When it comes to clothes, I must admit I have a flair for the dramatic. I like cloaks and capes and shawls. I like swirling skirts and long hems, embroidery and abalone buttons. I like hats and tall boots. I like lace, velvet, faux fur, silk, leather, and well-sewn linen, and there could never [...]
Dramatic, yes? Perhaps a little bit, at least in the way I've expressed it. But true? Definitely. As soon as there is a whiff of obligation about pretty much any relationship, what happens? The death of freedom, excitement, engagement, and JOY. Think of friendships, family relationships, and work relationships. As soon as one person [...]
Mornings in The Bardic Academy begin with practice - this ancient love affair that never flags. For the last five or six weeks, Bach has been at the heart of the practice. I find myself visiting the piano three, four, five times a day to play through a sequence of fourteen of his short, [...]
The first part of this conversation actually happened, so I'll reconstruct it here. Mama: Do you still have that stretchy thing I got you from QVC - the thing to tone your arms? Me: Yes, I do. It's down cellar by the treadmill. Mama: You ever use it? Me: Not for a long, long [...]
I don’t come from a musical family. Sure, they liked music. My mother kept a stack of 45’s, including old hits like “Tom Dooley” and “Davey Crockett.” We had a hi-fi with LPs that included the soundtrack to “Black Beauty” and a wonderful, dark recording of “Peter and the Wolf.” There was a Chickering spinet [...]
After a recent performance of poetry and song, a man approached me and told me that he wanted to learn my "method" so he could replicate it in an upcoming performance of his own. "What method do you mean?" I asked, thinking that what I do could scarcely be called something as systematic as that. [...]
I've often joked that if I ever made bumper-stickers, this is what they'd say: Show up & be nice. Simple, isn't it? When musicians ask me how to get booked and re-booked for paying gigs, this is my advice. Show up and be nice. Help with the chairs. Be glad to be there. Appreciate the [...]
It seems that's a topic on the minds and in the mouths of many people on the web these days. There's a million paid trainings that purport to teach us exactly this: how to win fans, grow your list, and make a zillion dollars in the wild west of the world-wide web. But for a [...]
Every single new thing we do - everything - brings up fears, teaches lessons, and leaves us with gifts. Whether we are climbing Everest or going to a party, taking up salsa dancing or singing a solo, this is all part of the package. It's a package that leaves us different than we were: expanded, [...]
This post is inspired by all I am learning from the wonderful healer and artist, Robin Hallett, who is leading a group of us online in lessons about business and life, and especially by her clear-hearted essay, Love is the Metric. I can't recommend her work highly enough! I want to tell you the story [...]
