efforts and you will just be you, content in your own ripeness, ready to be enjoyed by all! The peach is pure juicy genius.

Listening is just as important and rewarding as making sound, one inspires the other. Here’s a short video about it…

View the Video.

Silence  inspires:

• contentment,
• thoughtfulness
• awareness

Silence…is there really such a thing? Maybe it’s just listening to the world and what she has to say.

I hope it revs you up to go outside and make some music…and hear what your surroundings have to say.

Hint: Go outside to a spot you love with your instrument of choice, voice, guitar, accordion, trumpet, etc…Listen to the moment and gently respond to it. Pure bliss. Thanks for watching.

Improv is something we do everyday in some way.  We respond to others and our environment off the cuff daily, it’s improv and we are making it up as we go along.

It is fundamental to our behavior. And it’s fun, if we let it be.

Four Intentional Improv’s to make interactions fun (or at least tolerable) for you:

1. Breathe-your going to do it anyway, lightly regard your breathing and you can guide a conversation…How? Your breathing can inspire the rhythm of the conversation. Is your friend stressed and breathing erratically? Guide them with slow calm breathing.
2. Hum- these beautiful natural sounds comfort the listener, sounds like you are deeply considering what the other has to say.
3. Move – a light rocking motion can set the stage for relaxing interaction. Or a small circular rotation or the hips. Soon the folks around you will be slightly rocking as well.
4. Reflect-paraphrase what you heard them say. Everyone likes to be heard and understood. And this makes them feel that way.
5. Do 1-4 all together, breathe, hum, move, and reflect.

These are four behaviors that one can cultivate into one’s life too. They are not  contrived, just learned behaviors like the rest of them. These new tools honor and help the other person. They especially guide babies and children. Try them and see what feedback you get. And always, enjoy.

Every honey bee fills with jealousy

When they see you out with me

I don’t blame them

Goodness knows

Honeysuckle rose

-1928 jazz standard by Fats Waller and Andy Razaf

View the Video.

I like how this singer uses motion while singing. And she is having fun!

Next time you sing a song notice how your body moves and how you are breathing. Experiment with how you move while you sing. Are you stiff or are you relaxed? Are you breathing free or are you grasping to get a breath in. And most importantly, are you enjoying the sound that you are producing? Awareness of your process is a great start!

Singing is as natural as a bee to a flower, and as sweet if we let ourselves go and relax.

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away.

I can say the same about inspiration. To actively pursue what makes us alive and thriving daily, gives us powerful purpose, fun,a connection to others, and freedom. We are feeding our self something that is easy to assimilate and digest, making us a energetic machine.

What do you want to learn that you know is good for you and will benefit your life? Singing? Songwriting? An instrument? Watercolor? Film-making? Grant-writing? Tai chi? Trail running?

Using our minds in a creative way promotes larger thinking, and you can connect it with your world. Not only is creating good for you, it’s also good for your community. The music  spreads, the art spreads, the martial arts spread, health and longevity spread.  Happiness spreads…

How long does it take to eat an apple? Spend 15 minutes today on your art. Just pick it up as simply as you would reach for an apple.  Experience how you enjoy it.

All great achievements require time.

-Maya Angelou

Give your arts the attention to time.

There is no time greater spent than cultivating your life.

“Green Eggs and Ham was the story of my life. I wouldn’t eat a thing when I was a kid, but Dr. Suess inspired me to try cauliflower.”

-Jim Carrey

We can find inspiration in the strangest of places. I visited Jim’s site yesterday and it was amazing! Lots to do and see. There is a retrospective aspect to his site and it’s very personal for the viewer. And it got me thinking of my own history and what I love to do the most.

What his site inspired in me was to review what I already am, just in case I forgot. It got me to be inspired by myself. WOW.

So this post is about being inspired deeply by oneself!  And reconnecting with your creative spark.

• What portrait can you paint about yourself?
• What are your talents?
• What are your influences?
• Who continually inspires you?
• What is your natural personality like? Playful, funny, outrageous, personable, sweet, kind, shy?

Take mental notes as you go about this. This is fun, take some time and figure it out. Get inspired by you.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

-Julie Andrews

And what is failing? It’s not always so obvious. It’s hardly ever a big sign saying, “Mistake!”

Sometimes we can hold our self back from getting work done in many little ways, with “I’ll do it later.”, and “I’m too tired.” excuses. There are many little ways we can convince ourselves that our true dreams are not worth attention. Don’t believe them! They are being lazy!

Maybe, just maybe, perseverance is 19 times ignoring the voice that tells you not to do what you love and doing it anyway and 1 time enjoying the benefits of success in what you love! And over and over again. Either way you win by listening to the voice that says,

“DO IT, IT’S WORTH IT!”

All who wander are not lost.

-unknown

The author of this quote is unknown, and it seems fitting. He or she is probably still wandering…treading lightly and doing what they love.

I know that’s what I love to do. Wander, explore, make music. So get lost and find some inspiration in it. By wandering you restock your well. Then you can come back to what you love, fresh and ready to create.

And wandering is a key to exploring one’s art.